Addiction and the Brain

People with addiction lose control over their actions. Their brain is rewired to use drugs despite the consequences. While physical symptoms abate, the emotional triggers remain to create craving triggers for years down the road.

Myth: Willpower is all that is needed to overcome addiction.
Truth: While the desire to quit may be strong, willpower alone is not enough. The brain has altered with prolonged use of the substance. The cravings and compulsion to use are stronger. Success is not possible without a network of support.

Myth: Addiction is a disease and so we can do nothing.
Truth: Like in treating any other disease, no one is helpless. We can treat it.

Scientists have shown that addiction is a long-lasting and complex brain disease and that current treatments can help people control their addictions. But even for those who’ve successfully quit, there’s always a risk of the addiction returning, which is called relapse. Much of addiction’s power lies in its ability to hijack and even destroy key brain regions that are meant to help us survive.

A healthy brain rewards healthy behaviors—like exercising, eating, or bonding with loved ones. It does this by switching on brain circuits that make you feel wonderful, which then motivates you to repeat those behaviors. In contrast, when you’re in danger, a healthy brain pushes your body to react quickly with fear or alarm, so you’ll get out of harm’s way. If you’re tempted by something questionable—like eating ice cream before dinner or buying things you can’t afford—the front regions of your brain can help you decide if the consequences are worth the actions.

When you’re becoming addicted to a substance, that normal hardwiring of helpful brain processes can begin to work against you. Drugs or alcohol can hijack the pleasure/reward circuits in your brain and hook you into wanting more and more. Addiction can also send your emotional danger-sensing circuits into overdrive, making you feel anxious and stressed when you’re not using drugs or alcohol. At this stage, people often use drugs or alcohol to keep from feeling bad rather than for their pleasurable effects.

To add to that, repeated use of drugs can damage the essential decision-making center at the front of the brain. This area, known as the prefrontal cortex, is the very region that should help you recognize the harms of using addictive substances. Scientists don’t yet understand why some people become addicted while others don’t. Addiction tends to run in families, and certain types of genes have been linked to different forms of addiction. There are also different stressors:

1. Growing up with an alcoholic parent
2. Being abused as a child
3. Extraordinary stress

Myth: Those with addictions have to hit rock bottom.
Truth: Recovery is possible at any point.

The earlier one starts the process, the easier it will be given the effects of the drug on the brain. Addiction is a devastating disease. It affects more than the individual and everyone around them. We need to do everything to help those in need.