Biology. A person's genetic makeup can affect half of their chances of falling prey to addiction. Drug use and addiction risk can also depend on the person's gender, their race, and whether they have any mental disorders.
Drugs that are addictive can target your brain's reward systems. Dopamine floods your brain. This causes intense pleasure. To chase this high, you keep using the drug.
To put it another way, if opioids are used to treat pain regularly, there is a risk that you will develop a tolerance or become dependent. This does NOT mean that you are suffering from a dependency problem. A small fraction of people will become dependent on opioids, even if they are given correctly and under the guidance of a physician.
If you keep using medications, your brain will adapt by lowering the ability of cells in the reward circuit to respond to it. While the person is still abusing drugs, this will continue to happen. When a person's tolerance for a substance wears off, the high they get from it isn't as intense as when they first started using it. They may be able to get the same effect by taking a larger amount of the chemical. As a result of these changes in brain function, the individual may discover that they are no longer able to enjoy activities such as eating or sexual engagement.
It is possible to avoid both addiction and drug use, which is another encouraging fact. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIDA funded research that found drug abuse prevention programmes that included families, schools, communities and the media had a positive effect on reducing or stopping drug abuse and addiction. Both individual and social influences play a part in shaping drug abuse patterns. Research has shown that young people who perceive drug use as dangerous tend to limit their use. Outreach and education are key components in helping people understand the potential dangers associated with drug usage. Education of young people in regards to addiction and prevention is the responsibility of parents and educators.
What is Drug Addiction? Addiction can be a brain disease or a behavior disorder. Addiction is a condition where you are unable to resist the temptation to use drugs. You can avoid the worst consequences of drug addiction if you seek treatment as soon as possible.
Don't Wait; Get Help Now. Talk to your doctor if you are experiencing problems with your drug use. It might take time before you can get rid of your addiction to drugs. There is no cure but therapy can help with quitting drugs and staying clean long term. Your therapy could include talking with a therapist, taking medications, or both. Talk to your doctor to determine which treatment option is best for you.
To avoid pain medicine addiction: Always do what your doctor tells you to do when taking medicine. If you or someone in your family has a history of drug abuse or addiction, you should tell your doctor so they can give you the best medications.
Further good news is the ability not to use drugs or become addicted. According to NIDA-funded research, prevention programmes, including schools, communities, and media, can be beneficial in order to lessen or prevent drug addiction and use. Even though societal norms, personal experiences and social norms influence drug use patterns in society, young people are more likely not to take drugs seriously if they perceive them as harmful. Education and outreach are key to helping individuals comprehend the consequences of drug addiction. Teachers, parents and healthcare professionals have crucial roles to play in helping young people avoid drug abuse and addiction.
When a person takes drugs, the brain adjusts by decreasing the ability of reward circuit cells to respond to it. The individual will experience a lower level of high after using the drug than when they first started. This phenomenon is known as tolerance. They can take more of the drug to achieve the same effect. This brain change can often lead to a person's ability not to enjoy previously enjoyable activities such as eating, sex, and social interactions decreasing with time.
You might initially decide to take a drug just because you love the way it makes yourself feel. It is possible to regret the decision in the future. It could be that you think you have total control over how many and how often you take it. Your brain will be affected if you continue to use medication. These changes in the body may last for a long period. They may cause you to lose your control and drive you to do harmful things.
Over time, the brain adapts to the extra dopamine. This results in a decrease in the amount of high one feels as compared to when they first started taking the drug. To achieve the same dopamine rush, they may take more of the drug.
Most drugs cause the brain to "reward-circuit" which floods it with dopamine and makes one feel good. People are more likely to choose things that are good for their health, such as eating healthy and spending time with loved ones. The reward circuit causes people to keep doing the things they enjoy but are bad for them. This in turn leads people to take part again.
Relapsed drug users will relapse if they have not made an effort to stop using drugs. Relapses are a sign that you need more therapy or a different therapeutic approach.