Biology of Addiction
If your health care provider prescribes a drug with the potential for addiction, use care when taking the drug and follow instructions. Physical addiction appears to occur when repeated use of a drug changes the way your brain feels pleasure. 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. This class of drugs includes, among others, heroin, morphine, codeine, methadone, fentanyl and oxycodone. Due to the toxic nature of these substances, users may develop brain damage or sudden death.
Brain imaging studies help explain how drug cues biologically narrow focus on the substance of abuse, motivate the drive to get it, and impair rational decision-making—brain changes that make addiction a self-perpetuating condition. The pathways to addiction can be difficult to understand, because substance abuse, as a result of the intense burst of pleasure it brings, rapidly rewires the circuitry of the brain to become highly efficient at drug wanting and seeking. Someone who uses drugs or alcohol regularly might feel depressed, unmotivated or lifeless when they aren’t using substances.
Alcohol use, especially when alcohol is consumed frequently in heavy or binge drinking patterns, can lead to a dependency on the substance. Flu-like symptoms, depression, insomnia, and anxiety are common when heroin use is discontinued, after dependence is formed, thus encouraging individuals to keep taking the drug to avoid discomfort. Heroin is considered to be a highly addictive drug, as the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) estimates that nearly a quarter of those who try it become addicted to the drug. It also induces euphoria by creating a backlog of dopamine in the brain.
Examples of controlled prescription medications include morphine (severe pain reliever) and methylphenidate (stimulant). Treatment is available if you need help with substance use or misuse. Substances are any type of medication or chemical that has addiction potential. If you feel you need to take more than the prescribed dose of a medicine, talk to your health care provider.
What are the types of addiction?
“The drug analogy is always a tough one because, unlike drugs, food is necessary for survival,” says Andy Bellatti, MS, RD, strategic director of Dietitians for Professional Integrity. Researchers in France agree that the casual link between sugar and illegal drugs doesn’t just make for dramatic headlines. Bjork adds, “Every time we eat sweets, we are reinforcing those neuropathways, causing the brain to become increasingly hardwired to crave sugar, building up a tolerance like any other drug.” “Sugar activates the opiate receptors in our brain and affects the reward center, which leads to compulsive behavior, despite the negative consequences like weight gain, headaches, hormone imbalances, and more.” As you repeat that behavior more and more, your brain adjusts to release less dopamine. It’s also important to note that addiction is about the underlying neurology of the brain and not about the outward behaviors.
Steps to prevent opioid use disorder
These protective factors don’t make someone “immune” to addiction, but they do increase resilience and reduce vulnerability. The difference often lies in the interaction between risk factors and protective factors. Not everyone who uses substances becomes addicted. According to research from the NIH, about half of a person’s risk for addiction comes performance-enhancing drug use in recreational athletes from inherited traits.
What is sniffing addiction?
So, what makes these addictive drugs different from other prescription drugs? When receptor-active drugs such as opioids are ingested, their molecules look just like natural molecules in our brain. For some time now, we’ve been aware that drugs can effectively change the structure of the brain, especially with prolonged use.
Recognizing unhealthy drug use in family members
Genes may account for about half of your chances of developing a substance use disorder. If addiction runs in your family, your risk is higher. In general, when narcotics are used under proper medical supervision, addiction happens in only a small percentage of people. That urge to get and use drugs can fill up every minute of the day, even if you want to quit.
For example, many people need treatment for co-occurring mental health disorders to reduce their relapse risk. Orlando Recovery Center offers comprehensive addiction treatment for drug and alcohol addictions and co-occurring mental health conditions. These include the adoption of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder and other evidence-based interventions that are designed to treat the whole person rather than just the addiction or mental health condition in isolation. Understanding the intricate relationship between mental health and drug addiction is crucial in addressing the complexities of substance use disorders (SUDs).
One result is impaired judgment, decision-making, and impulse control, a hallmark of addiction. The sensation of pleasure orchestrated by dopamine likely arose to encourage repetition of behaviors that support individual and species survival—eating, interacting with others, having sex. It focuses sun rocks marijuana attention on and drives people to pursue specific goals. The neurotransmitter dopamine is often called “the pleasure molecule,” but it is more correctly defined as a chemical that underlies motivation. And through pathways of nerve connection to other areas of the brain, the response weakens activity of the brain’s decision-making center in the prefrontal cortex. Nevertheless, the outsize sensation of reward makes a powerful case for repetition.
- “Free sugars” include both the sugars naturally found in honey and fruit juice, and sugar added to food and drinks.
- But noticing the early signs can help you act sooner, which can make recovery easier.
- When a brain’s reward pathway has repeated exposure to an addictive drug, it can drive the compulsion to continue seeking more of that drug due to the way that part of the brain is designed.
- Long-term heavy drinking can damage the brain and lead to cognitive decline.
- The part of the brain housing reward and reinforcement behavior is called the nucleus accumbens.
- Researchers will use brain scans and other tools to assess more than 10,000 youth over a 10-year span.
Short-term versus long-term effects
Alcohol is the most regularly used addictive substance in America, with nearly 29 million people aged 12 or older having a past year alcohol use disorder in 2023.1 Other possible causes of addiction include chemical imbalances in the brain and mental disorders such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Of the people with a drug addiction, more than two-thirds also abuse alcohol.
If you’re living with lifelong pain, opioids aren’t likely to be a safe and effective long-term treatment option. And don’t share your opioid medicines or take other people’s opioids. This makes it more celebrities drinking alcohol likely that opioids will become addictive.
- “Growing up with an alcoholic; being abused as a child; being exposed to extraordinary stress—all of these social factors can contribute to the risk for alcohol addiction or drug abuse,” Koob says.
- The dopamine changes the brain’s neurons, making it easier to repeat the activity without thinking about it.
- We leverage evidence-based approaches and holistic treatment methods to help individuals with drug addiction recover effectively.
- Yes, marijuana can be addictive.8 Although not everyone who uses marijuana becomes addicted to it, it is possible to develop a marijuana addiction or a cannabis use disorder.
- It does this by providing compassionate care and evidence-based content that addresses health, treatment, and recovery.
- Individuals can achieve improved physical, psychological, and social functioning on their own—so-called natural recovery.
In healthcare, this pathological pursuit of profit has life-or-death consequences. This piece examines how ADHD can be managed, and benefits and risks to stimulant use. But the experience of pleasure is relative; it hinges in part on biology and very much on what else there is going on in a persons life that is meaningful or rewarding. One use of a substance can produce a pleasurable effect that motivates interest in repeating the experience.
Our navigators can also help verify your insurance benefits or discuss other payment options and help you start your recovery journey. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), an estimated 30% of marijuana users have some form of marijuana use disorder. According to the 2020 NSDUH, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the nation.1 The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is one of the most comprehensive and reliable sources of information on patterns of drug use in America. If their use progresses to regular, heavy use and continues for a prolonged period, they may develop cannabis use disorder.
Certain substances affect brain circuits that affect stress, reward, and self-control. Drug addiction is a chronic and relapsing disorder where someone compulsively seeks out drugs and uses them, despite adverse consequences. “That said, there is research demonstrating that sugar can stimulate the brain’s reward processing center in a manner that mimics what we see with some recreational drugs.”