A different look at the way addiction works tells us that heroin and pornography are equally addictive, and that addiction is about mental health and not physical. Through time, we’ve always heard that addiction is the addicts’ fault, that addicts should be stripped of benefits and become social pariahs in order to see that they have to recover. But we’ve gotten it all wrong.
Courtesy of public figures like Russell Brand, we now know that addiction is an issue of mental health. Studies all across the scientific community have proved this: when people are connected to one another and content with their relationships, they don’t find the need for drugs or even pornography. This was the case in studies where rats were given the option of drinking regular water or water laced with heroin or cocaine. When the rats were isolated in cages, they found they had nothing to do but drink the addictive liquid, while when the rats were in spaces with other rats, with toys and other forms of amusement, they had no inclination towards it. The same was applied to humans during the Vietnam War, when nearly 20% of all American troops were heroin users because their mental health told them it was the only way to cope with the trauma. However, once the soldiers returned to their families and loved ones, most of them just dropped the habit; no need for rehab or counseling.
So what does this tell us? Cocaine, cigarettes, pornography, alcohol and heroine are all the same, and they come from the same thing: not from weakness or recklessness, but from poor mental health and poor relationships.
