Although there are many types and manifestations of addiction, and various addictive substances and behaviors have different electrochemical and neurochemical effects on us, one of the main things they all do is create a dump into our systems of the neurotransmitter dopamine. This makes us feel good by changing our brain wave states.

The effects of drinking alcohol are a powerful example of how this happens, because when we drink alcohol our system goes into what’s called an alpha-wave state, and the central nucleus of the amygdala in our brains, which is a pain center, is calmed. This is much the same sense that we get when we’re meditating, or when we’re doing yoga, we go into alpha-wave state, calming the amygdala. So, why don’t we all meditate or do yoga instead of reaching for an addictive substance?

It’s not us, it’s our brains. In addition to being a pain center, the amygdala is also where psychological trauma from our past and constructs about our sense of Self and agency are encoded. For those who are living with encoded trauma, such as a lack of sense of internalized safety, their systems often do not generate alpha waves at the same levels that a normal, healthy brain do, if at all. Their systems are existing in that that unsafe state, and so they are reaching for a quick, powerful activation of dopamine in order to modulate themselves.