THE SCIENCE of ADDICTION
Drug addiction is a chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences.
Brain changes that occur over time with drug use challenge an addicted person’s self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs. This is why drug addiction is also a relapsing disease.
Relapse is the return to drug use after an attempt to stop. Relapse indicates the need for more or different treatment.
Most drugs affect the brain's reward circuit by flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. Surges of dopamine in the reward circuit cause the reinforcement of pleasurable but unhealthy activities, leading people to repeat the behavior again and again.
Over time, the brain adjusts to the excess dopamine, which reduces the high that the person feels compared to the high they felt when first taking the drug—an effect known as tolerance. They might take more of the drug, trying to achieve the same dopamine high.
No single factor can predict whether a person will become addicted to drugs. A combination of genetic, environmental, and developmental factors influences risk for addiction. The more risk factors a person has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction.
Despite these advances, many people today do not understand why people become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to foster compulsive drug use.
Those views shaped society’s responses to drug abuse, treating it as a moral failing rather than a health problem, which led to an emphasis on punishment rather than prevention and treatment. Today, thanks to science, our views and our responses to addiction and other substance use disorders have changed dramatically.
Addictions have fucked my life up
Congratulations! Flagged for plagiarism!
I wish the effects of synthetic Marijuana, also known as "K-2" or "Spice" was mentioned here. An ex-boyfriend of mine became addicted to it when Marijuana was inaccessible to us. He became a habitual user for a period of 6 months. Toward the end of that 6 months he had 2 episodes where his heart nearly stopped. His kidneys stopped functioning at full capacity which made his urine a dark brown, almost like Newcastle Ale. He had shortness of breathe, weird coughing rhythms, and would cough up phlegm that had a charcoal grey color to it. Marijuana never did any of those things to him. When he knew it was time to kick the habit, he endured 2 weeks of intense withdrawals. He could not eat his favorite foods without gagging. He couldn't sleep or function in his creativity. It was some really bad news there for a while. I never seen him not be able to eat grilled ham and cheese, which was his favorite meal at the time. It is so sad a bad drug such as "spice" was legal and therefore, "ok" and a non-lethal drug would be illegal. Be careful out there, my tribe! Thanks for sharing these charts! Maybe the type should be a bit bigger but they are otherwise fine. Much love!
Why have you only included chemical based addictions and not psychological ones such as gambling for example ? Gambling is arguably far more destructive than the ones on your list.Also, all you have done, like with all your posts is simply rip some graphics from Pinterest. Total joke
There is crypto addition and Steemit addition, perhaps. haha
Most drugs of abuse directly or indirectly target the brain's reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine.
The top three drugs causing addiction are marijuana, opioid (narcotic) pain relievers, ... Dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens is so consistently tied with pleasure.
The effects of needing more dopamine feelings causes the addiction.
It's so sad people still consumes this drugs even when they know its harmful effects. It's so sad a lot are addicted to these things. It doesn't affect America alone, its global impact is inestimable.
I hate to say it, but a lot of what makes us susceptible to addiction is hierarchy, or inequality itself. People of a poor stature who have to endure much more stress than those who have stable, good paying jobs and find their selves trying these drugs to escape the pain of being "worthless". This trend is reflected in experiments done on Chimpanzees, where it was discovered that Alpha males who get to eat all they want and have choice of females were much less likely to try a drug and become addicted to it, than the Beta males who had to fight each other for food and had lesser females to choose from. Maybe the real solution to this problem is building a social order that has true equality in mind?
Hmm, I can't agree more
Good news is, there are plenty of us out here working on that. For that reason, I am glad that crypto-currency is catching on and more people are becoming aware of the inequality that is generated by our Fractional Reserve Banking practice. Thanks for the commet, sir. Much love. <3
"We got this shit"-LSD
Ofcourse crypto is really catching on. Things like these also brings awareness. You're most welcome sir, such a funny quote!
the more you try to ban the stuffs they are usually addicted to, the more they develop new drugs to get addicted on. those that are addicted wont agree with you that they are addicts.. its takes some time before they realize. am a perfect example... was becoming addicted to soft drinks. wont be able to sleep well if i don't take it.. but with self control and determination, i have been able to conquer it.
@kiraxoy
it would be much better and gain more upvote if there is some written work still that post and idea is amazing
Addiction is a very big curse