The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

When it comes to the topic of addiction, most of us will readily agree that it is a miserable trait to possess. An addiction is a physical and psychological state of being that if not treated correctly could result into harmful wrongdoing. In The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, he recounts a story in which a fatigued housewife named Angie Bachmann lost all of her family’s assets, amounting to a million dollars due to a gambling addiction. Every habit has three components: a cue or a trigger of an automatic behavior to start, a routine the behavior itself, and a reward which is how our brain learns to remember this pattern for the future. According to Duhigg, “you cannot extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it” (63). Duhigg suggests that in order to change ones bad habit the “Golden Rule” must be implied. The Golden Rule is a theory of shifting a habit by retaining the old cue and reward, and tries to change only the routine. Duhigg’s answer to the question in the chapter title, “Are we responsible for our habits?” is simply “Yes.” If we have an awareness of our habits, then we are responsible for their consequences. In the case of Angie Bachmann, she should be held accountable for her gambling debts because she was well aware of her own bad habit and did not try to seek for help.

Angie Bachmann started out as a bored housewife that could not stand being by herself. She has three daughters that were constantly hanging out with friends, and not spending enough time with their mother. Her husband is a land surveyor, often left for work at eight and did not get home until six; he was also not as supportive as he should have been. This soon led to a craving for gambling since a new casino opened up close by. She thought tha...

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... addicted gamblers that they encountered. In Bachmann’s case they allegedly accused the casino for specifically targeting Bachmann by using some of her cravings to get her back into the casino. In my opinion that is totally absurd and a poor excuse for blaming a casino that she went to on a daily basis.

The addiction cycle can be scary to witness, but people that have addiction problems should always know that someone is there to help, whether it is friends, parents, or even random strangers we are all here to support those in need. Most importantly, if we encounter someone with a serious addiction, it is highly recommended that people try to find professionals who can take care of the situation. As for Angie Bachmann, she had a gambling problem that she never took care of which resulted into losing most of her assets and the trust of her nearest and dearests.