Drug addiction is a complex and chronic brain disease; People with substance abuse experience occasional, uncontrollable cravings and cravings for the drugs of their choice. Mostly, they will continue to seek out and use these narcotics despite the negative physical and mental health consequences of use.
Addictive properties
According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), addiction is characterized by:
Inability to constantly abstain from the substance or experience reward (as in gambling, sex, or overeating).
Impairment in behavioral control.
A passion for content or a rewarding experience.
Decreased recognition of significant problems in your behavior and personal relationships.
Dysfunctional emotional response.
Although the above five characteristics are usually present in most addictions, ASAM notes that these five characteristics cannot be used to diagnose addiction.
An addiction diagnosis requires evaluation by a professional and trained drug addiction management professional; Talk to a doctor or mental health professional if you feel you may have an addiction or substance abuse problem.
Behavioral manifestations of addiction
When friends and family members deal with a loved one who is addicted; A person’s outward behaviors are the obvious symptoms of addiction.
These behaviors center primarily around the addict’s weak control:
Excessive frequency of drug use despite attempts to control.
Increasing the time using or recovering from the effects of the drug.
Continuous use despite persistent problems.
Narrow the focus on rewards associated with addiction.
Inability to take steps to address problems.
Inability to abstain from drug use
Research has shown that prolonged drug use causes a chemical change in the addict’s brain; This alters the reward system in the brain that drives drug-seeking in the face of increasingly negative consequences.
This state of addiction, when the activity persists despite negative consequences and although it is no longer rewarding, is called “pathological reward seeking” by addiction experts. It is the result of chemical changes in the brain’s reward circuitry.
How does drug addiction begin?
The reason people engage in an activity that could become addictive in the first place is to either achieve a feeling of euphoria or relieve an emotional state of turmoil—discomfort, dissatisfaction, fear, or anxiety.
when people drink, or take drugs; Or they engage in another reward-seeking behavior (such as gambling, eating, or having sex), they feel a “high” that gives them the reward or relief they are seeking.
The elevation is the result of increased dopamine and opioid peptide activity in the brain’s reward circuits. But after their high, there is a neurochemical rebound that causes reward function in the brain to drop below its original normal level before drug use.
When the activity is repeated, the same level of euphoria or rest is not achieved; Simply put, a person never rises as high as they did the first time.
When the search for a reward becomes satisfactory
According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), this is the point at which reward-seeking becomes satisfactory:
The search for reward becomes compulsive or impulsive.
The behavior ceases to be pleasurable.
The behavior no longer provides comfort.
Low Highs and Low Lows
Added to the fact that the addicted person develops a tolerance to the higher – requiring more drug use in an attempt to achieve the same level of euphoria – is the fact that the person does not develop a tolerance for the emotional decline they feel next. Returning to “normal,” the person returns to a deeper state of the disorder.
When a person becomes addicted, the person increases the amount of drugs, alcohol, or repetition of addictive behaviors in an attempt to return to that initial high state. But the person ends up experiencing a deeper and deeper depression as the brain’s reward circuitry interacts with the cycle of intoxication and withdrawal.
Drug addiction is no longer a puzzled job
In other words, the addict finds himself compelled – despite his intentions to stop. To repeat behaviors that are no longer rewarding to try to escape the overwhelming feeling of illness but find no relief.
According to the ASAM, addiction at this point is no longer just a job of choice. Thus, the state of addiction is a miserable place, for the addict and those around him.
Chronic diseases similar to addiction and relapses
For many addicts, drug addiction can become a chronic disease, which means they can have relapses similar to the relapses that can occur with other chronic diseases — such as diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure — when patients fail to comply with their treatment.
They occur even after long periods of abstinence.
The addict can take action to enter remission again.
But he is still at risk of relapse again.
ASAM notes, “Without treatment or participation in recovery activities, addiction becomes progressive and can lead to disability or premature death. Thus, we have completed the actual definition of drug abuse and addiction.
How to get rid of addiction to drug abuse?
Future Center treats the full gamut of drug addiction including cocaine, heroin, marijuana, prescription drug addiction and more.
We offer substance abuse treatment programs that can help every patient overcome their substance dependence and achieve lifelong recovery, regardless of addiction length or history of use.
We use innovative and highly successful treatments in our accredited and certified behavioral health facilities to address the root of the disorder.
Our staff of certified medical professionals is prepared. We are keen to provide the necessary support and services to help patients break free from drug dependence.
We treat the whole individual first by identifying the root cause of addiction. In order to better manage the appropriate treatment.
