It's not the morphine, it's the size of the cage: Rat Park experiment upturns conventional wisdom

[Jesus Malverde]

It's not the morphine, it's the size of the cage: Rat Park experiment upturns conventional wisdom about addiction

We all learned this in DARE class. About the rats in a cage who can self-administer morphine who get addicted to the stuff, and then just hit that lever until they die. A seemingly keystone argument in the war against drugs. Professor Avram Goldstein, the creator of that study, has said: "A rat addicted to heroin is not rebelling against society, is not a victim of socioeconomic circumstances, is not a product of a dysfunctional family, and is not a criminal. The rat's behavior is simply controlled by the action of heroin (actually morphine, to which heroin is converted in the body) on its brain." So, it's the drug, and its addictive control. Surely we must eradicate drugs as a result!

But there's another model out there by researcher Bruce Alexander of Simon Fraser University called Rat Park.

Alexander's hypothesis was that drugs do not cause addiction, and that the apparent addiction to opiate drugs commonly observed in laboratory rats exposed to it is attributable to their living conditions, and not to any addictive property of the drug itself. He told the Canadian Senate in 2001 that prior experiments in which laboratory rats were kept isolated in cramped metal cages, tethered to a self-injection apparatus, show only that "severely distressed animals, like severely distressed people, will relieve their distress pharmacologically if they can."

To test his hypothesis, Alexander built Rat Park, an 8.8 m2 (95 sq ft) housing colony, 200 times the square footage of a standard laboratory cage. There were 16–20 rats of both sexes in residence, an abundance of food, balls and wheels for play, and enough space for mating and raising litters. The results of the experiment appeared to support his hypothesis. Rats who had been forced to consume morphine hydrochloride for 57 consecutive days were brought to Rat Park and given a choice between plain tap water and water laced with morphine. For the most part, they chose the plain water. "Nothing that we tried," Alexander wrote, "... produced anything that looked like addiction in rats that were housed in a reasonably normal environment." Control groups of rats isolated in small cages consumed much more morphine in this and several subsequent experiments.

So, if Rat Park is to be believed, drug addiction is a situation that arises from poor socioeconomic conditions. From literally being a rat in a cage. If you're a rat in a park, you'd rather hang out with your friends and explore the world around you.

http://sub.garrytan.com/its-not-the-morphine-its-the-size-of-the-cage-rat-park-experiment-upturns-conventional-wisdom-about-addiction

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130910-drug-addiction-the-complex-truth/all

http://www.stuartmcmillen.com/comics_en/rat-park/

[FiveGoodMen]

1. Hope this gets some attention

[rurallib]

8. Surely it will from those who need to bury it

for them to maintain an economic and social control on others.
Let us hope good, intelligent scientists and politicians do not allow it to be buried.

[calimary]

50. Interesting point.

[erronis]

77. And yet, those that have it all can be addicted

Isn't the line of coke on a mirror the signature of the high-powered wheeler-dealers?

Anyone heard of a famous actor/singer bingeing to their deaths? Perhaps very recently?

Not to belittle chemical addiction but there are ample examples of pollicians snorting power, $s, etc. and doing the same type of self-destructive behaviors that we say are reserved for "addicts".

Living in lush California with tons of money and room to roam doesn't seem to protect many people from all the mortal sins.

[FiveGoodMen]

78. I wonder what you'd have to do to rats to make them live like fat-cats

[magical thyme]

80. note that these rats "have it all" in the form of healthy relationships

etc.

Rich and famous people have money and expensive stuff. May that does not equate with having it all.

[n2doc]

2. Amazing. Big K n R n/t

[tridim]

3. Forced isolation isn't the same as self-inflicted isolation.

[Jesus Malverde]

7. Yes, maybe addiction treatment should focus more on community integration than

focusing on the individuals personal demons.

Isolation can be social and as we live our lives, economic.

It's not black and white but help explains how the rich can use drugs in a functional manner. While the poor do so in a manner that more likely leads to death like the rat in the little cage.

[elehhhhna]

18. the science says that 5-10% of us are addicts and don't can't use iona funcitonal manner

the rich do not. They OD and die at the same rates, maybe take longer as they resort to less street crime, and their families cover for them.

In my exp most addicxts are dual diagnosis & probably self-medicating

[NJCher]

44. would you agree that

some lives of the rich lack purpose?

That's its own special kind of hell.


Cher

[elehhhhna]

79. too much money and too little imagination is a BIG PROBLEM, also,

let's not forget the artists. People with fame, fortune, awards, accolades - they die form addiction or experimentation, and that seems weird, right? One problem is they travel, a lot. And in every bar, club, and restaurant they go into they are offered the best free shit imaginable. They also have tons of down time. In some cases (Belushi, Ozzy) they know the are out of control but seem to be afraid they'll lose their "edge" if they stay sober.

Some die. Some get tired of the bullshit & do recovery.

my 2cents

[freebrew]

61. The fact that it's illegal...

forces isolation from normal society. So-called addicts then commune together to form their own small group of like friends. This is what the PTB uses to claim the 'marijuana leads to harder drugs' argument. The situation is entirely created as a result of the law.

[SalviaBlue]

4. K&R (I recommend looking at the comic link... very cool) nt

[malaise]

5. Fascinating

Rec

[stevenleser]

6. Fascinating. nt

[Chemisse]

9. This is intriguing.

I wonder if there are physiological changes in the brain due to the stress of poor living conditions for the rats, which are alleviated with the morphine.

I also wonder if our kids were raised in a lower stress environment (less stimuli like electronics, slower pace, no big hits like divorce, etc,) if they would be less likely to seek opiates!

[Jesus Malverde]

10. Sad to say the paradise that is northern California is full of heroin and meth addicts.

The biggest factor I see is economic isolation/desperation. People are more complicated than rats.

[Maedhros]

29. Doesn't that match the results of the study?

That addiction follows from stressed living conditions (i.e. economic isolation/desperation) rather that purely from the effect of the chemical on the body?

[bvar22]

31. "economic isolation/desperation"

*Existential Vacuum

*The Isolation of the Suburbs

*Economic Stratification

*Too many toys

There are many ways to isolate a human being.
I like where this is going.

[Egalitarian Thug]

33. Not really. Rats are, for the most part, far more trustworthy & greatful than people.

I hate to break it to you but, NoCal has never even been close to being a paradise.

The 12 minutes that Haight-Ashbury was cool was stomped out by DiFi and her ilk long ago. Coming into office on the murders of Milk & Moscone defined her career and MO ever since.

[Jesus Malverde]

34. I'm talking about the northern counties, humboldt, del norte, shasta, trinity.

All the way to the sierras. Beautiful country.

[SharonAnn]

37. Humboldt - Marijuana growing capital of the west coast.

[dreamnightwind]

54. It's more about coastal vs. inland

Inland northern California may have beautiful scenery, but culturally it is closer to the midwest than any hippie mecca, which with very few exceptions are found within 50 miles of the coast or so. The drug preferences of the inland and coastal regions follow the culture. The coastal areas are mostly known for pot and various hallucinogens, the inland area would be the meth and crack scenes. Individual exceptions, of course, I'm speaking of general population trends.

[Revanchist]

11. Thinking about it, it makes sense

I've always wondered how people could abuse drugs with devastating effects like Krokodil that eats away your flesh down to the bone. If they have no hope of ever escaping their conditions what does that do to their sense of self-preservation?

[Chellee]

12. This is fascinating.

Thank you for finding this. Not only does it invalidate every argument the right makes about poverty, it also calls into question the results of any experiment done using animals. Advancing human rights and animal rights in one study... excellent find.

[Jesus Malverde]

14. It certainly calls into question the methodology of using social animals in isolation in studies..nt

[Chellee]

19. I think if you take any animal...

(including people ) out of their natural environment its going to alter their behavior. Alter it enough, perhaps, to skew the results of a study.

[Enthusiast]

58. Nice points.....nt

[fishwax]

13. Very interesting k/r

[LadyHawkAZ]

15. Great find. K&R

[eridani]

16. I challenged a "counselor" that my former employer made us listen to on this

I asked whether he might be more inclined to use morphine if he were locked in a 4x4 cell with no human contact, books, movies, computers or exercise allowed. Too bad this research wasn't yet available.

[Jesus Malverde]

21. This info's been around since the late 70's/

The study started 1977 and was likely well known when Nancy and the media embarked on the war on drugs and the just say no campaigns.

[truebluegreen]

40. FYI, Nixon started the official War on Drugs...

so named 'cause he couldn't call it the War on Hippies and other people he didn't like.

[Enthusiast]

59. Excellent reminder.............nt

[G_j]

17. of course the humans never took into consideration the suffering

they caused the rats, and that this could possibly be a factor. This sadly, says more about the stupidity of humans.

[Jesus Malverde]

22. More like the WOO of science...nt

[Duppers]

51. "the woo of science"???

Cannot blame science for some idiots pretending to be scientists. Just as in medicine, there are scientists and there are quacks ignoring a lot of facts/factors pretending to be scientists.

Wonder why universities give some people degrees!

[Pretzel_Warrior]

20. gives new meaning to......

[Jesus Malverde]

24. Hard to believe it's almost been 20 years since that song came out.

Good stuff

Thanks!

[lunasun]

27. They look so young! been awhile......

The world is a vampire, sent to drain

[robbob]

23. I heard about this study

It was on a great CBC radio series on addiction and trauma; examining root psychological factors behind addictive personalities.

In addition to this study I also heard about a study of returning Vietnam vets, those who admitted to using heroin over in Vietnam on a daily basis. The study followed these vets as they re-acclimatized to civilian life, and found that a very small percent of them continued their heroin use once they were away from the stress that was Vietnam. It is not the DRUG that was addictive, but the personality type of the user that determined the continuing addiction to the drug.

The show went on to examine factors like child abuse and other forms of early childhood trauma that seemed to be a significant factor in creating an addictive personality. Wish I had a link; it was just something I heard on the radio while driving around...

[dbackjon]

25. Seemingly no different than alcohol

Why can I have a drink and stop, but an alcoholic has a drink, then another, and another, etc?

[1StrongBlackMan]

26. On a somewhat related note ...

I, once, had the occasion to meet and talk with the Black architect that was awarded the contract to design the public housing complexes is Cleveland, OH after the 1960s' riots.

He told me that he withdrew from the multi-million dollar contract after meeting with government officials. After he quit, some officials (and citizens) questioned whether he had the know how and/or ability to do the job. His response was: "Of course he could; but one of the classes that he took while pursuing his Architecture degree, was an intro to sociology ... that was why he quit the job.

[NJCher]

45. so little insight

the building of those complexes exhibited. I guess they thought people would be happy to just have a roof over their heads.

So is it any wonder so many of them had to be torn down?



Cher

[1StrongBlackMan]

47. There is a reason why ...

low income housing complexes were called "projects", as in experiments.

[RufusTFirefly]

28. Dr. Gabor Maté concurs

Maté's central thesis is that addiction is occurring on a massive scale in western society because so many people have an inner emptiness caused by societal dislocation, including the destruction of traditional relationships within families and communities, and a lack of proper attunement in infancy. By "attunement", he means a parent literally being "in tune" with the child's emotional states, and being present in a way that ensures the infant feels understood, accepted, and mirrored.

Gabor Maté shows we're wired for addiction

Capitalism Makes us Crazy: Dr Gabor Maté on Illness & Addiction

[Jesus Malverde]

32. I like that attunement concept. Good Reads.

Thanks!

[RufusTFirefly]

41. You're welcome! Thanks for starting the ball rolling! n/t

[Egalitarian Thug]

30. I'm glad you brought this out, I had no idea.

I was fully aware of everything this article bring out, but I wasn't aware that this information had fallen out of the mainstream of common knowledge. When my parents were in college they learned this. When you cram too many rats in the cage they go crazy. Want proof? Go spend some time in NYC.

[Auggie]

35. Most interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[NYC_SKP]

36. Brilliant and quite convincing.

Thanks!

[DirkGently]

38. It's conceivable behavior has multiple causes?

I think I saw this guy on Chris Hayes. Or another neuroscientist with the same hypothesis.

It seemed like a worthy point being pushed too far. We know living conditions affect behavior. We also know certain drugs have measurable physiological and psychoactive effects. People have, for example, died withdrawing from heroin.

I think any social worker or therapist dealing with addiction could tell us that addictive behavior is not all one thing. Seems irresponsible to suggest either that chemicals can't be addictive or that environment, and with humans anyway, psychology plays no role.

It's both.

[RainDog]

39. I read this a couple of months ago

it's interesting work and it aligns with recent studies that talk about the "cognitive load" poverty and other bad circumstances place upon people.

It also supports the idea, in my view, of a minimum basic income to move people out of the rat cage. Such an income isn't means tested, so both rich and poor would receive this basic. If someone doesn't need it, she or he can donate it to charity or put it in savings, etc. but for those who do need it, it would remove obstacles for meeting some basic social needs as far as housing, food, education, health maintenance.

Our society really needs to move from shame-based approaches and imprisonment to compassionate approaches to issues regarding social harm from individual behavior. This is also a way that those with big problems are not isolated from greater society - just as alcoholics have been "mainstreamed" through the AA approach (whether the approach itself works for someone) - the issue is making a safe, normal place to seek out treatment and support for those with addictions.

[Enthusiast]

60. Excellent post.

"Our society really needs to move from shame-based approaches and imprisonment to compassionate approaches to issues regarding social harm from individual behavior."

That would be a huge step away from the conservative narrative.

[RainDog]

64. thanks

yes. shame-based thinking is the modus operandi of conservatives that allows them to assume all sorts of things about people with hardships that are not in evidence.

it's a conservative mindset we need to get beyond.

[Festivito]

42. Also from 30 years ago, alcohol for pigs.

I recall the story from my Animal behavior class.

Pigs have a hierarchy. When they were given free alcohol the top pig drank until he was drunk and he lost his top notch position among his group.

he then quit drinking and regained his position.

The pig at the bottom of the hierarchy started drinking and never quit!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

43. poor socio-economic conditions

and a lack of enough space.

Overcrowd (OVERPOPULATE) the Rat Park and you will get the same results as the control group.

[Recursion]

46. Decades later there are still replicability problems

Still, it's a fascinating model and experiment.

[loudsue]

48. That really makes you go "hmm".

So many possibilities and applications this study has.

[Coyotl]

49. Well, now we know how to treat addicted rats.

We always knew "conventional wisdom" is an oxymoron

[eppur_se_muova]

71. ... but of course Congress will refuse to pay for it. nt

[wickerwoman]

52. Are rats smart enough to know the difference between tap water and water laced with morphine?

There must be some time delay between drinking the water and feeling the effect. Have they established that rats have the mental capacity to connect the positive feelings with something they drank several minutes earlier?

Were they offered a choice of waters in the earlier experiment? Sorry, I'm not that familiar with it. I went through DARE back when they were still showing 11 year olds how to cook heroin shots.

[jeff47]

62. If they didn't, you'd expect them to choose which to drink randomly.

So it would average out to 50-50, instead of leaning heavily towards tap water.

[wickerwoman]

66. You'd have to control for the flavor as well.

Maybe the morphine-laced water was bitter to rats, for example, and given a choice in this experiment (but not the previous one) they went for the better tasting water, not aware that the other one was the one that contained morphine which they would have chosen if they understood the cause and effect.

I'm not saying it's not impossible, but it seems incredible to me that the rats were actively avoiding the water with the morphine in it because they were so happy with their life circumstances they didn't want to get high, even recreationally.

[Laelth]

53. Confirms anecdotal evidence from homeless people.

Sheer boredom is at the root of a lot of drug use. Humans are not designed for loneliness, repetitive tasks, or eight hour shifts.

-Laelth

[dreamnightwind]

55. Treat their lives, not their addictions

This is a fascinating OP. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes, the rat addictive behavior is a function of their environment more than of an intrinsic control the drug has over them. Happy rats with interesting, varied, full lives, have little use for the drug. Seems obvious but for so long the "they'll just click that little drug lever till they die of starvation" meme has been pervasive in our society. Time to rethink a lot of things, such as treatment for addiction (maybe we could actually work to improve their life circumstances rather than punish their addiction or rather than treat their addiction as an irrational response to an ok situation.)

[RainDog]

70. It's also how MLK's thinking evolved regarding social justice

Last edited Tue Dec 3, 2013, 07:58 PM - Edit history (1)

He noted that society tries, too often, with a patchwork of programs, to address issues that are secondary to poverty. The real issue, poverty, was not addressed.

This idea is how he evolved in his thinking to support a basic minimum income to simply address poverty directly.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/08/martin-luther-kings-economic-dream-a-guaranteed-income-for-all-americans/279147/

[DeSwiss]

56. A real ''Quantum'' leap in thinking.

- There may yet be hope.

K&R

[Enthusiast]

57. Just incredible! nt

[riversedge]

63. Apparently the rodents in the natural environment were happy

and did not need the high. whow. I know the difficulties in extrapolating to humans but in this case anything is worth a try.

[Jesus Malverde]

65. I believe it was a combination of natural environment and connectedness/role to/in community.

See the above comments about alcohol and pigs.

[Warpy]

67. This is borne out in clinical practice in hospitals, too

I could theoretically give the whole candy store of opiates and benzos to any patient. As it was, I did around the clock medication for the first 48 hours after surgery and then let the patient decide. Even the patients who scared us by going "Whee!" when the drugs hit bottom didn't want to see the stuff for the rest of their lives after the first three days, even when they were still in significant pain, they just wanted their brains to go back to normal.

A study was done in Boston back in the 80s that followed patients who'd been on heavy opiates in the hospital. The study was huge, some 10,800+ patients. Guess how many new addictions they found.

C'mon. Guess.

They found four new addictions. Four. Out of nearly 11,000 people.

Those are statistics we can live with. People tend to use the stuff when they need to, but then they just want to be able to think straight. Few will turn into addicts.

I always suspected the rat study was bogus. For one thing, people aren't rats. Well, most of 'em. For the other, I just wasn't seeing it in the hospitals.

[deurbano]

69. Thanks for that info. My daughter is currently taking lots of morphine

(or so it seems to me) as she undergoes treatment (in the hospital) for lymphoma. (Not for pain, but for a cough caused by a tumor crushing a lung and her esophagus... a tumor that has already shrunk dramatically, thankfully.) The cough relief is great, but I have been a bit worried about the longterm implications of the morphine. Your info makes me feel better.

[Warpy]

73. She might become dependent on it for a while

which means that if it's stopped suddenly, she will feel awful. They will likely taper it down as her condition improves.

Very few people end up with a drug craving that leads to addiction. Dependency is a separate thing and relatively easy to treat, just withdraw the drug slowly.

[RainDog]

75. interesting

This also has something to say about those on the left, now, who are trying to create a fake "marijuana dependency" scare as a reason to argue against legalization.

Sadly, Patrick Kennedy is among those engaged in this dishonest propaganda.

As the govt. itself acknowledges, marijuana is less addictive than caffeine and stopping use has about the same level of discomfort, if not less, though most people show absolutely no signs of physical or psychological addiction to cannabis.

Some in the addictions treatment field have a vested interest in finding addiction where none exists because it benefits them, financially - so you'll get a lot of resistance to this idea from liberals who are vested in a particular pov based upon their employment, too.

[AlbertCat]

68. Who'da thunk it? QUALITY of life matters!

But let's not teach art and music in schools or even support the arts nationally.

And let's put Teabaggers in charge.... Teabaggers so unconcerned with quality they can't even bother to spell their signs correctly.

[Rex]

72. Who could have guessed that stress and depression would cause addiction

to mind altering drugs? Certainly not the rats!

[geardaddy]

74. Interesting. Bookmarking for later.

K and R

[Auntie Bush]

76. That's very interesting but...How do you explain

the fact that rich and upper middle class kids from nice homes and environment get addicted?

Also, having money or not wasn't considered.

[geek tragedy]

81. human brain chemistry is not the same as rat brain chemistry.

Also, people locked in small cages are the ones least able to get drugs.

Also, morphine is pretty weak stuff compared to heroin, meth, crack, etc

[RainDog]

82. this study was done to test another, earlier study

yes, humans and rats are different, but the original rat studies that showed rats would self-administer morphine until they died, and this was taken to mean ALL rats would do so. So this person changed the conditions of the experiment and the same actions for the rats didn't hold true.

...but that earlier study became the basis for a lot of assumptions about drugs and addiction, even tho, as you note, humans and rats are different.

what they study really contests is whether the first study had the last word to say about the issue in terms of how we frame the debate about drugs and addiction.

and, not only are humans and rats different, individual humans are different.

Addiction exists in some humans but not in others, and some things that are called addictions would be better labeled as habit - habits within particular environments also have different outcomes for different people.

Ranking the addictiveness of various things generally comes from animal studies.

[geek tragedy]

83. Good points, all. Was not aware of the prior study, and the confined space seems

like an source of bias in the original study.

Psychological addictions are more ideosyncratic, but physical addictions are a different story--e.g. cigarettes.

[RainDog]

84. this study calls the issue of physical addiction into question

Because the study also notes an interdependence between what would be assumed to be a physical addiction and a psychological one.

That's the point of creating a better psychological enviro for the rats - the physical dependence beliefs don't hold true.

And the guy did studies with humans that indicated a reward that was great enough was great enough to make some ignore whatever physical addiction might come into play.

This study is also borne out in studies of alcoholics. Those who have more to lose, in terms of jobs, family, etc show better rates of long-term abstinence from alcohol. That, of course, indicates a better social system is in place for the person - but it also has to do with someone having a future, in contrast to, say, someone with no family, no job that offers satisfaction beyond a check that often for a job that doesn't pay much - so no financial or creative satisfaction, etc.

I think addiction, like most things, is more complicated than is presented as an issue in society. It's pretty much a given, now, that addiction is often self-medication, and stopping the use of something is only the first step - so that the underlying problems can be addressed.

Nicotine, like caffeine, is the drug for a capitalist system because it's all about focusing attention and making it possible to work longer hours than someone might be able to otherwise.

Other interesting work concerning addiction has focused on things like ibogaine to "reset" the addict's brain. Unfortunately, psychotropics are illegal, even when they have medical value, because of their association with the 1960s. There's a sort of "underground railroad" of addicts helping addicts, tho, with ibogaine. Someone wrote about it not too long ago.

[geek tragedy]

85. With respect, the issue of physical addiction and withdrawal symptoms is more than the addict's

imagination.

To use a mild example, people who drink a lot of coffee during the work week find themselves getting a headache on Saturday if they don't drink any.

To use a severe example, heroin withdrawal:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000949.htm

[RainDog]

86. with respect - I wasn't making an all or nothing statement

I think physical addiction exists - I was talking about the interplay of physical addiction and psychological reward.

And, again, humans vary in their responses to different things.

I rarely drink alcohol, for instance...can take it or leave it easily and have gone for years at a time without ever drinking and never missed it. However, I know people who are alcoholics and they have times when they struggle to refrain from drinking, years after they've had a drink.

Our worlds, as far as that goes, are entirely different.

[geek tragedy]

87. We are in agreement.

People are wired differently--both in terms of synapses and also chemically. Some people find gambling or porn/sexual acting out addictive (hello Anthony Weiner) whereas others find food addictive, etc.

[RainDog]

88. Chemical addiction and behavioral addiction

are often lumped together because "addiction" is a word that has lost its clinical meaning so often, just as the word "depression" no longer means clinical depression to many but is a catch-all term.

The only behavioral "addiction" in the DSM-V is gambling, tho I'm sure there are other behaviors that people do that meet many of the standards.

fwiw.

I don't want to get off on a tangent, but since you brought it up the recent controversy, I thought it was useful to note that there are differences between behavioral and chemical compulsions. With all due respect.

I do think there's a difference between directly ingesting a chemical to act upon the brain and mediated behaviors that can be and often are compulsive for some people. The idea of "sex addiction" is disputed by recent research, and, again, is not considered an addiction by the most recent dx standards.

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/07/sex_addiction_study_ucla_researchers_find_that_sex_and_porn_might_not_actually.html

Does sex addiction really exist? A new study published in last week’s journal of Socioaffective Neuroscience and Psychology suggests that maybe it doesn’t—bad news for celebrities like Tiger Woods and Russell Brand who have made it trendy in recent years to claim a clinical addiction to sex as an explanation for sexual misbehavior.

The study (which, amazingly, is the first of its kind) measured how the brains of people who struggle with sexually compulsive behavior respond to sexual images. If sex can be addictive in the clinical sense, scientists theorized, then the neural response of sex addicts to pornography should mimic the neural responses of drug or alcohol addicts to their drugs of choice. Instead, researchers found that hypersexual brains don’t react in the same way as other addicts’ brains—in fact, the neural responses to pornography only varied based on levels of sexual libido, rather than on measures of sexual compulsivity. People with higher libidos had more active brain reactions to the sexual images than people with lower libidos, but that was the only correlation. Degrees of sexual compulsivity did not predict brain response at all. If the results of this first study can be replicated, it would represent a major challenge to the notion that sex and pornography can be literally addictive.

[geek tragedy]

89. Obvious differences between chemical ingestion and behavioral addictions.

But, would not be surprised if it is revealed that certain behaviors that produce a 'pay off' create a biochemical reaction in the brain similar to certain addictive drugs.

Tiger Woods was not a good example of addiction. Anthony Weiner is a better one--just couldn't stop, no matter what the consequences were.

At some point, habit-forming vs addiction gets to be semantics.

[RainDog]

90. except the one study doesn't support the assumption

and brain chemistry changes were the issue, not semantics.

[geek tragedy]

91. "one study" is hardly dispositive in this area nt

[RainDog]

92. yet it's the only one that has been done

so any other claims lack ANY support for the same.

[geek tragedy]

93. I did not say that there was support, only that I would not be surprised

if such support would be found in the future.

peace

[RainDog]

94. peace to you

I was simply noting that, for the sake of intellectual honesty, any claims to addiction are not currently supported, so if this claim is the basis for beliefs, the evidence does not exist.

...which reiterated the idea that "addiction" is a word that has lost its meaning as a clinical term within popular society.

And, in any case, the study in the OP questions how much an environment has as impact on chemical addiction as physiology, in terms of modifying behavior in positive or negative ways.