Why does addiction exist? Why do people get addicted? Well just like any external experiences we go through, there are scientific and biological explanations that can help demystify such occurrence. So let's dive right in!
It is a common fact of life that people are exposed to different stresses and worries everyday. And often times, people medicate with drugs and harmful substances to cope. Drugs like alcohol and marijuana have chemical substances that not only suppresses the pain associated with our stress, but most importantly provide a shortcut to the brain's reward system or pleasure center by flooding the Nucleus Accumbens in the brain with high and intense doses of a satisfying chemical, called dopamine. This chemical is associated with euphoric feelings we experience such as having sex, eating your guilty-pleasure food, gambling and shopping.
Below is an image illustrating the brain's Reward Center:
Nuclues Accumbens - highly related to addiction because of drug's effect of high release of dopamine
Click on image to expand
Dopamine is a double-edged sword because not only does it make drugs feel good ("getting high") but it also plays a role in learning and memory- which is a crucial element in learning to like something to learning to become addicted to the same thing.
Chemical Structure of Dopamine
But don't fret, just like your brain learns how to become addicted to shopping or alcohol, it can learn to get away from that as well over time. As mentioned, drugs are addictive because they can intensify the doses of dopamine from 2 to 10x as much in the brain. But over time, the brain can be overwhelmed, which means producing less dopamine or eliminating dopamine receptors. People with addiction, over time, have to take even stronger doses of their drug because they have developed a level of tolerance.
I found a diagram that illustrates the different brain structures and the behaviors associated with it, all from the perspective of dopamine receptors!
Addiction is a tricky thing. We possess biological characteristics that can interact with substances, that may not be harmful by itself, but coupled with the chemicals in our brain can become harmful to us, because of a strong chemical reaction. We, often times, do not know what we are capable of. And that lack of awareness of ourselves, in return, can be the gateway to our own addiction and abuse.
The brain really is a remarkable part of our bodies. I completely understand what you mean when you say that we all have our own addictions and that it is just something prevalent in the lives of all human beings. Some people are addicted to shopping while others are addicted to cocaine. Our brains will always crave what they crave and it is our challenge to overcome temptation and addiction within ourselves. I never really thought of the substances that are within ourselves that parallel with the substances of marijuana and other drugs. It is amazing to think that these same drugs are responsible for such destruction in the lives of people everywhere.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to addiction I agree with you about we don’t know what we ourselves are capable of. Maybe in some addictions medications such as Xanax, make people feel more at ease. Personally I’ve tried prescribe Xanax before due to not be able to sleep and my nerves all over the place. Within minutes I was calm and relaxed. But when people have uncontrollable addictions for medications, that’s when therapy should come into play.
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