Addiction is about avoiding pain, not getting high

What makes us addicted?  Most assume it’s about chasing the next high, but a new study suggests it is more often about escaping pain.

Stress and anxiety are just as likely to make us addicts, say researchers from Scripps Research Institute who have identified an area of the brain that is activated by alcohol.

A tiny region of the brain, the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT), encourages us to continue drinking because it makes the association between alcohol and the relief of stress.

They’ve seen the reaction in the brains of rats, and they think they would see the same process in people.  “What makes addiction so hard to break is that people aren’t simply chasing a high,” says Friedbert Weiss, the lead researcher.   “They’re also trying to get rid of powerful negative states, like the stress and anxiety of withdrawal”.

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