What Causes Drug Addiction?
Addiction is a serious problem.
Prescription medication and illegal drugs are both causing major problems in our modern society.
This is because many synthesized drugs interfere with natural levels of dopamine in the brain, and thus have the potential to trigger an addiction.
Dopamine is one of the pleasure chemicals.
Drugs can cause a temporary burst of the dopamine neurotransmitter in the reward pathway, which creates euphoria and pleasant feelings.
But when exposed to this repeatedly the brain tries to counteract the abnormally high dopamine levels.
Since it cannot control the drug the brain instead modifies itself to become less receptive to dopamine, and therefore maintain more normal levels.
This is done by depleting the dopamine receptors in the neurones.
As the brain becomes less receptive to dopamine, the person becomes tolerant of the drug.
In order to create the same pleasurable experience they will have to increase their drug use or their medication.
This can cause a cycle, where the brain is constantly reducing the number of receptors to normalise dopamine levels and the person is driven to seek out more drugs as a result.
Without continuing the drug use, the person will experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.
Because the brain has reduced its ability to respond to dopamine and the person has been artificially raising the levels of this neurotransmitter through drugs for some time, they find it hard to cope without them.
The body's own dopamine levels no longer has the effect it should and the person will not derive the same amount of pleasure from activities that they used to, or that other people normally would.
Along with withdrawal symptoms, there will also be cravings which can make it increasingly difficult from refraining from returning to drug use.
The good news is that over time the withdrawal symptoms will cease.
Just as the brain will reduce the dopamine receptors when levels of the neurotransmitter are atypically high, it will increase the number of receptors when levels are lower than normal.
But during this time it is essential that the person who is battling an addiction gets a lot of support from their friends, family and medical professionals.
Prescription medication and illegal drugs are both causing major problems in our modern society.
This is because many synthesized drugs interfere with natural levels of dopamine in the brain, and thus have the potential to trigger an addiction.
Dopamine is one of the pleasure chemicals.
Drugs can cause a temporary burst of the dopamine neurotransmitter in the reward pathway, which creates euphoria and pleasant feelings.
But when exposed to this repeatedly the brain tries to counteract the abnormally high dopamine levels.
Since it cannot control the drug the brain instead modifies itself to become less receptive to dopamine, and therefore maintain more normal levels.
This is done by depleting the dopamine receptors in the neurones.
As the brain becomes less receptive to dopamine, the person becomes tolerant of the drug.
In order to create the same pleasurable experience they will have to increase their drug use or their medication.
This can cause a cycle, where the brain is constantly reducing the number of receptors to normalise dopamine levels and the person is driven to seek out more drugs as a result.
Without continuing the drug use, the person will experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.
Because the brain has reduced its ability to respond to dopamine and the person has been artificially raising the levels of this neurotransmitter through drugs for some time, they find it hard to cope without them.
The body's own dopamine levels no longer has the effect it should and the person will not derive the same amount of pleasure from activities that they used to, or that other people normally would.
Along with withdrawal symptoms, there will also be cravings which can make it increasingly difficult from refraining from returning to drug use.
The good news is that over time the withdrawal symptoms will cease.
Just as the brain will reduce the dopamine receptors when levels of the neurotransmitter are atypically high, it will increase the number of receptors when levels are lower than normal.
But during this time it is essential that the person who is battling an addiction gets a lot of support from their friends, family and medical professionals.
