Revenge As Addiction: James Kimmel Jr.

The essence of psychiatry lecturer and violence expert James Kimmel Jr.‘s The Science of Revenge: Understanding the World’s Deadliest Addiction–and How to Overcome It is the following statement found in his book and on his website: Your brain on revenge looks like your brain on drugs. 

From the publisher: “There is a hidden addiction plaguing humanity right now: revenge. Researchers have identified retaliation in response to real and imagined grievances as the root cause of most forms of human aggression and violence. From vicious tweets to road rage, murder-suicide, and armed insurrection, perpetrators almost always see themselves as victims seeking justice. Chillingly, recent behavioral and neuroimaging studies of the human brain show that harboring a personal grievance triggers revenge desires and activates the neural pleasure and reward circuitry of addiction.”

“Revenge,” says Kimmel on his site, “means punishing the people who hurt you. Wanting revenge is natural. Neuroscience studies show that… between 50% and 90% of people recall experiencing recent revenge desires. However, some people think about or seek revenge in ways that are harmful to themselves or others and have difficulty controlling it despite the negative consequences.”

Concerned about your own tendencies? He offers a self-assessment quiz.

Founder and co-director of the Yale Collaborative for Motive Control Studies, Kimmel strives to find effective prevention and treatment strategies for human violence: “motive control” versus gun control using a program “that allows people with grievances to put those who have hurt or offended them through imaginary but highly realistic criminal trials.”

Their “Nonjustice System,” a type of “12-step program” that has a correlated Miracle Court App, provides a way for afflicted individuals to control their “revenge cravings.” As reported in Politico, furthermore, “anybody struggling with grievances, even Trump, can benefit from it.” 

On his site and in his book, Kimmel also emphasizes the power of forgiveness. “Neuroscience research shows that practicing forgiveness inside your mind when you’ve been hurt reduces both the psychological pain of grievances and accompanying revenge cravings. So, when you forgive, the gift you ‘give’ is to yourself, the victim, not the person who hurt you–who doesn’t even need to know that you’ve forgiven them.”

Bandy X. Lee, MD, MDiv: “James Kimmel, Jr., has made an invaluable discovery that addiction to revenge functions as a preventable and treatable cause of human violence….He offers creative and practical solutions for reducing human suffering and making individuals, families, communities, and even nations safer and more secure.”