Author: Alex Thompson

Addiction Science National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA

An intervention presents a loved one with a structured opportunity to make changes before things get even worse and can motivate someone to seek or accept help. Stimulants include amphetamines, meth (methamphetamine), cocaine, methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta, others) and amphetamine-dextroamphetamine (Adderall XR, Mydayis). They’re often used and misused in search of a “high,” or to boost energy, to improve performance at work or school, or to lose weight or control appetite.

With professional medical treatment and commitment, millions of people have overcome substance use disorders and behavioral addictions to live happy, healthy lives. Talk to your provider about a treatment plan that works for you. With treatment, many people manage addiction and live full, healthy lives.

Talk with your health care provider or see a mental health provider, such as a doctor who specializes in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry, or a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. Just as recovery from addiction requires focusing on rewarding activities other than drug use, so does prevention. A person cannot get addicted to a substance without exposure to the substance, but exposure alone does not lead to addiction. One use of a substance can produce a pleasurable effect that motivates interest in repeating the experience.

Effect on Your Brain

For another, they may inherit whatever genetic or biological vulnerabilities laid the groundwork for a parental addiction. For addiction to certain drugs, there are also medicines that can help you re-establish normal brain function and decrease your cravings. But if you’ve misused drugs or alcohol in the past or have family members who have, you may be at a higher risk.

1. Fortunately, researchers know more than ever about how drugs affect the brain and have found treatments that can help people recover from drug addiction and lead productive lives.
2. A properly functioning reward system motivates a person to repeat behaviors needed to thrive, such as eating and spending time with loved ones.
3. Addiction is a chronic (lifelong) condition that involves compulsive seeking and taking of a substance or performing of an activity despite negative or harmful consequences.
4. If your health care provider prescribes a drug with the potential for addiction, use care when taking the drug and follow instructions.
5. It’s common for a person to relapse, but relapse doesn’t mean that treatment doesn’t work.

Drugs are chemical substances that can change how your body and mind work. They include prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs. Marijuana is also included on this list, though it is considered less addictive than other drugs. Marijuana leads to a marijuana use disorder for around 30% of those who use it. People who start using marijuana before they’re 18 are also four to seven times more likely to develop a marijuana use disorder than people who start using it as an adult. To diagnose addiction, your healthcare provider may refer you to a psychiatrist, psychologist or drug and alcohol counselor.

Substances or behaviors that can trigger addiction

Further, by changing the responsiveness of dopamine receptors, methamphetamine blunts the experience of reward from normal sources of pleasure. Alcohol in some form is widely used for pleasurable purposes and is an important part of the social fabric worldwide, today as in ancient times. Nevertheless, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 14.6 million U.S. adults over the age of 18 have alcohol use disorder, marked by uncontrolled drinking. Around the world, 240 million people are reportedly dependent on alcohol; alcohol abuse is most prevalent in Eastern Europe and least prevalent among Asians. As a person continues to use drugs, the brain adapts by reducing the ability of cells in the reward circuit to respond to it. This reduces the high that the person feels compared to the high they felt when first taking the drug—an effect known as tolerance.

Someone who uses drugs or alcohol regularly might feel depressed, unmotivated or lifeless when they aren’t using substances. There are many risk factors for addiction, from individual factors such as stress tolerance and personality makeup to social factors such as friendships and educational and job opportunities. But what addiction may come down to for everyone is the emotional and physical appeal of a substance at a particular moment in a person’s life. Environmental factors for drug addiction relate to someone’s family life, school life and community. Children who live in a home environment where family members misuse drugs or alcohol or break the law have an increased risk of future drug problems.

Addiction can’t happen without exposure to agents, but that is hardly the determining factor. Addiction is not a property of the substance ingested or activity engaged in. It causes a person to take drugs repeatedly, despite the harm they cause. Repeated drug use can change the brain and lead to addiction. According to doctors and researchers, addiction has similarities to other chronic diseases. For example, if someone has heart disease, it affects the normal and healthy function of the organ, like addiction affects the brain.

Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs. When you’re addicted, you may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes. As with most other chronic diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, treatment for drug addiction generally isn’t a cure.

The brain changes from addiction can be lasting, so drug addiction is considered a “relapsing” disease. This means that people in recovery are at risk for taking drugs again, even after years of not taking them. Addiction is complex and influenced by several factors, including genetics, environment and interactions with brain chemistry. Understanding what makes drugs addictive and how they impact the people who use them can help reduce the stigma around this disease and get people the help they need. Experts believe that repeated and early exposure to addictive substances and behaviors play a significant role. Genetics also increase the likelihood of an addiction by about 50 percent, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

How do drugs work in the brain?

In cases of physical dependence, withdrawal symptoms happen when you suddenly stop a substance. Tolerance happens when a dose of a substance becomes less effective over time. Without treatment, addiction can cause serious health issues, even death. It can damage personal relationships, lead to financial difficulties and cause legal problems. Untreated addiction also harms family members, and the effects can last for generations. Alcohol use disorder is the most common substance addiction in the United States, followed by nicotine and marijuana.

Marijuana, hashish and other cannabis-containing substances

In 2018, opioids played a role in two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths. Drug addiction isn’t about just heroin, cocaine, or other illegal drugs. You can get addicted to alcohol, nicotine, sleep and anti-anxiety medications, and other legal substances. Behavioral addictions can occur with any activity that’s capable of stimulating your brain’s reward system. This is why a person who misuses drugs eventually feels flat, without motivation, lifeless, and/or depressed, and is unable to enjoy things that were previously pleasurable. Now, the person needs to keep taking drugs to experience even a normal level of reward—which only makes the problem worse, like a vicious cycle.

As your drug use increases, you may find that it’s increasingly difficult to go without the drug. Attempts to stop drug use may cause intense cravings and make you feel physically ill. At least 50% of whether someone is susceptible to drug addiction is related to genetic factors.

Breaking Down the Stigma of Addiction: A Witness’ Story Through Art

Also, the person will often need to take larger amounts of the drug to produce the familiar high—an effect known as tolerance. Large surges of dopamine “teach” the brain to seek drugs at the expense of other, healthier goals and activities. Sometimes called the “opioid epidemic,” addiction to opioid prescription pain medicines has reached an alarming rate across the United States. Some people who’ve been using opioids over a long period of time may need physician-prescribed temporary or long-term drug substitution during treatment. Help from your health care provider, family, friends, support groups or an organized treatment program can help you overcome your drug addiction and stay drug-free.