If The Reward System Is The Problem, Can’t We Just Remove It?
That’s a surprisingly common question. People with the disease of addiction can be so desperate for relief that they’d be willing to have brain surgery to cut the reward center out of their skull if it would stop their using. Unfortunately, that really wouldn’t help.
The Medial Forebrain Bundle (MFB), where the reward system is located, is a very deep brain structure. It is very old and set in its ways, and it needs to be because it handles that decision without you having to think about it. The MFB also handles it in a way that would make it unlikely for you to override the decision even if you didn’t want to steal the food. Survival mechanisms have to be that way; they have to be unconscious, automatic, and hard or impossible to override. Otherwise they wouldn’t work.
If our ancestors didn’t have the MFB telling them what to do to stay alive, I would never have written this and you wouldn’t be reading it. Neither one of us would be here. If we get rid of the MFB now so that addicts will stop using, then we can kiss our great grandchildren goodbye. You can’t get rid of a species survival mechanism and expect that species to survive. We also have to understand that if some system exists in the body, there will be some people who have something wrong with that system. That’s really all addiction is, something wrong with the reward system. We would never advocate getting rid of lungs to stop tuberculosis. So why consider getting rid of the MFB to stop addiction?
If you have any more questions about addiction treatment, please give us a call on +44 (0)207 100 7260 and one of our qualified addiction treatment specialists will be able to help you.
