Potentially addictive substances target your brain's reward systems. They flood your brain with the neurotransmitter, dopamine. This causes a sensation of great pleasure. To keep the high, you continue using the substance.
What happens to the brain of someone who uses drugs?
Dopamine is a chemical messenger that floods the brain with chemicals. Most drugs can cause pleasure. A functioning reward system encourages people to do the things they need to survive, such as eating or spending time with their loved ones. The reward circuit encourages people to engage in harmful, but enjoyable, behaviors like drug abuse.
By decreasing the ability of reward circuit cells to respond to the drug, the brain adapts to the drug. This decreases the person's experience with the drug, a phenomenon known as tolerance. To get the same high, they may need more medication. This can lead to a decrease in pleasure from previously enjoyed activities like eating or sex.
It is possible to initially decide to use a substance simply because you love how it makes your feel. You may regret making that choice later. You may believe that you are in complete control of how much you take and how often you take it. The brain's function can be affected by taking medication often. These changes can last a long time. These changes can cause you to lose control and lead you to engage in dangerous behaviours.
Tolerance, addiction, and abuse are all different. You either take more medication than you are advised to or you use a prescription from someone else. If you are looking to escape reality, feel better, relax or have a sense of accomplishment, then you might use drugs. You can usually change your bad habits and stop using entirely.
Addiction is defined by the inability to stop. No, not if it puts your health at risk. It is not okay to put yourself or those you care about in financial, emotional or other trouble. Even if you are determined to stop using drugs, it is possible to find that your desire to obtain and use them consumes all of your waking time.
Addiction is a long-term condition that involves a constant, severe and difficult-to control addiction. Although many people are able to choose to take drugs without a problem at the beginning, prolonged drug use can lead to brain problems that reduce self-control. This brain damage can be severe and can lead to drug addiction. People in recovery are more likely relapse even after years without drug abuse.
Also, drug addiction can be prevented if you're aware. It is the responsibility of parents, teachers, medical professionals, and other adults to provide guidance and instruction for young people to help them avoid drugs abuse and addiction.
You can potentially develop an addiction to prescription or illicitly acquired opioid painkillers. This issue has reached pandemic proportions in the United States. In 2018, opioids contributed to the majority of drug overdose deaths.
The brain adjusts to additional dopamine over time. This is known as tolerance. To get the same pleasure, they might take more dopamine.
There is no one factor that can predict if someone will develop a drug dependence. The likelihood of becoming addicted to drugs is increased by many factors. These include genetic, environmental, developmental, and other factors. The higher the likelihood that someone will become addicted to drugs, the more predisposed they are.
It is possible to treat drug addiction with effective treatment.