I came across a TED Talk while scrolling through reels on Instagram, where the speaker discussed experiments involving rats in different environments. In one, the rats were alone and isolated, while in the other, they were among others, free to roam, play, socialize, and mate. Both environments had two bottles each: one with plain water and one with drug-infused water. The rats in the isolated cage reportedly preferred the drug-infused water bottle, while those in a more social environment preferred the plain water bottle. You can read about the study here: https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/what-does-rat-park-teach-us-about-addiction.

In the TED Talk, Johann Hari explained how this research correlates to humans and addiction—not just heroin addiction but also other addictions in our lives, such as smartphones, doom scrolling, and eating junk food. He discussed how to treat people with addiction in our lives, especially those we love, as part of a supportive community.