What Is Addiction?

Drug-Addiction-Help

Addiction is a condition that results when a person ingests a substance (e.g., alcohol, cocaine, nicotine) or engages in an activity (e.g., gambling, sex, shopping) that can be pleasurable but the continued use/act of which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, such as work, relationships, or health. Users may not be aware that their behavior is out of control and causing problems for themselves and others. When a drug user can’t stop taking a drug even if he wants to, it’s called addiction. The urge is too strong to control, even if you know the drug is causing harm.

When people start taking drugs, they don’t plan to get addicted. They like how the drug makes them feel. They believe they can control how much and how often they take the drug. However, drugs change the brain. Drug users start to need the drug just to feel normal. That is addiction, and it can quickly take over a person’s life.

The word addiction is used in several different ways. One definition describes physical addiction. This is a biological state in which the body adapts to the presence of a drug so that drug no longer has the same effect, otherwise known as a tolerance. Another form of physical addiction is the phenomenon of overreaction by the brain to drugs (or to cues associated with the drugs). An alcoholic walking into a bar, for instance, will feel an extra pull to have a drink because of these cues.

Addiction can become more important than the need to eat or sleep. The urge to get and use the drug can fill every moment of a person’s life. The addiction replaces all the things the person used to enjoy. A person who is addicted might do almost anything—lying, stealing, or hurting people—to keep taking the drug. This could get the person arrested.

However, most addictive behavior is not related to either physical tolerance or exposure to cues. People compulsively use drugs, gamble, or shop nearly always in reaction to being emotionally stressed, whether or not they have a physical addiction. Since these psychologically based addictions are not based on drug or brain effects, they can account for why people frequently switch addictive actions from one drug to a completely different kind of drug, or even to a non-drug behavior. The focus of the addiction isn’t what matters; it’s the need to take action under certain kinds of stress. Treating this kind of addiction requires an understanding of how it works psychologically.

When referring to any kind of addiction, it is important to recognize that its cause is not simply a search for pleasure and that addiction has nothing to do with one’s morality or strength of character. Addiction is a brain disease.

Drugs change how the brain works.
These brain changes can last for a long time.
They can cause problems like mood swings, memory loss, even trouble thinking and making decisions.

Addiction is a disease, just as diabetes and cancer are diseases. Addiction is not simply a weakness. People from all backgrounds, rich or poor, can get an addiction. Addiction can happen at any age, but it usually starts when a person is young.

There is a questionnaire available at the following location to help you identify if you or someone you know is an addict:

http://www.na.org/admin/include/spaw2/uploads/pdf/litfiles/us_english/IP/EN3107.pdf

How Does Drug Abuse Become Addiction?

After you take a drug for a while, the feel-good parts of your brain get used to it. Soon, your brain and body must have the drug to just feel normal.

Not everyone who uses drugs becomes addicted. Each person’s body and brain are different. So people react to drugs differently. Your relationships, surroundings, and stress can also make you more or less likely to become addicted.

But how does taking drugs become an addiction?

Our brains want us to repeat things that we need or enjoy—like eating a good meal. That’s why you want to eat more dessert than you know you should. That’s why a little child often shouts “again!” when you do something to make her laugh.

All drugs of abuse excite the parts of the brain that make you feel good. But, after you take a drug for a while, the feel-good parts of your brain get used to it. Then you need to take more of the drug to get the same good feeling. Soon, your brain and body must have the drug to just feel normal. You feel sick and awful without the drug. You no longer have the good feelings that you had when you first used the drug.

Addiction can run in families. If people in your family have addictions, you are more likely to become addicted if you use drugs. It’s like having a greater chance of getting heart disease because your father and many of his relatives have it.

Often many people in a family will have drug problems. It can be a problem that continues through many generations. This can happen whether the family is rich, poor, or in between. When parents have drug problems, life at home can be very unhappy for the children. This can make them even more likely to become addicted when they grow up. The good news is that many children whose parents had drug problems do not become addicted when they grow up. The risk is higher but it does not have to happen. And you can protect yourself from the risk by not abusing drugs at all.

Healing from addiction takes time. Making up your mind to stop using drugs is a big step. Being addicted makes you afraid of what will happen if you don’t keep taking the drug. People often won’t try quitting until they’re forced to, because it seems too hard.

When you stop using the drug, it upsets your body and brain. You might feel very sick for a while, and feel a very strong need to take the drug. It can be really hard to refuse to use the drug when you feel that bad.

But you don’t have to do it alone. Support groups, treatment programs, and sometimes medicines can help. You’ll meet people who understand what you’re going through, who can give you advice and cheer you on. Physicians can help you find medicines that make you feel less sick and reduce your cravings to use the drug.

After you’ve stopped using the drug, you still have a lot to do:

You have to relearn how to live without using drugs.
You have to work on the problems your drug abuse caused with your family, your job, your friends, and your money.
You have to stay away from people you used drugs with, and places where you used.
You have to learn what makes you want to take drugs again, so you can avoid or work on those things.
You may also need treatment for problems that led to your drug use, such as depression, anxiety or other mental health problems.

A trigger is anything that makes a person feel the urge to go back to using drugs. It can be a place, person, thing, smell, feeling, or memory that reminds the person of taking a drug and getting high. A trigger can be something stressful that you want to escape from. It can even be something that makes you feel happy. People fighting addiction need to stay away from the triggers that can make them start using drugs again. Just like people with breathing problems need to avoid smoke and dust.

The dirty little secret about addictions is that relapsing is the rule, not the exception. Up to 80 percent of alcoholics treated for a drinking problem will hit the bottle again at least once. Between 60 and 90 percent of smokers light up within a year of stopping, and more than 90 percent of the gamblers who quit on their own will eventually place another bet. Even minor bad habits are hard to break: People make the same New Year’s resolution for an average of five years running before they maintain the change for even six months.

Drug addiction is a preventable disease. Results from research have shown that prevention programs involving families, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing drug abuse. Although many events and cultural factors affect drug abuse trends, when youths perceive drug abuse as harmful, they reduce their drug taking. Thus, education and outreach are key in helping youth and the general public understand the risks of drug abuse. Teachers, parents, and medical and public health professionals must keep sending the message that drug addiction can be prevented if one never abuses drugs.

References

https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201007/the-new-quitter

https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/addiction

https://easyread.drugabuse.gov/content/what-addiction

https://easyread.drugabuse.gov/content/how-does-drug-abuse-become-addiction

https://easyread.drugabuse.gov/content/does-addiction-run-families

https://easyread.drugabuse.gov/content/why-it-so-hard-quit-drugs

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-abuse-addiction