9 NOVEMBER 2025YOU CAN'T RECOVER A MIND IN A BROKEN BODY. ADDICTION IS SYSTEMIC, AND SO IS HEALING.We don't collect sleep data, we don't measure nutrient levels, we ignore inflammatory biomarkers. Most addiction treatment models right now focus on symptom suppression like craving, withdrawal and relapse. This must change.We must begin to look at the upstream drivers of dysfunction, such as micronutrient deficiency and neuroinflammation, rather than focusing solely on the downstream effects such as anxiety and drug-seeking. The brain doesn't misfire for no reason. The system biologist would first ask why the brain is misfiring before attempting to treat the issue.We must also recognize that addiction treatment is not one-size-fits all. Too often, care plans neglect a person's genetic and metabolic diversity. With increased personalization and fewer silos, we can expect to see improved outcomes.RETHINKING ADDICTION--AGAINWe made major strides in reducing stigmas and advancing substance use disorder treatment when we reframed addiction as brain disease. It's time now to push the definition again so that we can progress even further.From a system biology lens, addiction is not so much a brain disease but a multi-system collapse. We cannot ignore the fact that our systems are intricately interconnected. Think of the body as an orchestra. If one instrument is out of tune or off the beat, it will throw off the entire symphony regardless of how perfectly the other musicians play.HEALING IS SYSTEMICThe idea that the mind and the body are two separate entities that can be treated in isolation is pervasive, and it's incorrect. We urgently need to stop treating symptoms in isolation and start restoring the underlying biological networks that support long-term recovery.Ideally, recovery protocols would include nutritional rehab, gut restoration, circadian alignment and anti-inflammatory strategies. We would screen for biological impairment as early as we screen for psychiatric ones, and we would create integrated treatment plans that prioritize proper nutrition, restoration of natural circadian rhythms, inflammation reduction and other goals that are essential to long-term recovery from addiction.You can't recover a mind in a broken body. Addiction is systemic, and so is healing. Let's move beyond symptom management and start building resilient biologically supported recovery, one cell, one rhythm and one system at a time.
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