We don’t usually think of anger and resentment the way we think about drugs or alcohol. But growing evidence suggests that, for many people, the craving for revenge follows the same patterns as substance abuse and addiction, triggering powerful biological urges that can spiral out of control and destroy lives.
Excerpt from NYPost. Click here to read the full article.
Recent neuroscience discoveries show that your brain on revenge looks like your brain on drugs. Real or imagined grievances (perceived mistreatment, humiliation, shame, victimization) activate the anterior insula — part of the brain’s “pain network.”
In response, your brain activates its reward circuitry, causing dopamine to flood your brain, producing short-lived bursts of pleasure. For most people, this process is manageable.
But for others, the self-control area — the prefrontal cortex — that’s supposed to stop you from engaging in harmful behaviors gets hijacked, resulting in tragedy.
We know now that revenge isn’t metaphorical. It’s biological. In the moment, revenge feels great. But like drugs and alcohol, the effects wear off quickly, and the pain returns.
If not controlled, revenge can turn into a deadly addiction.
The only way to gratify revenge cravings is by inflicting harm on the people who hurt you (or their proxies).
Hard-core drug users inject narcotics into their own bodies to satisfy their cravings.
Hard-core revenge users inject bullets into the bodies of others.
Public health data and research show that grievance-triggered revenge cravings are the root motivation of almost all forms of violence, including youth violence and bullying, intimate partner violence, street and gang violence, police brutality, violent extremism, terrorism, and even war.