15
votes
Why we crave – The neuroscientific picture of addiction overlooks the psychological and social factors that make cravings so hard to resist
Link information
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- Title
- Why the pull of addictive cravings is so hard to resist | Aeon Essays
- Word count
- 3166 words
TL;DR (of my comment) – we should discuss addiction in a healthy way.
I personally have struggled with some addictions that aren't serious, but I have found it really hard to overcome them. Thankfully none of them have had a serious effect on my life, think things like lots of revenge bedtime procrastination, etc. I think given how serious addiction can be, and how many people struggle with it, that it's strange that we don't really discuss the experience of having an addiction (and instead just discuss addicts) and strategies to overcome addictions.
I think the social and societal is kind of missing in a lot of places (quite reasonably – if you're a therapist you can't exactly "fix" 'society', you're pretty limited to just helping the individual in isolation). For example when it comes to (very unhealthy) male fantasies about women these are often fed by the social context – e.g. basically every male magazine ever, and the TikTok types such as Andrew Tate (who is worse because he extends this fantasy of male dominance/female passivity to a – repungent – conclusion, that these fantasies should be the model on which society should be based) who have replaced them.
Look at it this way: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Every patient making even a tiny bit of progress helps break the cycles of abuse and trauma that permeate society.
With respect to how society collectively handles sexism, sexual fantasy, and body image (as women are often just as culpable, in different ways), that's only going to be solved with persistent shutting down of unacceptable behavior and the sands of time.