When was the last time a noisy thought of chocolate, fried dishes, or fast food suddenly appeared in your mind? Maybe you can’t stop tasting sweet, summer lemonade on your tongue—prompting you to load up the family and head over to the nearest smoothie place.
Cravings are any powerful urge to eat a certain food, perform a certain activity, or, in the case of substance use disorders (SUDs), consume a specific drug. Scientists understand fairly well how food cravings work and where they come from. Many of our fatty, salty, and sweet cravings are a product of evolution. Our ancestors were constantly in fight-or-flight mode, trying to survive the day-to-day. Food wasn’t always guaranteed, and so a collective desire and memory for high-energy foods that would store as fat in the body formed thousands of years ago.
That covers the mystery behind that recent McDonald’s mission or the high-stakes Taco Bell run. However, it doesn’t explain how the behaviors behind seemingly harmless fast-food cravings connect to addictions that destroy lives.
In the ancient past, certain cravings, like for mead or cocoa, could actually promote fitness because of the required hard work and ingenuity to fulfill them. In 2024, it’s entirely too easy to find opioids, alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, caffeine, etc. Behavioral addictions to gambling, video games, or sex—along with substance addictions—not only cancel out survival instincts but actively work to destroy them. The constant chase for a high causes us to ignore our basic needs and our most complex dreams. The beginning of addiction often involves the development of and battle against cravings.
Do Substance Cravings Work Like Food Cravings?
Yes and no. Research is inconclusive on whether cravings for an addictive drug involve the same chemical and neural processes that spark overeating or trigger an overwhelming Buc-ee’s craving.
However, one recent study did find that cravings for food and cravings for an array of substances seem to share a common neuromarker. The brain seems to behave similarly when producing desires for both alcohol and video games, for example, and leaves similar chemical trails in both cases. This means there’s a potential biological mark for addiction that can be studied.
What we do know for sure is that cravings are a key part of relapse and play an integral role in SUD. They often foreshadow a lapse in sobriety or the development of a more serious addiction.
How Do I Know When An Addiction Craving is Present?
The main difference between a substance addiction craving and a craving for a Big Mac is that the first has the potential to make you go to extreme lengths to fulfill it. The Big Mac craving is much less dire. With an addiction craving, you feel like your life depends on you using substances or drinking again. Cravings feel like an intense need to use drugs during a concentrated period lasting from 20 minutes to 2 hours.
How To Manage Drug Cravings
While you can always call either of our Waypoint Recovery Centers in Cameron and North Charleston, there are useful craving coping techniques that can help you in a pinch:
- Distraction: Engage in your favorite activities—or at the very least ones that consume your attention for fixed amounts of time–to get your mind off the craving until it settles.
- Outside support: Call up a friend, mentor, recovery coach, or loved one who’s able to talk you off your craving cliff and stand by your side while you choose sobriety.
- Urge-surfing: This is an effective, meditative technique that involves focusing on the craving, accepting it, and refusing to act on it. This one takes practice, however—perhaps don’t make it your go-to until you have some experience doing it.
- Exercise: Getting the heart rate up and building strength helps safeguard your brain against yielding to cravings.
Always feel free to contact us for more information, support, and guidance on managing and beating addiction cravings.
