The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love – Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits
by Judson Brewer
View on GoodreadsAn addiction psychiatrist's argument that all habits — from smoking to scrolling to romantic obsession — run on the same reward-based learning loop, and that mindfulness directly intervenes in that loop.
Core ideas
- Trigger → behavior → reward is the universal habit circuit; what differs across "addictions" is only the content, not the mechanism.
- You can't think your way out of a craving — willpower fights the same circuit that produced the urge. Curiosity (turning toward the urge with attention) works where suppression fails.
- Mindfulness isn't relaxation; it's a precise tool that updates the reward value of a behavior by letting you actually feel the unsatisfying parts.
Published2017
Pages256
ISBN9780300223248
ReadJan 2021
