Drug addiction

Scientists have seriously decided to study the phenomenon of drug addiction, and over the past 15 years have made many experiments and discoveries. Drug addiction has been known for a long time, but how it is formed, and what mechanisms underlie the formation of drug addiction, not many know. Why do people need to know about alcohol addiction and drug addiction? As experience shows, it is impossible to treat drug addiction and prevent drug addiction without knowing the mechanisms of its formation.

What is the insidiousness of drug addiction?
A sick person, as a rule, wants to get rid of his illness, but a person with drug or alcohol addiction is in no hurry to do this, and often he does not even suspect that he is sick with drug addiction. Such people want to be cured of drug addiction only if some catastrophic consequences occur. Treatment of drug addiction is difficult and sometimes gives only minimal results.

Formation of drug addiction

Now let's figure out why it is difficult to rid an alcoholic of alcohol addiction, and a drug addict of drug addiction.
Of course, the "habitat" environment, social circle, habits, traditions - all this also affects the formation of drug addiction, but we will talk about what happens in the body.
Why do people use psychoactive substances? We will answer this question by dividing people into 2 categories:
Category 1 - people looking for pleasure, good mood, high, euphoria, energy boost, etc. and for this they use psychoactive substances.
Category 2 - people using psychoactive substances to get rid of depression, unpleasant experiences, communication difficulties, etc.
Since psychoactive substances are able to solve these problems, and people feel better after taking them, this is the reason why many do not want to be treated for drug addiction. Can you imagine a disease that causes pleasure?

Alcoholism and drug addiction are very terrible diseases, as they are characterized by:

1. Alcohol and drugs affect the brain, causing the development of alcohol and drug addiction! This is the main link in the disease.
2. Alcohol and drugs have a very strong effect on human organs and the body as a whole. The toxic effects of these substances have been known since ancient times, they affect the brain, liver, kidneys, heart, pancreas, stomach and other organs, gradually rendering these organs unusable.
3. Alcohol and drugs affect offspring. Scientists have long proven that alcoholic parents have a high risk of having children who will become alcoholics in the future or will have changes in their behavior (aggressiveness, psychopathy, excitability, depression, etc.). Drinking alcohol during pregnancy leads to the development of fetal alcohol syndrome with mental or physical retardation. Using drugs during pregnancy leads to the birth of a child with drug addiction syndrome.

How does drug addiction form?
There is an area in the brain that is responsible for motivation and the emotional state of a person, it is called the "reinforcement system". Scientists conducted the following experiment: they took rats and implanted electrodes in this area, then installed a pedal for rats in the cage, when pressed, a weak current was supplied to this area and this area was stimulated. The rat pressed this pedal once and received pleasure and subsequently constantly pressed this pedal, bringing itself to physical exhaustion and death. Drug addicts are also similar to these rats, only they stimulate their reinforcement zone not with electrodes and current, but with a narcotic substance, i.e. chemically. It is the stimulation of the reinforcement zone that leads to the formation of drug addiction .
What chemical processes lead to the formation of drug addiction?
When alcohol or drugs are consumed, a chemical effect on the reinforcement zone occurs through neurotransmitters, namely dopamine. During the normal passage of a nerve impulse in the reinforcement zone, a certain amount of neurotransmitters is produced, which cause a certain degree of excitation. And when taking a drug, a significant release of neurotransmitters occurs, which cause stronger excitation of the reinforcement system and, consequently, stronger pleasure. However, there is also a downside: the drug forces the release of significantly more neurotransmitters than is normal, and this leads to a gradual depletion of their reserves. And when a person does not use a drug, he does not have enough of these neurotransmitters (because the reserve is depleted), and this does not lead to excitation of the reinforcement system, which is expressed in depression, loss of strength, bad mood, etc. Therefore, in order to be in a good mood, a drug addict constantly needs a drug, which will increasingly cause exhaustion neurotransmitters, which is why, when not intoxicated, they are constantly embittered, sullen, depressed, emotionally and physically weak. Would you like to be constantly sullen, angry, irritable, weak? I don't think so. You would also start looking for a way to cheer yourself up. For a drug addict, the only way to cheer himself up is to take another dose of the drug.