The Scientific Breakthrough: This Single Brain Hack Can Stop Addiction Cold, Studies Prove

Human beings engage in tens of thousands of decisions daily. Nearly half of these everyday actions are automatic—performed on “autopilot” without much conscious thought.

When we attempt to alter our behavior, we often believe the key is willpower: possessing the self-control to refuse an extra glass of wine, head to the gym after a long workday, or forgo a smoke break. However, according to psychiatrist and addiction specialist Judson Brewer, willpower is a widespread yet deceptive concept. It is deeply rooted in our shared mindset but lacks a significant foundation in neuroscience. Although self-control certainly exists, it’s considered one of the least effective methods for changing behavior.

“From a neuroscience perspective, there is no such thing as willpower,” Brewer tells Inverse. It’s “just not how our brains work,” Brewer explains further.

Brewer is a researcher and professor at Brown University’s School of Medicine and serves as the executive medical director of behavioral health at the digital health company Sharecare. Brewer recently summarized his two decades of scientific findings in his forthcoming book, Unwinding Anxiety (set for release on March 9, 2021, by Penguin Random House).

“The long and short of it is it’s a really nice story, but it’s not a true story,” Brewer states.

Instead of depending on willpower, the brain forms choices and establishes behavior based on a built-in, primal, reward-based mechanism known as reinforcement learning. Whenever the brain is presented with a choice, it naturally gravitates toward the option that offers a greater reward.

By deliberately introducing awareness and curiosity to any action, you disrupt the reward value of a habit and, consequently, change your reaction to it.

When you carefully examine the moment-to-moment sensations of an action—whether you are a smoker, someone who overeats, or a chronic worrier—you often discover that it isn’t nearly as gratifying as you thought. In turn, you become “disenchanted” with the behavior and, through repeated practice over time, completely lose interest.

This week, we will examine how mindfulness strategies can utilize brain systems to dismantle habits, manage cravings, and overcome addictive behaviors.

“Curiosity is contagious,” Brewer says. “The more we practice it, the more we want to practice it because of its intrinsically rewarding qualities—because it feels good.”

I’m Ali Pattillo, and this is Strategy, a series filled with practical advice to help you maximize your life, career, and finances.

Ancient Mechanisms, Modern-Day Issues

The brain’s reward-based learning system is its most fundamental survival mechanism. It aids us in finding nourishment and avoiding danger but can lead to difficulties in contemporary life.

This is because activities that are initially rewarding are swiftly embedded in the brain. As the activity is repeated, it becomes increasingly established as an automatic reaction to a certain trigger, even if the process is no longer perceived as rewarding.

“It turns out, this is where mindfulness comes in,” Brewer explains. “If you want to change behavior, you have to update the reward value. And the only way to update a reward value is to bring awareness in and see very, very clearly what you’re actually getting from the behavior.”

Frequently, when individuals look inward and engage with their current experience, they are disappointed—a psychological effect termed a negative prediction error. They anticipate a reward, but reality delivers a different outcome.

Brewer advises asking yourself these key questions:

Can you be aware of your behaviors?
Can you be aware of your thoughts, emotions, and sensations?
Can you approach those with an attitude of curiosity?

Instead of judging what’s happening, such as deciding, “Oh, this is good or this is bad,” can you simply be curious and observe what is taking place right now?

“That’s really what mindfulness is: being aware and being truly open to what’s actually happening and removing all of our subjective bias glasses,” Brewer notes.

Supporting Data and Research Findings

Brewer has witnessed hundreds of people lose their “enchantment” with some of their most deeply ingrained habits, ranging from consuming chocolate to using cocaine.

One patient, a long-time smoker, felt intense disgust when she focused on the moment-by-moment experience of smoking a cigarette.

Smoking smells like “stinky cheese and tastes like chemicals. Yuck,” Brewer recalls her expressing.

“It only takes 10 or 15 times of somebody really paying attention, whether it’s a mindful eating exercise or a mindful smoking exercise, that the reward value drops to or even below zero,” Brewer states.

Brewer has integrated this technique into app-based mindfulness programs and tested their effectiveness with smokers, doctors dealing with anxiety and burnout, and people who overeat.

Brewer discovered that mindfulness can act as a “brain hack” that successfully undermines addictive behaviors, sometimes performing better than traditional treatment.

In a 2011 study, Brewer observed that four months after treatment, mindfulness was found to be five times more effective at helping individuals quit smoking than established, gold-standard treatment programs.

In another 2020 study involving physicians under intense stress, mindfulness also proved beneficial. Within one month of using Brewer’s Unwinding Anxiety app, the doctors’ anxiety and burnout levels decreased by 50 percent. At three months, anxiety was down 57 percent from their initial levels.

In 2018, his team found that a mindfulness eating program called Eat Right Now reduced craving-related eating by 40 percent in overweight and obese participants. It also lowered eating in response to negative emotions by 36 percent.

Collectively, the evidence suggests that mindfulness—the act of bringing awareness and curiosity to an action—is potentially as effective as, or superior to, medication. Instead of temporarily addressing symptoms, you can “get at the root cause of the problem,” Brewer asserts.

“There is hope, and we can back that hope up with data,” the researcher confirms.

Implementing Mindfulness in Daily Life

Despite the apparent simplicity—even intuitiveness—of this technique, practicing awareness and curiosity isn’t always easy. Especially during times of stress, turning inward can be particularly challenging.

“Old habits are familiar and therefore comfortable,” Brewer explains. “So anytime we move out of our comfort zone, typically, we move into a panic zone.”

However, it is possible to transition into a “growth zone” by engaging awareness and curiosity.

“This is the only thing that’s going to help, and the sooner we learn to turn toward [our habits], the easier it’s going to be, because the less solidified those habits will be,” Brewer concludes.

Three Steps for Changing Habits:

Awareness: The initial step is being able to recognize a habit loop and map out its components, Brewer advises. This involves pinpointing what triggers a behavior, how the behavior feels, and what the results of the behavior are. This helps you better evaluate the true reward or risk associated with a habit.
Curiosity: Becoming curious, rather than judgmental, about your cravings shifts the emotional value from the unpleasantness of a craving to the enjoyment of curiosity. The practice itself becomes inherently rewarding, allowing you to identify alternative actions that are more attractive.
Identify the BBO: Find “the bigger better offer.” Locate behaviors that are genuinely more rewarding than the habit you are trying to overcome. This might be exercise, practicing mindfulness, or simply the feeling of curiosity itself. Repeat these three steps every time a craving emerges.