“The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, it is connection.”

I watched this video a while back, though it struck me as highly interesting and controversial. I decided to do further research on this topic.

In the 1970’s Bruce Alexander did indeed realize the loopholes of the original drug and rat experiment. With that, he built rat park which was much like a playground community for rats, filled with a good supply of food, water, other necessities and of course, other rats. He saw that in comparison, in virtually every experiment, the rats in solitary confinement consumed more drug solution, by every measure. And not just a little more. A lot more. (Alexander).

The end result showed that solitary confinement for rats, caused them to go for the drug morphine whereas in rat park, none of the rats used the drug compulsively nor did they overdose. In fact, the happy, healthy rats in rat park tended to ignore the drugged up water. This consequently leads to the question: are human beings the same?

When relating to people, the video gave the Vietnam War as a prime example. Soldiers would use heroin as a chewing gum, simply because war situations were always tough, stressful, lonely. The very fact that heroin is addictive should mean that the soldiers would continue using it regardless, right? However returning home, some 95 percent of the addicted soldiers simply stopped. Very few had rehab. They shifted from a terrifying cage back to a pleasant one, so they didn’t want the drug anymore. (Hari).

Of course, it is difficult to draw conclusive evidence and make the bold statement that addiction can be caused by isolation. A rat experiment does not equate to humans, as humans are much more complex. However, one can make the proper judgment that humans do indeed have a rooted nature of needing connection with people. If they do not have proper, healthy bonds the result will be poor mental health, causing them to feel the need to “bond” with other things such as drugs, alcohol, games, and so forth.