According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences. Prevention efforts and treatment approaches for addiction are generally as successful as those for other chronic diseases.
I appreciate the definition above for including behaviors that become compulsive, as an addiction. Easily recognized, most substance, or drug addictions are relatively easy to identify in society. With advancements in treatment, pharmaceuticals, and therapy, recovery from substance abuse is easily attainable if one chooses treatment. Addictive behaviors, on the other hand, are as old as man himself, but not easily identified as an addiction, and may go undetected for an entire lifetime.
Just as substance and chemical addictions can be passed down genetically through the DNA, I am most certain that behavioral addictions, undetected are also passed down from one generation to the next. Because culture is continually advancing, these addictions may go undetected in many high functioning addicts, many of whom are in charge of families, communities, and even nations. Oftentimes, the harmful consequences of high functioning people with behavioral addictions, affect those around them and those whom they are in charge of. History, unfortunately has missed the the addictions of many influential figures that have shaped our world. Especially those who had an addiction to power. As the saying goes, "Hindsight is 20/20". But sad to say, it's usually too late for the victims of this disease in its relation to the abuse of power.
The question now is, how can behavioral addictions, especially addictions to power be passed down undetected? The answer simply put is, the behavior becomes tolerated and normalized by cultures that gradually became weakened with every act of removing individuality that went unchallenged. Ancient writing calls this, "moving the boundary line, little by little", until it has moved so far, that people forgot there was even a line to begin with.
For example, when I first began teaching in the Public Schools, Special Education was not as inclusive as it is now. Students with particular behavioral challenges were placed in self-contained classes along with peers with similar needs. One rightful concern with this model was that some felt that these students were in a sense, isolated and not included as part of the school community. This was a valid concern. However, a few years after restructuring the self-contained model, I began to see a shift school culture as a whole.
The students with high needs, who were integrated into the general education population quickly became part of the classroom community, which was beneficial for all students in developing empathy, tolerance, and understanding of peers with special needs. However, some students who had special behavioral needs, who lacked impulse control, had poor social skills to appropriately interact, became class leaders. The difficult behaviors they struggled with, began to be displayed in peers, who looked up to them. Soon afterwards, the inappropriate behaviors began to become the norm, as opposed to the exception.
As a classroom teacher with many years of experience, noticing shifts in class culture and pinpointing when shifts in classroom gradually occurred, became second nature. In the world at large, on the other hand, although not impossible, it is much more difficult to pinpoint when dysfunctional or addictive behaviors became the norm, as opposed to being an exception. Once something becomes a normalized, those who inherit the situation, accept it as a reality, not realizing there was a cultural shift that had taken place at some specific point. For example, if a new teacher had inherited my class mid-year, they might have assumed the dysfunctional behaviors displayed were just part of the class culture if they didn't know that it only began a few weeks after a specific student with a strong personality, joined the class.
Our current reality and our current world is the sum of the past. As societies increasingly struggle with crime, violence, depression, drug use, and poverty, there has to come a time of social reflection and analysis in order for understanding and appropriate action to be taken to address the physical manifestations of deeper issues in both our personal lives, and in our communities.
A doctor applying a bandage or prescribing medication to treat a disease that requires surgery, only allows the disease to continue to spread. Behavioral addiction, like any other disease, needs to be treated to prevent it from becoming the social norm that morphs in each generation.
Despite both small scale and large scale harmful consequences, like in a classroom, those addicted to power, yet charismatic enough, have oftentimes come into positions of power, leading the way in history. Blind obedience of only a few, was all it took to change history, shifting culture, that influenced thinking, and gave life to values that later on proved to be detrimental to peaceful coexistence on earth.
It is human nature to be drawn to powerful personalities, who oftentimes are powerful leaders. Leaders possess qualities that give families, businesses, and nations a sense of stability. The problem arises when those being led are so distracted by the personality, they become unable to discern and distinguish being led for the good of all, from being led at the expense of some. The clues and signs are there, but often ignored by the majority, swept away by group culture, that the silences the voice of those who question the authority or power being exercised.
Today, we can say that we learned from the past, the consequences of not considering, ignoring, or just drowning out unpopular voices who suggested a different opinion about behavior perceived as strong leadership, as being nothing more that indoctrination and manipulation by self-centered motives, never revealed in the present, but usually regretted in future generations who have to live with the new standards and norms of existing.
I wish I could say that world change will happen if we all work together, become more tolerant, more kind and loving toward one another. All of those things are great, but since we're still dealing with the same issues that has existed from the beginning, like violence, hatred, wars, tells us the problem is deeper than what our eyes see. Real change must begin on an individual level. The desire for change, the ability to think for ourselves, and the courage to accept uncomfortable truths are the ingredients needed to make personal changes we want to see in the world. We are living in a pivotal moment in time where the world is becoming one global community with each nation having their own dysfunctions. This means dysfunction in one part of the world will effect us all.
A wise teacher once asked, "Can the blind lead the blind? Won't they both fall into a pit?" Simply put, be mindful of who it is, you let, lead you, your heart, and your thoughts. Did you give the authority to lead you, to someone who is leading you towards stability and for your good, or are you being led by someone who gets a high from the idea of being in control?
So people with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences. These consequences generally affect the individual, their family, and perhaps the community in which they live. However, if someone in charge has behavioral addiction, specifically addiction to power, how might that manifest itself in cultures and communities both now, and later down the line? More importantly, what might the consequences be on individual levels and in society today, if addiction to power is the driving force that has been shaping norms for generations? What will our world look like?
Let's Pray: Heavenly Father, thank You for creating us in your image and likeness. Thank you for the gifts and talents you have placed in us to use for Your purposes here on earth. We repent of giving away our power to others. Forgive us for idolizing people, comparing ourselves, measuring our worth, and validating our feelings based on the approval and likes from man. Forgive us and remind us who we are in Your sight. Reveal to us, our true nature. Help us to be content with who we are as individuals, uniquely created by You, for Your purpose in this generation. Give us the desire to live the way You created us to live, and to think the way You created us to think, for our own good. We honor You and thank You for patience and Your mercy on us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Matthew 22:36
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