The shift to addiction seems to occur as dopamine deprivation produces chronic unpleasant feelings, depression and a loss of motivation, which leads to the need to take the drug to feel better. We might instead one day have neurochemical cocktails that are specific to each addictive drug that would break the cycle of craving. In the meantime, Leshner sees a continued role for behavioral treatments of addiction. Approaches that count on people's ability to resist craving, like that of Alcoholics Anonymous, are still the most successful, many studies have found. But that doesn't mean treatments have to be biological.
Behavioral treatments can change the brain, too.