Rebirthing addiction therapy

Research published in 2012 identifies brain circuits that drive maladaptive and addictive behaviors. Since this literature on survival circuits is not well known (only 2,258 people cited it), a quick review would be helpful to anyone treating or struggling with addiction—that is, most of us.
At EBT, we had already developed the skills necessary to rewire these circuits, mainly because EBT's Scientific Director Igor Mitrovic, MD, as a professor of physiology, knew all about it, given his role in teaching physiology to medical students and Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco.
One circle collides with another
We taught participants that the brain changes through associative learning. When the fight-or-flight circuit is activated, it acts like superglue, integrating the fight-or-flight drive with whatever sensations, emotions, thoughts, behaviors, or states were activated at the time. Then, even small stressors can activate this wiring, and the brain will reflexively unleash powerful biochemical drives to replicate that response. However, I was astonished when I saw an elegant article by Joseph LeDoux, professor of neuroscience and director of the Emotional Brain Institute at New York University, on my desktop.
Dr. LeDoux has demonstrated a completely new way of thinking about emotions. He distinguished between basic emotions that direct us to get our needs met (what we call homeostatic emotions) and those emotions triggered by survival circuits of intense arousal (static emotions) and biochemical chaos, which takes the thinking brain offline so that we reflexively do whatever the circuit tells us to do. The circuits thus lead to addictive use disorders. . . Or are “addiction cycles”.
A brain-based, actionable approach to treating addiction
By viewing addiction through the lens of neuroscience, the out-of-control response is the “back end” of the fight-or-flight survival cycle. Now, some 13 years after Dr. LeDoux's article was published, its application is very limited.
For example, in the current psychiatric diagnostic manual, addiction is defined on the basis of specific characteristics, and the same is true for 12-step programs. Both were developed before neuroplasticity was proven. Both have a wide following and many benefits, but they have not incorporated the plasticity of the neural root cause of the problem—survival circuits—into their conceptual base.
It's time for a change. By looking at addiction through the lens of rewiring survival circuits, we're discovering new ways to empower all of us – whether we're young or old, all of us exercise, have exercised, or will do some of these rewiring – to use our addiction experience. To become healthier, happier, more loving individuals. Here are some ideas that will help you revitalize the way you think about addiction.
#1 Rebirth: We can be addicted to anything.
Meredith, a woman who was in her late 40s when she joined a CBT support group, commented, “I always thought of addicts as ‘those other people,’ but I have a survival cycle that throws me out of control, and once I… “I start, I can't stop.” She was right. This cycle of survival can silence anything, rob us of our strength, and block our joy.
#2 Rebirth: There is no just one addiction.
Although any of us can find one circuit of survival more debilitating than another and choose EBT first, addiction is never a single circuit problem. Most of us find that the habit circuit, a specific behavior driven by these wiring, is the first in our set of circuits to be rewired. However, these wires are best friends for one or more emotional circuits. For example, a depression circuit triggers a habit circuit. Anyone under stress is likely to activate the relationship wire, which often causes so much stress that it triggers a habit circuit or two. The problem is not one circle but a family of them.
#3 Rebirth: Addiction comes in all sizes and strengths.
Rewiring these circuits requires activating them, staying present to the powerful feelings they trigger, and communicating a new message that updates the old message when the circuit is open. For lasting change (less chance of “re-setting” the fearful circuit), repeated and precise experiences are needed that target the wiring, associated fear memories, and activated core circuits (underlying unconscious beliefs).
Some circles are larger and stronger than others, and in EBT, we classify them into 5 circles, 4 circles, and 3 circles. In other words, any wire that produces a biochemical wave strong enough to take the thinking brain offline and the reflexive repetition of the response that follows can be both harmful and rewarding enough (all survival circuits fire up the reward center) that we can think of it as addiction.
Instead of listing “behaviors we need to change” to be more adaptive, we can list survival circles on our “to do” list. By removing the neurobiological cause of the response, habit change can be easier and more sustainable.
EBT and addiction destigmatization
To the extent that the science of survival circles becomes integrated into psychotherapy and 12-step programs, it will not change the seriousness of some powerful and powerful addictions that cause suffering and death. The faster the reward is delivered and the stronger it is, the more addictive it becomes and the faster the brain collapses into a fixed point of self-destruction. In treating this addiction, a comprehensive program is needed, including many layers of support from medications to 12-step programs to psychotherapy.
However, by thinking about addiction based on neural circuits, self-judgment and confusion can stop. When we don't acquire a highly charged set of emotional resilience tools early in life, we have no way to process our toxic emotions that can quickly turn into addiction. We all need these tools for prevention if not treatment. EBT provides them.
Aside from a comprehensive addiction detox program, there is a need for those “graduates” to learn Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (EBT) in order to effectively regulate emotions and rewire any remaining circuits that are still bothering us. Psychotherapists who learn about survival circuits and EBT rewiring tools cannot help but incorporate them into their practices—because people change faster, the rewiring process usually continues.
Yes, we all have these wires. How liberating!
Best of all, what a relief to not have to worry that we might be addicted to everyday patterns of scrolling on our iPhones, numbing out, perfectionism, angry outbursts, emotional meltdowns, overthinking everything, plus medications, recreational drugs. , alcohol, and the most common addiction of all: food. The answer is “Yes!” The solution is to find out if it is 3 circuits, 4 circuits, or 5 circuits and EBT.
We're all in this beautiful world together, with so many planetary and personal pressures that these wires find their way into our brains, but they don't have to stay there. We can express them with pride, love and joy.