The Consequences Of Addiction
Addiction is a brain disease that is a compulsive engagement in a rewarding stimuli, despite adverse consequences. There are many stages that lead addiction such as the pleasure principle, development of tolerance, and compulsion (Rodgers, 1994).
The brains pleasure principles registers all pleasures the same way, from psychoactive drug, a monetary reward, a sexual encounter, or a satisfying meal. In the brain, pleasure releases a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Dopamine is released into the nucleus accumbens, what neuroscientists refer to as the brain’s pleasure center. Laying down memories of this rapid sense of satisfaction, creates a conditioned response to certain stimuli (Leshner, 1997).
Over time, the brain adapts the sought-after
substance or activity less pleasurable because an addicted persons’ brain receptors become overwhelmed (Rodgers, 1994). The brain responds by producing less dopamine. The consequence of these adaptations, dopamine has less impact on the brain’s reward center (Nestler, 2013). People who develop an addiction typically find that, in time, the desired substance or activity no longer gives them the same amount of pleasure. Thus, making them to take more of it to obtain the same amount of pleasure because their brains have adapted an effect known as tolerance. (Leshner, 1997)
At this point, compulsion takes over which means the pleasure associated with an addictive drug or behavior subsides and the need to recreate it persists. These memories help create a conditioned response which leads to an intense craving whenever the person encounters those environmental cues for example a person addicted to heroin may relapse when he sees a hypodermic. Conditioned learning plays a big role on how a person can develop an addiction risk relapse even after years of abstinence. (Leshner, 1997)
Addiction is a preventable disease. Prevention programs involving families, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing addiction. Cultivate diverse interests that provide meaning to your life (Nestler. J. E. 2013).
The brains pleasure principles registers all pleasures the same way, from psychoactive drug, a monetary reward, a sexual encounter, or a satisfying meal. In the brain, pleasure releases a neurotransmitter called dopamine. Dopamine is released into the nucleus accumbens, what neuroscientists refer to as the brain’s pleasure center. Laying down memories of this rapid sense of satisfaction, creates a conditioned response to certain stimuli (Leshner, 1997).
Over time, the brain adapts the sought-after
substance or activity less pleasurable because an addicted persons’ brain receptors become overwhelmed (Rodgers, 1994). The brain responds by producing less dopamine. The consequence of these adaptations, dopamine has less impact on the brain’s reward center (Nestler, 2013). People who develop an addiction typically find that, in time, the desired substance or activity no longer gives them the same amount of pleasure. Thus, making them to take more of it to obtain the same amount of pleasure because their brains have adapted an effect known as tolerance. (Leshner, 1997)
At this point, compulsion takes over which means the pleasure associated with an addictive drug or behavior subsides and the need to recreate it persists. These memories help create a conditioned response which leads to an intense craving whenever the person encounters those environmental cues for example a person addicted to heroin may relapse when he sees a hypodermic. Conditioned learning plays a big role on how a person can develop an addiction risk relapse even after years of abstinence. (Leshner, 1997)
Addiction is a preventable disease. Prevention programs involving families, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing addiction. Cultivate diverse interests that provide meaning to your life (Nestler. J. E. 2013).