The Spectrum of Addiction

The Spectrum of Addiction is the conceptual architecture through which Maté refuses the culture's stratification of compulsive behaviors by the social value of their outputs. The framework runs continuously from the most visibly destructive forms of substance dependence to the most celebrated forms of behavioral compulsion. The mechanism at every point on the spectrum is identical: the compulsive use of a behavior to regulate an emotional state the person cannot regulate by other means. What differs is the substance, the social context, and the consequences the culture is willing to see. The builder at the keyboard at three in the morning occupies a point on the same spectrum as the injector on East Hastings Street; the intensities differ, the configurations differ, but the engine — pain driving compulsion driving inadequate relief driving further compulsion — is structurally the same.