We hear a lot about addiction in the news and in our lives, and many of us have first-hand experience. More than 20 million Americans over age 12 currently face substance use disorder, affecting nearly half of all Americans either first-hand or second-hand.
Even so, many don’t know what addiction truly is and how it works. Here’s what you need to know about how substances disrupt your brain’s reward system and what you can do about it!
Our bodies require a balance of hormones, endorphins, and other important chemical compounds to survive and thrive. One of the best examples of this is in our brains, which carry a delicate balance of neurotransmitters, most notably serotonin and dopamine. We’re going to focus on the latter, as this is known as the “pleasure hormone” or the “feel-good hormone”, and is more commonly associated with addiction.
However, it’s far more than pleasure that’s concerning. A proper balance of dopamine is essential for proper brain functioning. Without a proper balance of these rewarding compounds, you may face serious health concerns such as depression and even long-term brain damage if left to persist.
Moreover, our bodies produce dopamine on their own and release it when we anticipate a reward. The second our tongue touches ice cream, we finish a rewarding task, or we get praise from our employers, our brains release dopamine as a reward. In essence, this is our brain’s reward system at work.
Let’s put it this way; drugs mimic dopamine in our brains. Whether it’s alcohol or cocaine, our bodies consider it a feel-good hormone and essentially use it as dopamine. This causes our bodies to produce less dopamine as a result.
Moreover, this dopamine inhibition can make it difficult to feel or achieve pleasure without using substances. Essentially, this is what addiction is.
A physical dependence forces your body to rely on an outside substance for proper functioning to replace the missing neurotransmitters. Without it, you can experience detox symptoms until your body can produce the necessary levels of dopamine on its own again.
While research is still continuing into how addiction alters brain chemistry, we’ve already learned quite a bit. Unfortunately, this process has only intensified over time.
Prior to the 19th century, drugs and alcohol were drunk, eaten, or smoked. Most of these came from plant products that were rather weak compared to today’s drugs. Much like the distillation process in the middle ages raising alcohol’s potential potency from roughly 13% to over 50%, medical science has improved many drugs in the last century or so.
Now, drugs including methamphetamine, synthetic opioids, and others are designed specifically to flood your brain with (effectively) synthetic neurotransmitters, thereby hijacking your brain’s reward system. Therefore, the potency and type of drug you consume will play a major role in disrupting your brain’s reward center.
If you struggle with addiction, treatment is the only solution. Unfortunately, there is no cure for a disrupted reward system, but you can treat it and get back to living a happy and healthy life.
However, quitting on your own, especially “cold turkey” is dangerous, especially during the detox phase. When you detox, you essentially “reset” your brain’s neurochemistry.
During this period, your body will experience negative symptoms as a result of the missing substance, including a wide range from flu-like symptoms to seizures and even death. While symptoms typically peak after four days, this process takes roughly two weeks for most people and most substances.
No, you will not be “cured” after this period. Rather, you will have broken the physical addiction, meaning that your body is no longer physically dependent on the substance. However, you will still need to learn how to live a successful and sober life uninterrupted by temptation. For that, you’ll need professional treatment services.
Addiction recovery is a lot like education, and reading up on the topic is a great place to start. However, for long-term success, you’ll need a structured treatment plan tailored to your needs. Fortunately, there is help available to those in need.
Keep reading our blog for our latest recovery tips, and don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or to verify your insurance!