Annotated Bibliography
Why do people develop
addictions? Centre for
Addiction and Mental Health.
CAMH, Web. 21 Sep. 2016.
Understanding Addiction.
[Link]. Help Guide,
Web. 21 Sep. 2016.
Mindfulness Meditation &
There are three possible
factors that can affect
addiction. A biological
viewpoint would suggest that
we inherit addictive
behaviours from a sibling or
parent. The psychological
factor of addiction plays a big
part with immediate
gratification. Negative habits
seem okay because negative
consequences dont come
until later. Availability of drugs
is also important to consider.
Addiction is often an escape
from distressing life
circumstances like
depression and anxiety. In
this way, whatever the person
is attached to seems very
rewarding. The cycle of
addiction can cause problems
stemming from the addiction
to create even worse
problems, drawing you further
into addiction.
Maybe this is because we
learn from people we look up
to like parents. This is a
possible reason why a whole
family can be addicted.
From a physiological
perspective, the brain shows
a huge release of dopamine
in the nucleus accumbens.
Stronger dopamine releases
create stronger connection in
the brain. So shooting a drug
versus swallowing it can
make a big difference. When
the drug of choice is
repeatedly exposed to the
nerve cells in the nucleus
accumbens, it communicates
with the prefrontal cortex (the
area that executes and plans
tasks) causing us to seek the
drug. Because of tolerance, it
drives the addict to search for
more and more of the drug.
Does the endless drive for
pleasure create a lot of pain?
For a long time scientists
When addiction occurs we fail
to make the connection that it
actually hurts us. If something
is good at first and becomes
bad, was it ever good?
When you can walk down to
the store on the corner and
pick up your drug of choice,
are you more likely to abuse
it?
Addiction is rewarding
because it offers instant
connection to life and escape
from pain.
This is a good explanation of
why the cycle of addiction
occurs.
It all comes down to
dopamine. Once you build a
tolerance to something that
made you feel good, you
need more and more
dopamine to feel good again.
Addiction is a simple process.
Breaking addiction is
complicated.
Most people are addicted to
something because of how
easy it is to get addicted.
I wonder if meditation helps
Addiction.
[Link].
Psychology Today, Web. 7
Oct. 2016.
believed that after we
become adults, our brains
lose much of their plasticity.
Although new research
shows that the brain structure
can definitely be changed
and strengthened into
adulthood. One scientist
discovered that changing
thought processes actually
changes the structures in the
brain. With more meditation
practice, the brain becomes
thicker in certain regions.
Practice positively affects the
emotion area part of the
brain. This allows the
parasympathetic nervous
system to relax any anxiety,
causing the muscles, heart
rate, and breathing to calm
down. This practice actually
rewires the brain, allowing
new pathways for self
betterment to be created.
"Why Teach Meditation in
breaking the pathways of
addiction in the brain or if it
just helps making new wiser
pathways?
This still makes me wonder
why its so challenging to
overcome addiction.
If we wait too long to change
our ways into adulthood, will
it be too late?
This prison has a special
meditation program in which
Prison?" Wildmind Buddhist
Meditation. Wildmind, n.d. Web. a group of inmates participate
in meditation and group
13 Oct. 2016.
therapy. Each inmate follows
the buddhist precepts of
nonviolence, respect for
others, honest, and
abstination from intoxicants.
There are many reported
breakthrough stories where a
previously violent inmate
starts protecting his weaker
peers. Many in the group are
sex offenders. After settling in
and meditating for about 20
minutes they participate in
group talk therapy where they
each have a chance to talk
about their feelings and learn
to listen empathetically.
This seems like a really
awesome program for
prisoners: people with drug
addiction, or violent
tendencies.
Portlandpsych. "Riding the
Wave: Using Mindfulness to
This idea really makes sense
to me. The problem I and
This site describes a
technique called urge surfing.
Prison is probably one of the
best places to learn this type
of thing. Although loud and
disruptive, it might be a good
place to curb ones harmful
tendencies.
Help Cope with Urges -."
This type of meditation is
Portland Psychotherapy. N.p., specifically crafted to
2016. Web. 14 Oct. 2016.
overcome ones harmful
urges. You begin by sitting
quietly and closing your eyes.
You focus on the bodily
sensation the urge is making.
Someone who wants to
smoke might start to sweat or
experience some other
uncomfortable sensation.
After focusing on this
sensation for a bit, you return
your focus to the breath until
the urge passes. By using
this technique, youre able to
become aware of when you
are craving and slowly
dismiss it.
probably most people have is
resisting something that isnt
very good for you in the long
run. By using this technique,
you can develop a practical
way to overcome your
addictive tendencies. I think if
more people knew about or
were more open minded to
this, it could help them a lot.
Foundationsnetwork. "Noah
Levine on Addiction,
Recovery and Buddhism."
YouTube. YouTube, 2014.
Web. 14 Oct. 2016.
Noah Levine is the creator of
Dharma Punx. He leads
meditation group and
buddhist teachings. There are
open to everyone, but
specifically he opens his
arms to punk rockers, drug
addicts, and generally
anyone on the fringe of
society. He has multiple full
sleeve and neck tattoos and
yet speaks calmly and wisely
of societal issues and the
roots of our suffering. His
philosophy follows that punk
rockers and rebels really
have the same core as
buddhists. He says they both
see whats not good about
this world.
This is probably a prime
example of how meditation
could help people change
their entire lives. Levine is
walking proof that with
practice someone can deter
old habits and become a
better person.
Paindoctor. "The Pain Of
Addiction - Pain Doctor." Pain
Doctor. N.p., 2016. Web. 14
Oct. 2016.
This describes the pains of
alcohol addiction. Physically,
alcohol alters your brains
chemistry. Anytime a
substance is consumed, your
brain changes slightly.
Anyone can become addicted
to a substance, even after the
first time. Eventually your
I could see how urge surfing
would be very useful in
combatting the powerful
desire to relapse.
body becomes dependent on
the substance, and
depending on what it is, you
can suffer physical withdrawls
from not taking it. Mentally,
most substance remove
stress from your life. This can
lead to a strong dependence
where we find it hard to relax
without the drug of choice.
Once someone has found
something to comfort them,
its very difficult to break the
habit because without the
substance, very terrible
thoughts begin to occur of
distressing past or future
situations.
"Higher Power in AA." Alcohol This site takes an interesting
Rehab. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. look at why most recovering
2016.
addicts and the 12 step
program point to the
necessity of a higher power.
To remain all inclusive, this
rehab stresses the
importance that it doesnt
have to be a God figure for
everyone. To a buddhist it
could be taking faith in the
wise words of the
Buddha, but for a Christian it
could mean handing all your
desires over to God in
exchange for freedom. The
reason its seemingly so
important is because tackling
a powerful addiction on your
own is very potentially one of
the hardest things youll ever
do. Putting faith in something
bigger than you brings a
more meaningful sense to
life.
[Link]. "The Science
of Drug Abuse and Addiction:
The Basics." National
Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA). N.p., n.d. Web. 14
In 2011 more than 40000
people died from
unintentional drug overdoses.
More than 20000 of those are
prescription drug overdoses.
Meditation is possibly useful
because it allows you to
release stress in a healthy
way instead of self
medicating problems.
This is why very few fully
break addictions.
I included this resource
because all AA meetings will
say some sort of prayer. That
made me wonder why
religion seems to be such a
big tool when tackling
addiction.
This is important because it
shows the universality of all
religions and how they all aim
for inner peace.
Is addiction that harmful? A
lot of people die from it. This
statistic doesnt even include
people who die from eating
addiction, smoking, and other
Oct. 2016.
"Meditation Increase Brain Size
& Function(s) - [Link]."
[Link]. N.p., 2012. Web.
14 Oct. 2016.
This website explains that
someone is an addict only
once theyve begun to use
something inappropriately.
Although this is a blurry line,
it also means that everyone is
capable of being addicted to
something and not even
realizing it! A good way to
measure whether you are
dependent on something is
continued use of something
even after it displays strong
social and personal problems
for the users. This means that
the real hard part about
quitting, is combatting urges.
Addiction is a problem
because it takes over the
users life. This means that
your whole day can be
planned around achieving a
drug that will only keep you
momentarily excited.
addictions that kill you slowly.
This article explains how our
brain actually changes when
we participate in any activity.
When we sleep our brains
produce delta waves. When
we relax our brains produce
alpha waves and when we
focus, during meditation, our
brains release theta waves.
According to this study on
meditators heart rate and
brain scans. The meditators
with the lowest heart rate
during meditations showed
the biggest brain scan
changes. Even those who
lowered their heart rate only
slightly, still showed massive
changes in their brains. The
yogis surveyed in the study
displayed extremely thicker
brains than those who work
regular jobs and dont
meditate.
Although this doesnt directly
address addiction, I thought it
was still interesting to use
because it shows how your
brain actually changes when
you meditate.
This is helpful information
because it gives some helpful
signs of having adopted
addicted nature.
If meditation is implemented
here the cycle could be
broken.
Interesting that there is a
direct bodily connection.