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Drug Addiction, Love, and the Higher Power

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: This discussion piece suggests that reliance on a Higher Power in drug abuse recovery programs is entertained among some addicts for its psychobiological effects. Prayer, meditation, early romantic love, and drug abuse may have in common activation of mesolimbic dopaminergic pathways of the brain and the generation of intense emotional states. In this sense, reliance on a Higher Power may operate as a substitute addiction, which replaces the psychobiological functions formerly served by drug use. Implications of this perspective are discussed.

Source: Evaluation & the Health Professions

DOI: 10.1177/0163278711401002

Authors: Steve Sussman, Michel Reynaud, Henri-Jean Aubin, Adam M. Leventhal

Institutions: University of Southern California, Inserm, Hôpital Paul-Brousse

Language: English

Topic: Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse