Written and Researched by Andrew John Tucker, LCSW, CASAC Master
www.addictiontherapynyc.com
Imagine if addiction were actually a superpower? People with substance use disorder often experience stigma and shame from an identity of feeling broken or genetically cursed — but what if we reframe addiction as the form of strength is actually is? Drawing on Dr. Anna Rose Childress’s groundbreaking work, we begin to see addiction not as weakness, but as incentive sensitivity taken to extremes. Dr. Childress goes on to describe individuals with addiction as “the fittest of the fit”— and those “exquisitely attuned to the promise of rewards,” who in ancestral environments would be the first to secure food or reproductive opportunities as a direct result of their sensitivities. This in turn can have the opposite effect of creating more pride and self esteem hence healthier releases of dopamine and oxytocin.
Neuroscience supports this evolutionary lens. Genetic and heritable factors account for 40–60% of addiction risk, and heightened dopamine sensitivity in the mesolimbic pathway can make reward cues—from crack pipes subliminally flashing on a screen to emotional triggers—powerfully compelling. Childress’s own lab used rapid images of drug paraphernalia to demonstrate this subconscious cue activation cpdd.org+11nationalgeographic.com+11radiolab.org+11.
This matters—big time—for us as clinicians and clients:
- Empowering Reframing: Viewing addiction as a biological superpower reclaims strengths and reduces shame.
- Personalized Treatment: We can align interventions—like cue exposure therapy or dopamine stabilization strategies—with individuals’ neural reward sensitivity.
- Recovery Tools: Tools such as contingency management and intentional reward substitution offer alternative, safer outlets for a strong reward system.
Most of all, we must as a community always work to steer against the intense feelings of deficiency that go along with addiction. The term “strength based approach” is one of our most useful philosophies.
Original article:
Childress, A. R. (Radiolab interview). Simple Fix.
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