5 Facts About How Drug Addiction Affects the Brain
Posted on: 04-22-2014 Posted by: Shelly Wager
All substances that cause drug addiction affect the dopamine levels of the brain, causing the levels of this neurotransmitter to increase in the tissues of the brain. When dopamine levels rise the user experiences a sense of pleasure. This sense of pleasure is what causes substance abuse and drug addiction.- Repeated drug use causes changes in the way that the brain acts and functions. Once drug addiction starts then the drug use starts to take on the importance of survival behavior. To the user satisfying the drug addiction is just as critical as eating, drinking, or sleeping.
- No matter what form your drug addiction takes and what drug of choice you use the craving to do the drug will become so strong that it towers over everything else. Friends, family, work, school, health, and everything else will seem less important than the drug which fuels the drug addiction.
- When drug addiction starts the physical and chemical changes that occur in your brain make it difficult or even impossible to think clearly and to make sound decisions. Your judgment will be compromised, and you will have a harder time controlling your behavior. When you are not using the drugs then you will not feel normal.
- Drug addiction is rationalized by the mind when you are hooked, or else you may just deny that there is a problem in the first place. You may tell yourself that you are in control of your drug addiction, or you may try to minimize the amount and the dangers of the drug.
Categories: Addiction & Recovery, Uncategorized Tags: drug addiction
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