Addiction: Is the lack of connection the main cause of addiction?

There is a video online titled, ‘Could the root cause of addiction really be a disconnect?’, And this video posits that disconnection causes addiction. He also says that “not all addictions have their origin in abuse or trauma, but all can be attributed to a painful experience.”

After this, he goes on to say that “we should stop talking about addiction altogether and instead see it as a link.” And that, “healthy bonding includes relationships, connection with family, community and with oneself.”

The answer

It is then said that “the path to addiction healing lies in genuine connection”, and that “if we cannot connect in this way, we will connect with whatever we can find.” The video goes on to talk about what happened after Portugal decriminalized all drugs, and the anti-drug budget was spent on reconnecting addicts with their community.

So instead of punishing the addicts, they were offered the help they needed to recover. The number of drug-induced deaths decreased as did the number of heroin addicts.

At the key point

He then mentions that, “we accept them without judgment, whether they are using them or not.” This is followed by, “They are the real flesh and blood friends with whom you have deep relationships that satisfy the need for connection.”

It ends with “who in our lives can we take a moment to reach out to today? And help heal the root cause of addiction?” At the end the article “the opposite of addiction is connection” is recommended.

The solution

Based solely on what the video says and without looking at the article, it would be perfectly normal to conclude that human connection is the antidote to addiction. So if someone is addicted to something, this will change once they have more human contact in their life.

They will no longer depend on anything since they will receive what they lack through the contact they have with others. So if an addict is given the human contact that they are missing, their life will change drastically.

The next step

Say you meet someone who is addicted to something, you might end up reaching out to that person. By watching the video, you will know that it is not just about being around an addict; it will be about their being fully present.

Therefore, using your phone when they are close or mentally in another place is not going to be enough, your whole being will have to be with them. The other person will be able to feel this, allowing you to experience a true connection with them.

Filling

Thanks to the presence of one, the other person will be able to receive what they lack: human contact. You can end up going to see this person a few times a week, and they can encourage them to get involved in their community.

This person will then go from being someone who is hooked on something destructive, to someone who is able to let go of their addiction. So the missing ingredient will have been the human connection.

Other result

Now while this approach will work for some people, it is unlikely to be the answer for all addicts. The reason for this is that while an addict will lack human contact, there is also the possibility that he or she is enduring a lot of pain.

And spending time with bystanders is unlikely to make this pain just go away. This pain will not only still be there, but it can be difficult for them to fully accept human contact due to how closed they are.

Two parts

With this in mind, saying that lack of human connection causes addiction is not the whole truth. What supports this is the fact that not all addicts are isolated from others.

In this case, someone will have people in their life, but due to the amount of pain they are in and the state their mind and body are in, they will not be able to hug them and receive their presence. What they may find is that it is much less painful for them to be hooked on something than it is for them to be around others.

One reason

The ego mind has a need to avoid pain and is drawn to the familiar, classifying the familiar as the safe. With this in mind, being addicted to something can allow you to keep your pain at bay, and it may be what sounds familiar to you.

Ergo, while someone may suffer from being addicted to something, a large part of them may be strongly attached to experiencing life this way. By having this attachment to your pain, you are going to need human contact and you are going to need to heal your pain.

Trauma

And although he says that not all addictions are caused by abuse or trauma, it is difficult to follow this statement. If it could be more accurate to say that while an addict may say that they have not experienced any trauma, it does not necessarily mean that they are.

One thing to recognize when it comes to the mind is that it has the ability to forget things and if someone experienced problems in the womb or when they were born, for example, their mind will not notice. But, while the mind may forget, the body will be too aware of what happened.

Of course, there is always the possibility that the reason someone is in so much pain is because of what has been transmitted to them ancestrally. The trauma that your ancestors could not resolve will have passed on to you.

Final thoughts

If someone is addicted to something, it is likely the lack of human connection that caused them pain. However, simply giving this person human contact is unlikely to resolve the trauma within him; It may also be that their whole being has hardened, preventing them from accepting the love that is given to them.

What this means is that human contact probably won’t solve exactly what caused them to look at things or substances instead of human beings. So by having all this pain inside of them and not being able to regulate their own emotions, they could end up becoming dependent on others.

Then you can go from getting lost in things or substances, to getting lost in people. If someone like this gets the human touch he needs and is able to heal his mind and body, there is a good chance that he will be able to get back on his feet.