What Exactly Is the Biopsychosocial Model of Addiction? Psychology Today United Kingdom

An individual’s stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) are chronically elevated (Burke Harris, 2018; van der Kolk, 2014). Although there is no “addiction gene” to definitively identify a person as being at risk for addiction, it is evident through twin studies, adoption studies, family studies, and more recently, epigenetic studies that addiction has a genetic component. Individuals who are genetically predisposed for addiction enter the world with a greater risk of becoming addicted at some point in their lives. Think back to the beginning days of the COVID-19 pandemic and how many people were negatively impacted by the social gathering restrictions.

• It’s important to remember that social and environmental factors interact with biological vulnerabilities.
• As the effects of the addictive substance or behavior wear off, the brain goes into a state of withdrawal.
• These experiences can create deep psychological wounds that make it difficult for individuals to manage stress and regulate their emotions.
• Notions of a pathologized self, deeply enmeshed with personal identity, may lead an individual to internally negotiate a relationship between the self and the brain (Dumit 2003).
• Mental health conditions like depression or anxiety can also make someone more susceptible to seeking relief through addictive behaviors.
• The biopsychosocial model of addiction emphasizes the interplay of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors in the understanding, prevention, and treatment of substance use disorders.

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Primary features of the model are shown in boldface; variables exemplifying heroin-assisted treatment are shown in italics. Overcome addiction with our family support system, and regain control of your life! This paper builds on the conceptual foundations of Hyman’s (2007) contribution on addiction and voluntary control, and extends the thinking to include perspectives that include, but also go beyond, neuroscience. Semi-synthetic opiates such as heroin mainly activate mu opioid receptors in the central nervous system (Koob, Sanna, and Bloom 1998). Mu receptors activate analgesia, respiratory depression, miosis, euphoria, and reduced gastrointestinal motility. Frequent and chronic opioid exposure may lead to a significant amount of neuroadaptations, which are believed to contribute to tolerance, withdrawal, and other mechanisms contributing to the cycle of compulsive use and relapse (Christie 2008).

Brain Development

Still, others focus on how social and economic factors like solid family bonds, good friends, and opportunities for education and work can influence your choices. The model attributes key role to biological determinants and explains disease as a condition caused by external pathogens or disorders in the functions of organs and body systems. https://www.inkl.com/news/sober-house-rules-a-comprehensive-overview Such an approach has its historic justification and has proved effective in the control of massive infectious diseases.

Autonomy, therefore, is not adequately defined just by the events in the brain or the “quality” of the decision being made. Many individuals who have serious addictions live in impoverished environments without suitable resources or opportunities. Thus it is the limited option for choice that is one prevailing variable, not only the reduced ability to choose alternatively. We argue therefore for a biopsychosocial systems model of, and approach to, addiction in which psychological and sociological factors complement and are in a dynamic interplay with neurobiological and genetic factors. As Hyman (2007) has written, “neuroscience does not obviate the need for social and psychological level explanations intervening between the levels of cells, synapses, and circuits and that of ethical judgments” (p.8).

How Addiction Weakens Cognitive Control

Factors such as availability and peer modeling account for the inter- and intra-group disparities (Thomas 2007). These factors may indicate a certain level of group risk for problematic substance use, but cannot verify either the likelihood of substance use occurring within the group or which individuals within the group are more likely to be affected. These factors are not inherent in the composition of the social structure, are neither stable nor persistent, but are governed by the social values and norms of that social system or group (Bunge 2003).

Substance use disorders / Addictions as a Biopsychosocial Plus phenomenon

Mental health conditions like depression or anxiety can also make someone more susceptible to seeking relief through addictive behaviors. Four decades after the publication of the concept of Engel’s “biopsychosocial model” for medicine and its subsequent enthusiastic embrace by psychiatry, it is widely accepted as a valid alternative to the reductionism of biological psychiatry. However, unlike models in mainstream science, the original model has not been developed or expanded. Despite widespread efforts to “talk it up,” Engel’s “biopsychosocial model” has failed to have any lasting impact on psychiatry. The logical flaws in Engel’s original concept are explored, and some consequences noted.

George Engel designed his biopsychosocial model to be a broad framework for medicine and psychiatry. Although the model met with great initial success, it now needs conceptual attention to make it relevant for future generations. Engel articulated the model as a version of biological systems theory, but his work is better interpreted as the beginnings of a richly nuanced philosophy of medicine. We can make this reinterpretation by connecting Engel’s work with the tradition of American pragmatism. Engel initiates inquiry like a pragmatist, he understands theory and philosophy like a pragmatist, he justifies beliefs like a pragmatist, and he understands the world like a pragmatist.

• We will then shed some light on Health Psychology as a domain that embraces the biopsychosocial model.
• The larger societal structure either restricts or enhances interactions between agents in a social system (Bunge 1997).
• Robert K. Merton observed that, “In the modern world, the visibly practical accomplishments of a science largely affect the social value placed upon it” (Merton 1961, 697).
• Indeed, in the original Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study, Felitti et al. (1998) found that more ACEs increased the odds of subsequent drug and alcohol use.
• Rates of substance use and dependence vary across, and even within, cultural and social groups (Wallace 1999; Wallace, Bachman, O’Malley et al. 2002).

Many pieces, including cultural norms, social circles, situations, personality, biology, and even beliefs, fit together. As the effects of the addictive substance or behavior wear off, the brain goes into a sober house state of withdrawal. This results in several unpleasant symptoms, such as anxiety, restlessness, and irritability.

Psychological theories of substance use are varied and may help you explore how to best serve the individuals you will be working with. Not every person who uses a substance will develop a disorder; for some the pleasant feeling is just that, a pleasant feeling. If you think about any activity you participate in, if it makes you feel good, chances are that when you participate your brain is releasing dopamine. If you remember we learned dopamine is a neurotransmitter that impacts the reward centre of the brain. Your brain typically releases dopamine when you participate in behaviours or activities that make you feel good.

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