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Addiction and Bonding
Addiction
Most of us know what addiction is, it eats you it makes you selfish , you are angry with yourself most but you project that to other around you. Addiction is a disease you are loosing your persona you are loosing everything around you, the only thing it matters it is what you got an addict.
Today around the world there are millions of people addiucted to something, mainly drugs. Most people die of an overdose or a mixture as thery call it a coctail of drugs. Unfortunately tghe ones who diue are young men or women.
People with addiction lose control over their actions. They crave and seek out drugs, alcohol, or other substances no matter what the cost—even at the risk of damaging friendships, hurting family, or losing jobs. What is it about addiction that makes people behave in such destructive ways? And why is it so hard to quit?
NIH-funded scientists are working to learn more about the biology of addiction. They’ve 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
The biological basis of addiction helps to explain why people need much more than good intentions or willpower to break their addictions.
“A common misperception is that addiction is a choice or moral problem, and all you have to do is stop. But nothing could be further from the truth,” says Dr. George Koob, director of NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
“The brain actually changes with addiction, and it takes a good deal of work to get it back to its normal state. The more drugs or alcohol you’ve taken, the more disruptive it is to the brain.”
Researchers have found that 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.
But 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 the 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.
“Brain imaging studies of people addicted to drugs or alcohol show decreased activity in this frontal cortex,” says Dr. Nora Volkow, director of NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“When the frontal cortex isn’t working properly, people can’t make the decision to stop taking the drug—even if they realize the price of taking that drug may be extremely high, and they might lose custody of their children or end up in jail. Nonetheless, they take it.
Five action steps for quitting an addiction
Because change is so difficult, it's useful to have a guide when attempting to kick an addiction to drugs, alcohol or behavior. Research shows that the following steps can help you move toward your recovery goals. You have the greatest chance of success if you adopt all five steps.
1. Set a quit date. It might be helpful to choose a meaningful date like a special event, birthday, or anniversary.
2. Change your environment. Remove any reminders of your addiction from your home and workplace. For example, separate from those who would encourage you to be involved with the object of your addiction (drug, alcohol, or behavior). If you are trying to quit drinking, get rid of any alcohol, bottle openers, wine glasses, and corkscrews.
If you're trying to quit gambling, remove any playing cards, scratch tickets, or poker chips. Also, don't let other people use or bring reminders of the addiction-related substance or behavior into your home.
3. Distract yourself. Instead of giving in to an urge to use, come up with alternative activities, such as going for a walk or calling a friend or family member to talk, so that you keep busy until the urge passes. Be prepared to deal with things that trigger your cravings, such as being in an environment where others are using.
4. Review your past attempts at quitting. Think about what worked and what did not. Consider what might have contributed to relapse and make changes accordingly.
5. Create a support network. Talk to your family and friends and ask for their encouragement and support. Let them know you are quitting. If they use your object of addiction, ask them not to do so in front of you.
If you buy drugs, you should consider telling your dealer that you are quitting; ask your dealer not to call you and not to sell you drugs anymore.
Also, you might want to consider talking to your health care provider about the method of quitting that is best for you. There may be medications that can ease the process for you and increase your chances of success.
Myths About Addiction
The processes that give rise to addictive behavior resist a simplistic explanation. There is not just one cause: Although genetic or other biological factors can contribute to a person’s vulnerability to the condition, many social, psychological, and environmental factors also have a powerful influence on substance use.
Some characteristics, such as a lack of ability to tolerate distress or other strong feelings, have been associated with addiction, but there is no one “addictive personality” type that clearly predicts whether a person will face problems with addiction.
What if there is another way
Science proved addiction is a state of mind and the state is called boredom. If you have an addiction try this, book yourself on a holiday trip somewhere you really like. once you get there and you relax the last thing in your mind will be addiction. The brain is a powerful tool if it is happy it is also relaxed and your addiction will be a thing of the past. If you sirrounded by people you love and you are in the right place you are the winner.
The thing it stop the addict to do that is thr fear, how can I go holidays if I do not have drugs with me? Thaty gfear holds you back it is the sweet trap and you set up this trap it is up to you to feel free again You are stronger than you think you are , capable of doing what you want to do you have thre most powerful tool, your mind, use it.
Biology of Addiction
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.
But not all members of an affected family are necessarily prone to addiction. “As with heart disease or diabetes, there’s no one gene that makes you vulnerable,” Koob says.
Other factors can also raise your chances of addiction. “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.
“And with drugs or underage drinking, the earlier you start, the greater the likelihood of having alcohol use disorder or addiction later in life.”
Teens are especially vulnerable to possible addiction because their brains are not yet fully developed—particularly the frontal regions that help with impulse control and assessing risk. Pleasure circuits in adolescent brains also operate in overdrive, making drug and alcohol use even more rewarding and enticing.
NIH is launching a new nationwide study to learn more about how teen brains are altered by alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs. Researchers will use brain scans and other tools to assess more than 10,000 youth over a 10-year span. The study will track the links between substance use and brain changes, academic achievement, IQ, thinking skills, and mental health over time.
Although there’s much still to learn, we do know that prevention is critical to reducing the harms of addiction. “Childhood and adolescence are times when parents can get involved and teach their kids about a healthy lifestyle and activities that can protect against the use of drugs,” Volkow says. “Physical activity is important, as well as getting engaged in work, science projects, art, or social networks that do not promote use of drugs.”
To treat addiction, scientists have identified several medications and behavioral therapies—especially when used in combination—that can help people stop using specific substances and prevent relapse.
Unfortunately, no medications are yet available to treat addiction to stimulants such as cocaine or methamphetamine, but behavioral therapies can help.
“Treatment depends to a large extent on the severity of addiction and the individual person,” Koob adds. “Some people can stop cigarette smoking and alcohol use disorders on their own. More severe cases might require months or even years of treatment and follow-up, with real efforts by the individual and usually complete abstinence from the substance afterward.”
NIH-funded researchers are also evaluating experimental therapies that might enhance the effectiveness of established treatments. Mindfulness meditation and magnetic stimulation of the brain are being assessed for their ability to strengthen brain circuits that have been harmed by addiction. Scientists are also examining the potential of vaccines against nicotine, cocaine, and other drugs, which might prevent the drug from entering the brain.
“Addiction is a devastating disease, with a relatively high death rate and serious social consequences,” Volkow says. “We’re exploring multiple strategies so individuals will eventually have more treatment options, which will increase their chances of success to help them stop taking the drug.”
Addiction equals Boredom
There is evidence that addictive behaviors share key neurobiological features: They intensely involve brain pathways of reward and reinforcement, which involve the neurotransmitter dopamine.
And, in keeping with other highly motivated states, they lead to the pruning of synapses in the prefrontal cortex, home of the brain's highest functions, so that attention is highly focused on cues related to the target substance or activity. It is important to know that such brain changes are reversible after the substance use or behavior is discontinued.
Both substance use disorders and gambling behaviors have an increased likelihood of being accompanied by mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, or other pre-existing problems. Substance use and gambling disorders not only engage the same brain mechanisms, they respond to many of the same treatment approaches.
Substance use and gambling disorders are complex conditions that affect the reward, reinforcement, motivation, and memory systems of the brain. They are characterized by impaired control over usage; social impairment, involving the disruption of everyday activities and relationships; and craving. Continuing use is typically harmful to relationships as well as to obligations at work or school.
Another distinguishing feature of addictions is that individuals continue to pursue the activity despite the physical or psychological harm it incurs, even if it the harm is exacerbated by repeated use. Typically, one's tolerance to a substance increases as the body adapts to its presence.
Because addiction affects the brain’s executive functions, centered in the prefrontal cortex, individuals who develop an addiction may not be aware that their behavior is causing problems for themselves and others. Over time, pursuit of the pleasurable effects of the substance or behavior may dominate an individual’s activities.
All addictions have the capacity to induce a sense of hopelessness and feelings of failure, as well as shame and guilt, but research documents that recovery is the rule rather than the exception. There are many routes to recovery.
Individuals can achieve improved physical, psychological, and social functioning on their own—so-called natural recovery. Others benefit from the support of community or peer-based networks. And still others opt for clinical-based recovery through the services of credentialed professionals.
The road to recovery is seldom straight: Relapse, or recurrence of substance use, is common—but definitely not the end of the road. For those who achieve remission of an addiction disorder for five years, researchers report, the likelihood of relapse is no greater than that among the general population. Neuroscientists report that synaptic density is gradually restored.
