Brain Trap

People who suddenly find themselves in a burning building rarely stop, in that moment, to determine the source of the inferno threatening them. Nor do they pause to contemplate the chemistry of combustion as walls, ceilings, floors and various substances about them combine with oxygen to create light, heat and smoke. Instead, they focus on getting out of the building. To some practitioners in the field of addiction, myself included, such should also be the case with the disease we deal with. From this perspective, treatment is a more immediate concern with regard to the condition than is the pursuit of its cause.

This is not to imply that studying the origins of addiction is folly. Just as we search diligently for clues to the mechanisms behind cancer or heart disease or any other malady, we undertake research in order to unlock information that could lead to effective remedies. Somehow, though, much of the current conversation about addiction has focused on whether...