Why your loved one might be using substances and how you can help
What is the biopsychosocial model of addiction? What makes it important?
The biopsychoscocial model of addiction is a model that looks at the entire environment of a person in order to find a cause of the addiction. Within the counseling field, we as counselors look at many different aspects of a person’s behavior through a biopsychosocial lens, not just addiction. This allows us to get an overarching and holistic view of what a person is experiencing. Their mental health, and presence or absence of addiction is able to be dissected which makes looking for solutions easier and more attainable. If we were to look at only one aspect of the model, we would gain an incomplete picture of the situation and any solutions would not be nearly as effective because we are only working with a fraction of the information.
OK, so what are the three parts of the biopsychosocial model of addiction?
To find the three parts of the biopsychosocial model we need to dissect the word. It comes down to the biological aspects, psychological aspects and social aspects of a person’s world. The biological umbrella includes aspects of the person such as their DNA, any medical conditions they are living with, physical health, and their body chemistry. Under the psychological umbrella we see areas like some personality traits, their emotions, how they handle their emotions with coping skills, and their beliefs. Lastly, the social aspect to this model includes situations like family support, friend relationships, if the person has meaningful work and education. These three umbrellas interact with the others in complex ways and together they give us a full picture of a person.
How do we use this information to help someone?
Once we gather information about a person’s biopsychosocial environment we can then look at which areas are either lacking or have negative factors working against them. For example, if a person has ADHD in their biological region, we might think about how their use of substances like Cocaine could actually be them trying to cope with their ADHD. While we might recommend that they stop using cocaine as a coping skill, we could also offer them ADHD medications or coping skills for ADHD so that they felt less need to use.
Take another example, if a person feels that they do not have family support, or friendships that are fulfilling to them (their social realm), but when they go to the bar, there are people there that know their name and care about them, they are likely to continue to use alcohol because those social needs are being met at the bar. In this case, we could work on finding friendships and other caring people outside of the bar, decreasing their need to go to the bar. Piece by piece and bit and bit we work on identifying where someone needs support and how to go about helping them find that.
Finally, let’s look at the psychological aspect of a person struggling with an addiction. Potentially, depression or anxiety could be causing the person to believe that they are worthless. You might see their substance use or drinking increase when these beliefs become overpowering. If your loved one is using a substance that depresses their nervous system, like alcohol, then you might see them sleeping a lot more or zoning out. This could lead them to believe that they are even more worthless because they can’t gather the motivation to get up off the couch. In reality, it’s the pschological and biological areas interacting to create a more complex problem.
I’m understanding the biopsychosocial model for someone struggling with addiction, but how does it impact me as a friend or family member?
We can use the biopsychosocial to identify areas of stress for you too! If someone you love is struggling with addiction, that is going to have an impact on your social arena. It might also affect your psychological arena if you are close to them and don’t have the coping skills needed to process fights that are caused by substances, or the energy to take care of yourself after taking care of them. Your needs are just as important as theirs are, and we need to look at how you can take better care of your biopsychosocial factors, in order to help them. Sometimes, the best way to help someone is to help yourself and set an example of what it looks like to get help.
How does counseling address the biopsychosocial model?
Counseling is all about social and emotional health! We will address the thoughts underlying your beliefs and look at the emotions that are present because of these cognitions. Counseling can help take the stigma away from having a loved one that is using, and is a place for you to be seen and heard. It can also help you gain more understanding. Addiction is not about having a weak will or lack of morals. Addiction counselors- Hi, that’s me, Sydney!- can help you recognize the patterns and make more sense out of the behaviors that you see happening around you. In counseling, you will also learn to advocate for yourself and state your feelings and needs clearly. Most substance treatment programs have a family component to treatment, and people report feeling more confident going into those interactions with their loved one after having their own therapy. In the end, by going to therapy yourself, you are able to work on making your life better so that you can better help everyone around you.
Summary
The biopsychosocial model gives us a way to make the factors that are usually invisible, visible in a person’s life. It is a holistic way for us to conceptualize complex factors that might be contributing to an individual’s life. These aspects allow us a foundation to look at as we move forward to create sustainable and measurable change. I invite you to join me in therapy and let’s explore all of you, the biological, psychological, and social aspects of what is creating your world right now. Click below to schedule your free 15 minute consultation!
