Are We Looking At Addiction All Wrong?

We ask author and psychiatrist Dr Anirudh Kala

- Priya Pathiyan

What is it about addictive substances that holds such power over us?

First of all, it’s important to understand that addiction is not rooted to a particular substance or activity, but rather in the high one derives from it. The desire to alter one’s state of consciousness for a brief while—a ‘holiday from reality’—is an inherent biological trait.

And it’s not just people who have this desire: many animals have been documented indulging themselves in compounds that provide no other value except a high. Catnip, a common herb, is believed to give cats a sense of euphoria. Elephants have been seen getting drunk on fermented mahua flowers, a well known local alchoholic beverage in east India. Parrots have been found to repeatedly fly off with poppy flowers from fields where opium is legally grown. The ways of achieving a high are different, but the instinct is the same.

What are the most insidious addictions gripping society today?