Friday, October 2, 2009

Cravings

Cravings are an uncomfortable, intrusive, obsessional thought that can initiate an action to obtain the specific object or activity. A craving is an extreme biological response to take away (or numb) pain.

Desire, want and need are normal biological responses without the obsessional features that define craving. We all have cravings. They can range from small pangs of pain that can be ignored up the scale to pain that interferes with our concentration and ability to perform tasks and ultimately ends in a focus that will remove the pain at all costs.

An early bible story tells of two brothers - one who was so hungry that he gave away his birth right for a bowl of stew. His hunger was so powerful that he threw away something of great importance. It was only when the pain was removed, his stomach full, that he realized what he did. Remember, yesterday's post shared how our ability to think logically goes down relative to the stresses in our lives.

Originally, cravings were a response meant to occurr only when survival was at stake. Starvation, for example, would produce intense pain and allow only those thoughts/actions that would remove the pain such as get food at all costs! But the more sin enters our life, wounds make their mark on our hearts - a different type of pain has set in. This new kind of pain is emotional pain and needs to be addressed as well as physical pains.

But what happens to those who have not been allowed to express their emotions or have been subject to emotional abuse? How do they rid themselves of the pain? Like a physical wound, emotional wounds end up in our bodies and if left to fester they will infect us. Treatment of emotional wounds include the ability to express the emotions and have them accepted in a positive way. The problem is that we are relying on other emotionally wounded people who are not perfect to meet our need. They often make the wound worse. So we turn to alternatives.

A recent newsclip shared about a new addiction that is sweeping our culture - the internet! A young student shared about his journey of playing an online video game. It began quite innocent but before he knew it he was playing more than 14 hours a day. In fact, he stopped attending college classes in order to play. Through therapy he found that through playing the game, he entered a world where he wasn't judged by others because they couldn't see him. In fact, he played a character in the game where he possessed extreme power which brought him respect.

He contrasts that to his lonely real-world where he is thought of as a 'geek' and was socially awkward. He escaped his this pain and entered a world where he was not only accepted, but pushed up in the ranks as a master. What power that he could not attain otherwise! Remember that the limbic system does not understand information. For you or I to explain the stupidity of this logic would be a futile effort. He knew it as well - but his limbic system had a need to be accepted. He stumbled across the solution and his brain drove him to repeatedly obtain that same emotion at any cost.

Cravings are a short-cut to getting our needs met. In the example above, if the need of being part of the crowd had been met, most likely he wouldn't have developed this craving to play games in a fantasy world. The body is designed to crave the ‘thing’ that takes away the pain. The ‘thing,’ however, is meant to be something good. Food, relationship, clothing, and shelter are examples of good things that meet our needs. But we've learned to live in a 'drive-through' or 'microwave' world where we want the need met now - and magnified.

We've learned not only can we get our needs met quickly through a substitute, but we can obtain the satisfaction much more stronger and intensly than through natural channels. Let's sumarize a few blog posts together - Our bodies are always seeking to balance themselves (homeostasis), and they are designed to cause us to seek what we need to function at an optimum level. This is all done through chemicals in our bodies that send messages through the pathways in our brain - and thus messages to instruct the body.

Most of us aren't craving the basics such as food, clothing or shelter for our survival. While that is a sad reality for many in the world, most of us take the natural things we need and exploit them to increase our satisfaction or substitute what was meant to bring balance with a much easier alternative. For example, we are designed for relationships. But most often, the emotional damage we incur came from relationships. So the natural response is to avoid the thing that harmed us - the relationship. So we begin walking down an unnatural path. Many substitute food, shopping and many other alternatives rather than close intimate relationships.

Beyond the basic human needs, healthy relationships are our biggest need. They set a chemical reaction in our bodies that give satisfaction. The hormone, oxytocin, for example, plays an important role in bonding and building trust. The July issue of Psychiatry reports a study which shows that oxytocin is associated with the ability to maintain healhty interpersonal relationships and healthy psychological boundaries with other people. A relaxation massage can increase levels of oxytocin. Holding a child, hugging someone and patting someone on the back can raise oxytocin. But the recollection of a negative memory causes oxytocin to be reduced. Mothers who have not bonded well with their child have been shown to have low levels of oxytocin. Chemicals make a difference in how we attach, thus how we relate to others. This is only one of many examples of how our mind impact our chemical balance - and ultimately our ability to sustain healthy relationships.

So what happens to those whose chemicals are 'off?' If we engage in the activities of relationships in the way we were meant to, most of us will find the balance our bodies crave. However, if introduced to an alternative such as 'comfort food' or sadly, drugs...our body may very well crave that substitute due to it's ease of attainment. It's much easier to be comforted by a bowl of ice cream than to bond with a new neighbor.

Cravings are created through conditioned responses. A scientist named Pavlov conducted an experiment where he rang a bell to signal dinner for a dog. After repeating the action many times along with food, the dog connected the sound of the bell to food, something pleasurable. Pavlov could eventually ring the bell and the dog would salivate in anticipation of the food it expected.

In the same way, many things in our environment can set off a craving based upon our past experiences. One example is the tinkling of ice cubes in a glass that signals alcohol to one person and a soda pop to another. What is actually driving the craving is the pattern recognition (sound of ice) the limbic brain is responding to. Seeing a junkie’s syringe will not stimulate us to think narcotics if the needle had not previously been associated with the delivery of the drug. Once conditioned, however, the ability of the brain to scan for connections (needle to feeling of drug) allow just the needle to produce a craving response. The chemicals are set into action requesting that a need be met even if the need didn’t exist in the first place – the brain is simply seeking pleasure.

The same idea occurs wtih any other addiction or craving. Say a young girl is rejected by a boy due to her being overweight. She hits the gym to work out and learns that her new body gets the attention of other boys. Her brain associates the thin body that came from working out is good. If not managed, this too can become an addiction for her. Any sign of unwanted weight can kick her into high gear at the gym. It becomes obsessional when her idea of being overweight is not the norm - and she can never be good enough.

The part of the limbic system that is tapped into is the reward center of the brain. Satisfaction and reward. Think about that. I believe the majority of our culture is addicted to 'performance.' We are rewarded for performance - as we should be. But when that need to obtain the reward takes priority over spending time at home with our families - is it still a good thing? It's all misuse of the good things that God intended for us. We were meant to manage these things rather than they manage us.

Cravings are very complex and too extensive to expound upon in one lesson. No simple explanation can be found to solve cravings and answer how they come and go. But consider, for example, that you drink enough to numb pain that you’re feeling. However, you get sick the following morning. Which memory does the limbic system retain? The negative response to alcohol or the numbing effect? In short, it retains both.

It recalls information on separate levels and only the logic brain groups the information together. If you are challenged with the same pain that caused you to drink in the first place, the limbic system will crave the alcohol that solved the problem before without giving thought to the part about being sick. If, on the other hand, the pain has been resolved through a healthy activity and you see a bottle of alcohol that made you sick, the limbic system will most likely be repulsed by the alcohol. It depends upon the underlying need – thus showing the importance of us to be aware of our needs and wants rather than stuffing them.

Cravings that cause me to crash – List 3-5 cravings you are aware of that have caused you problems in the past. Can you identify where this craving began in your life and associate it to any event or patterns of events? Can you then identify the need that is being met through this alternative source? How are you expecting others in your life today to meet those needs? Is there anyone that you can share this with? You can work through some of these things as we walk through upcoming blogs.

Jesus said He came to give us life - and to give it to us abundantly. We weren't meant for the hurt that we experience. What are 3-5 things that bring you joy? Find a way this week to experience at least one of those things. When your needs are met - stress levels stay manageable - and thus cravings also become manageable.

Watch this video - and take note of how many different things people crave. Especially those that have nothing to do with food or traditional cravings. Can you see these cravings in you or the culture around you?

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