Introduction
The model of addiction etiology that best describes why people become addicted and the most effective ways of helping them is the integrated approach model. The integrated approach model received widespread attention and acclaim following the works of Dr. Gabor Mate that heavily relied on personal experiences and scientific investigations. The model relies heavily on an individual’s early development and highlights some stressors (traumas) that typically lead to lifelong addictions. The integrated approach to studying addiction is beneficial because it goes to the root of the problem and attempts to rectify it before onset, while also providing targeted counseling interventions for persons with addiction issues rather than the usual often ineffective one-size-fits-all approaches.
The integrated model holds that human beings and other animals need nurturing from their caregivers to survive and thrive optimally. As per the approach, children who lack secure and consistent interactions or who undergo painful/ stressing experiences experience mal-development. Therefore, traumatic experiences in childhood affect how individuals react to stress in later life (Máté & Levine, 2020). Trauma in children, including abandonment, or emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, often retard a child’s coping mechanisms and lead the child to become more reactive to stress throughout their lives.
Dr. Gabor Mate openly divulges information about his childhood experiences that pushed him into drug addiction at some point in his life. According to the narrative, he experienced war, and witnessed forced labor, bombings, deportations, hunger, and disease (dysentery) in the first twelve years of his childhood, severely affecting his emotional state, behavior, and personality (Máté & Levine, 2020). As he continued to interact with other drug addicts, ascertain their stories, and also explore the works of reputed scientists in the field, he became more convinced that human beings are largely creatures of the environment. Early experiences and surroundings go a long way in influencing people’s behaviors and emotions in life.
According to Dr. Mate Gabor, addiction tendencies begin before birth and run through to early adulthood, shaping the circuitry of the developing brain. Science reveals that drug addiction during pregnancy can affect the growing fetus and create specific predispositions in them even before birth. Máté & Levine (2020), assert that children that suffer trauma and neglect in early childhood often develop the tendency to work hard to make themselves wanted. They move along with the idea that there are unlovable due to their early experiences and hence strive harder than others to attempt to fit into society. In the end, such persons are more susceptible to peer influence because of their heightened desperation to feel wanted and accepted by others, something they lacked in early life. Thus, when such persons attend colleges where there is little freedom, for example, and interact with individuals with drug-abusing tendencies, they quickly become negatively influenced due to their desire to please their associates.
The integrated model draws its observations based on sound scientific investigations from reliable sources. Numerous epidemiological surveys concerning drug addicts globally repeatedly report extraordinarily high percentages of various childhood traumas, including emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. For example, the Adverse Childhood Experiences study (ACE) investigated the effects of ten different painful scenarios on thousands of participants. Some of the circumstances included parental divorce, sexual/ physical abuse, the death of a parent, alcohol abuse within the family, and family violence. The researchers found that for each of the ACEs investigated, the risk of drug addiction increased by at least double (Moustafa et al., 2021). Participants that endured five or more of the adverse childhood experiences evaluated exhibited 7-10 times more likelihood of developing substance abuse problems.
Many people become addicted to ease away lifelong pains acquired from childhood. Science indicates that early childhood trauma stunts brain development in people. For instance, brain imaging in adults who underwent sexual abuse as children reveals abnormalities that heighten the chances of substance addiction. In a study evaluating the EEGs of adults who suffered sexual trauma, most participants had abnormal brain waves and about 35% exhibited seizure activity (Simon & Dockett, 2017). Furthermore, mistreated children often have smaller brains, especially in critical areas. In a discourse concerning depressed women with previous abuse histories, the hippocampus was roughly 15% smaller than average sizes, affecting their emotions and behaviors. Other women with depression but lacking abuse histories exhibited normal brain sizes, showing the problem to be earlier trauma rather than depression.
Counter-Argument
Despite the proven scientific link between early childhood experiences and addiction tendencies, many scholars still argue that the case remains inconclusive. For one, many cite the lack of gender differences as a factor in the studies exploring childhood trauma and addiction as a source of weakness. Moreover, issues arise where children from stable and affluent homes grow up to become addicts in the absence of major trauma during childhood. The integrated model approach also fails, as per assertions, to highlight the role that religion, counseling, and legislation against drug use play in preventing addiction in persons with or without early childhood traumas (Kosecka & Stelmach, 2020). Could the lack of religion, counseling, and adequate legislation (and enforcement) play significant roles in addiction statistics? The questions remain largely unanswered in the integrative model. Also, the approach does not emphasize the function of accessibility to drugs in exacerbating the problem
Rebuttal
The assertions held out in the integrated model approach receive credible backing from scientific investigations, and transcend mere hearsay or conjecture. Scientific studies on drug-abusing individuals indicate that a vast percentage (majority) previously endured childhood trauma of various kinds, such as emotional, sexual, or physical abuse. According to Merrick et al. (2019), studies conducted in vivo demonstrate that major changes occur in the neurotransmitter systems in less than seven days of separation from the mother. On the other hand, children who receive unbroken nurturing contact from their mothers during infancy demonstrate better brain circuitry, which helps lower anxiety and promotes coping during adulthood. Further, in vivo, scientific investigations highlight that animals who suffer prenatal stress illustrate features of alcoholism, drug dependency, and enhanced risks of self-administration of medication.
Science shows that there are three primary brain systems involved in addiction, including the self-regulation region, the dopamine-based-incentive-motivation system, and the opioid attachment-reward system. The three major mental systems do not function optimally in persons with addiction problems, to varying degrees. Nurturing during growth aids in the healthy development of vital brain systems that are responsible for crucial drives like motivation, incentive, pleasure, connection, love, and pain relief (Simon & Dockett, 2017). Mal-development occurs in all genders in the absence of secure connections, leading to poor coping mechanisms and susceptible behavioral and emotional tendencies.
Conclusion
Early exposure to stressors and developmental trauma results in several neurobiological defects, such as alterations in brain circuit functions that later manifest in substance addiction and dependence. Traumatic experiences like abuse, neglect, or abandonment in early life retard stress coping mechanisms and leave individuals more reactive to stress in life. As a result, such persons attempt to self-soothe through drugs, as a response to stress and consequently develop dependence or abuse disorders. The information gleaned from the integrated model helps professionals to correctly identify the cause of addiction in persons and develop targeted intervention approaches, rather than shooting in the dark by merely scratching the surface and soothing symptoms. The integrated approach gets to the root of the issue and helps develop lasting solutions for those crying for help.
References
Kosecka, K., & Stelmach, E. (2020). Childhood trauma and the prevalence of alcohol dependence in adulthood. Current Problems of Psychiatry, 21(4), 288–293. Web.
Máté, G., & Levine, P. A. (2020). In In the realm of hungry ghosts: Close encounters with addiction. North Atlantic Books.
Merrick, M. T., Ford, D. C., & Houry, D. E. (2019). Early Childhood Trauma and Substance Misuse and Addiction : An Opportunity for Prevention. Oxford University Press. Web.
Moustafa, A. A., Parkes, D., Fitzgerald, L., Underhill, D., Garami, J., Levy-Gigi, E., Stramecki, F., Valikhani, A., Frydecka, D., & Misiak, B. (2021). The relationship between childhood trauma, early-life stress, and alcohol and drug use, abuse, and addiction: An integrative review. Current Psychology, 40(2), 579. Web.
Simon, R., & Dockett, L. (2017). The Addict in All of Us: Gabor Maté’s Unflinching Vision. Psychotherapy Networker Magazine, 41(4), 32–44.