Addiction Interaction

Understanding the Cascade of Multiple Addictions and Their Impact

The media frequently exposes cases of individuals engaging in patterns of behavior involving the use of sex and drugs, jeopardizing their well-being, integrity, and even their lives. Harvey Weinstein, for example, had Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder, Offending Behavior, and an eating disorder.

This news garnered much public indignation, with many perceiving Weinstein’s use of the “Sex Addiction” label as an “excuse” for his inexcusable behavior. While such a diagnosis doesn’t absolve one from consequences, there is some truth to the possibility of one addiction cascading or interacting with others; the sum is greater than the individual parts.

What’s happening with individuals who engage in such perilous activities without regard for consequences? Growing scientific evidence suggests addiction is a brain disorder causing multiple issues. I contend that addiction is a whole-body disorder impacting every cell of our being and all aspects of human experience: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. For those battling Addictive Disorders, having multiple addictions is more the norm than the exception.
 

Addiction Interaction

Dr. Patrick Carnes introduced the concept of Addiction Interaction Disorder, which means multiple addictions don’t merely coexist; they interact, reinforce, and become intertwined. Addiction interaction goes beyond what would be anticipated when multiple addictive issues are present.
A person’s pathological quest for reward or relief using substances and behaviors alters neural pathways, brain plasticity, and brain wiring. Interaction involves neurons fusing and wiring together — addicts experience a similar decrease in dopamine and withdrawal when unable to engage in addictive behaviors. The brain, therefore, creates a need to restart the addictive cycle, and the results of combined addictions can be unpredictable, riskier, and even lethal when elements of addiction compete in the brain.
 

How Do Addictions Co-Occur?

Addictions co-occur in various ways for different reasons:

• One addiction may moderate, relieve, or help an individual avoid withdrawal from another addiction. Nicotine, for example, is often used by those in alcohol remission.
• Addictions can alternate and cycle, with some replacing others. People often substitute gambling, binge-drinking, and sex sequentially; overspending sometimes supersedes them all.
• One addiction can lower inhibitions for another, such as using alcohol as “liquid courage” to act sexually.
• One addiction can mask another, like acting sexually only while drinking, leading individuals to think the problem is alcohol, not sex.
• Addictions can fuse for intensification. Sometimes individuals combine addictions to experience a more potent effect than they would with each addiction separately. For example, some combine sex and cocaine and have an inability to engage in one without the other.
• One addictive behavior can serve as a ritualistic introduction to another, such as prepping for a meth binge followed by a sexual binge.
• One addictive behavior can medicate pain caused by another addiction.

 

Getting to the Core to Prevent Relapse

Understanding Addiction Interaction aids clinicians in recognizing the higher relapse risk when multiple addictions are present. Complicating matters, an individual can have not only addiction interaction but also co-occurring mental disorders (e.g., Major Depression, Generalized Anxiety, ADHD, PTSD). If all addictions aren’t addressed during treatment, with the goal of lowering the dopamine set point, there is a VERY high probability that the clinician might never uncover the trauma, neglect, abuse, attachment wounds, and adverse childhood experiences that contribute to most Addictive Disorders, if not all — with the chances of relapse skyrocketing.

As a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT), a Certified Multiple Addiction Therapist (CMAT), a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist (LCAS), and a Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS), I am uniquely equipped to treat multiple addictions and co-occurring disorders like anxiety and depression. Our multi-faceted approach to treatment—incorporating trauma resolution, mindfulness techniques, experiential therapies (e.g., horsemanship and challenge courses), and family therapy—enables us to help patients pinpoint the core triggers for their addictive behaviors and resolve them. When patients complete my treatment, they have a better shot at breaking free from the cycle of addiction interaction.