Molecular Neurobiology of Addiction Recovery: The 12 Steps Program and Fellowship (SpringerBriefs in Neuroscience)

Humans are biologically programmed to seek out pleasurable experiences. These experiences are processed in the mesolimbic system, also referred to as the "reward center" of the brain, where a number of chemical messengers work in concert to provide a net release of dopamine in the Nucleus Accumbens. In some genetically predisposed individuals, addiction occurs when the mechanisms of the mesolimbic system are disrupted by the use of various drugs of abuse. Since Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935, it's 12 step program of spiritual and character development has helped countless alcoholics and drug addicts curb their self-destructive behaviors. However, the program was developed at a time when comparatively little was known about the function of the brain and it has never been studied scientifically. This is the first book to take a systematic look at the molecular neurobiology associated with each of the 12 steps and to review the significant body of addiction research literature that is pertinent to the program.​ Preface 6 Acknowledgments 8 Contents 9 1 Introduction 11 1.1...Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotic Anonymous 16 References 17 2 Molecular Neurobiology of Recovery with the Twelve Steps 21 2.1...Step 1: We Admitted that We were Powerless Over Alcohol---that Our Lives had Become Unmanageable 21 2.1.1 Loss of Control (Powerlessness) and Molecular Neurobiology 22 2.1.2 Unmanageable 26 2.2...Step 2: Came to Believe that a Power Greater than Ourselves Could Restore Us to Sanity 28 2.2.1 Genospirituality 29 2.2.2 Sanity 33 2.2.3 Development of a Genetic Map to Identify Individuals at Risk for Impaired Judgment 36 2.3...Step 3: Made a Decision to Turn Our Will and Our Lives Over to the Care of God as We Understood Him 38 2.3.1 Will/Control 38 2.4...Step 4: Made a Searching and Fearless Moral Inventory of Ourselves 42 2.4.1 Brain Reward Circuitry Impairment During Protracted Abstinence 43 2.5...Step 5: Admitted to God, to Ourselves, and to Another Human Being the Exact Nature of Our Wrongs 48 2.5.1 Understanding the High Mind 48 2.5.2 Insights into the Mystery of Anxiety and Aggressive Behavior of the Alcoholic 53 2.6...Step 6: Were Entirely Ready to have God Remove All These Defects of Character 54 2.6.1 Honesty 56 2.7...Step 7: Humbly Asked Him to Remove Our Shortcomings 57 2.8...Step 8: Made a List of All Persons We had Harmed, and Became Willing to Make Amends to Them All 60 2.8.1 Friendship 60 2.8.2 Families 61 2.8.3 Happiness 62 2.9...Step 9: Made Direct Amends to Such People Wherever Possible, Except When to do so Would Injure Them or Others 65 2.10...Step 10: Continued to Take Personal Inventory and When We were Wrong Promptly Admitted it 69 2.11...Step 11: Sought Through Prayer and Meditation to Improve Our Conscious Contact with God, as We Understood Him, Praying Only for Knowledge of His Will for Us and the Power to Carry that Out 73 2.12...Step 12: Having had a Spiritual Awakening as the Result of These Steps, We Tried to Carry this Message to Alcoholics, and to Practice These Principles in All Our Affairs 77 References 81 3 Conclusions 93 References 95 Index 96 Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-10 Molecular Neurobiology of Recovery with the Twelve Steps....Pages 11-82 Conclusions....Pages 83-85 Back Matter....Pages 87-89