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iQuestions Faculty, Dr. David Eckman 
 
 
Question: 
 
How does addiction work? 
 
Answer: 
 
Addiction works like this: when a person gets into an addictive habit, 
it’s like they started walking down a path in the woods—a very narrow 
path that’s hardly worn at all. And then they go from that narrow path 
to a sidewalk, and they walk along the sidewalk. Then as addiction 
continues—whether it’s pornography, whether it’s addiction to food, 
whether it’s an addiction to heroin—they get into a car off of the 
sidewalk. Then they go down a one-lane street, then they go to a two-
lane street, then they go to an expressway, and then they’re out there 
with a billion other cars, and they’re just being driven along. 
 
What happens with addiction is similar to what I’ve just described. The 
mind begins to build a superhighway. And when the person is 
prompted by some inward pain, some discomfort, they immediately 
think of what is the addictive behavior that will take care of that 
inward pain, and then they shoot right off into the expressway. 
 
This is called the “superhighway theory” of addiction, and it’s a good 
description of it. Over time, the person will go from zero to a hundred 
with the addictive behavior. When they initially started the behavior it 
was a slow stroll through the woods. Now it’s just hopping into a 
sports car and taking off and pursuing whatever the behavior is. 
 
What’s the solution to that? It’s to build a parallel highway in the mind 
of an alternative lifestyle. Because when a person becomes a true 
addict, all of their brain seems to get wired to satisfy the addiction. 
 
 
And now they have to start building a parallel path so that they have 
another lifestyle to live, an alternative lifestyle.  
 
But, that’s how addiction works. It takes the way the mind is made 
and it begins to conform that mind to whatever that habit may be. 
 
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