Factors in the Development of Addictions, Compulsive Behaviors and Bad Habits

There are many factors that play in the development of addictions, compulsive behaviors and bad habits, which is why two people from the same background, even from the same family, can have similar experiences and one will develop an addiction while the other won"t.

Peer pressure is a major factor in the development of addictions in teenagers, according to the book Adolescent Relationships and Drug Use, a scholarly study that explores the communicative and relational causes of adolescent drug use. According to the authors, "peer pressure is especially important for the initiation of drug use, as perceived disapproval by friends has a greater impact on starting to use drugs than perceived disapproval by parents." (Miller, Alberts, Hecht, Tross, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000)

This same book goes on to state that a teenager"s social network can be directly responsible for him taking up drugs. "One of the two most frequently provided explanations for using drugs is social cohesion or belonging, particularly among middle school students," the authors state. They postulate that providing the teenager with the communication skills to refuse drugs is critical to both preventing drug abuse and maintaining sobriety: "The ability to say "no" both gracefully and convincingly has been shown to be a vital aspect of drug abuse and smoking prevention programs."

For activities like smoking, which starts out as a bad habit and can develop into an addiction, prevention is key because if you stop the habit before the chemical addiction kicks in it"s much easier to treat permanently. In the book Handbook of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, the authors state that effective drug prevention campaigns "have utilized social influences, skills acquisition for resisting peer pressure, and correction of erroneous perceptions of social norms." (Raczynski, DiClemente, Springer, 1999)

In a paper that examined possible causes for addictions, including genetics and response to stress, researchers from the Rockefeller University in New York and the University of Helsinki in Finland wrote three possible categories contributed to the development of addiction: environmental factors, drug-induced factors (i.e., if a particular drug is physically addictive), and genetic factors. The researchers went on to describe the environmental factors as including pre-natal events like drug addiction in the mother; negative events from childhood such as child abuse; current environmental factors like "peer pressure, cues, conditioning, setting for drug self-exposure, and concomitant ongoing psychiatric diagnosis, such as depression or anxiety;" and external stressors such as job loss, divorce or family illness. (Kreek, LaForge, 2007)

Compulsive behaviors have similar complex causes. In fact, in the book Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders, the author states, "Compulsive behaviors and substance abuse are similar in the way the brain processes them in terms of rewards".It appears that the behavior pattern of drug addiction and other repetitious self-defeating compulsive behaviors is analogous in that either positive or negative emotions lead to a behavior that is experienced as pleasurable and that triggers the release of endorphins and dopamine (feel-good chemicals) in the brain." (Masters, Sage, 2003)

Since the causes of addictions, bad habits and compulsive behaviors are so complex, treating them permanently requires addressing the underlying psychological causes, including social pressure, anxiety and poor communication skills.  Tools that improve patients" confidence and communication while decreasing anxiety are key weapons for them in the fight against addiction, compulsive behavior or bad habits, because once they leave the treatment program, they"ll need to reinforce the new positive behaviors they"ve learned constantly. For example, NLP can help addicts form the proper response to be able to say no with confidence, while hypnosis and guided imagery can reduce stress levels so they"re not tempted to turn back to the addictive substance.