Because of the myths surrounding addiction, it is important to unpack the term and arrive at an understanding of its true nature. Essentially, addiction (now referred to as substance-use disorder) is a psychological disorder. One misconception is that we are born with an addictive personality or a set of traits which predisposes us to develop an addiction.
The best evidence shows us that there is no such thing as an addictive personality! Another misconception is that addiction is a brain disease and our brains are hijacked by drugs or substances and we are powerless to change that. This is based on a theory which has been disproven many times.
A third misconception is that we have an addictive gene. This has not been proven. The root cause of addiction is based on trauma, trauma which affects our ability to cope and leads to pain.
