Addiction - It Goes to the Very Root of the Brain
You may have heard this firsthand as part of a conversation at some point in the past when one person remarked about another "Oh, he's a drug addict" or "she's an alcoholic" in an accusatory tone.
Had they been talking about the same people with almost any other medical problem and said "he's diabetic" or "she's got cancer", however, their tone would probably have been much different -- likely more sympathetic.
This is because addiction is generally still not viewed as a disease, unfortunately, but is perceived by many people to be more of a character flaw and/or a lack of willpower.
Most addicts themselves beat themselves up daily about the notion that they are too weak to kick their habits.
These simple analogies and explanations that follow may help clarify the issue and help a few people understand addicts and the problems they face a little better.
The brain is at the center of life in our bodies and if you consider its most basic function it is to keep us alive and maintain our species by telling us when to eat (by signaling hunger), drink (by signaling thirst), procreate to have offspring, and when to fight or when to flee -- presumably to thwart danger.
These are several of the most basic and powerful instincts among many that reside in the amygdala and limbic system (the "oldest" evolutionary part of the brain).
Found in the center of the brain, the almond-shaped amygdala is a complex of related nuclei that plays a role in emotionally laden memories, but is most known for being the area responsible for the "fight or flight" response.
This is considered a natural defense that every animal uses one of its primary strategies for staying alive.
It's one of the oldest sites in the brain, but we still don't know everything about it.
It contains a huge number of opiate receptor sites which can relate to not only fear, but rage and sexual feelings also.
It is believed to be responsible for anxiety disorders in humans also, and anxiety is symptomatic of most mood disorders.
Consider it a critical "survival" area of the brain that sends out basic messages of survival instinct that are so powerful that there is no way we can ignore them.
If you were in the desert and had been unable to drink water for days, this area of your brain would be entirely focused on finding water.
Your tongue would swell up and the sensation of thirst would be so strong that it would be practically unbearable.
Imagine a thirst so powerful that you would resort to drinking your own urine -- or anything liquid -- to relieve that thirst.
In another scenario if you were a caveman lying around the den with your group and the last animal carcass has been picked clean for days now -- it would be time to go hunt.
As the group gets a move on you are suffering from a sprained ankle and you really do not want to get up and go.
But your brain tells you that you must, or you would be left behind and eventually starve to death.
So the brain injects adrenaline and lots of dopamine into your bloodstream to get you up and going, because it knows you don't have a choice if you want to stay alive.
Those two chemicals are also responsible for enabling you to function normally.
Today you are still that same being, but in an evolutionary second society has advanced radically and you are no longer in a cave.
You are lying in bed and suffering from depression and anxiety that are so bad you can hardly think about functioning and it's time to go to work.
You really don't want to get out of bed, but you have missed work for several days and you are about to get fired.
Your brain knows if you get fired you will not be able to provide food for your family (hunt) so it tries to inject adrenaline and dopamine and other hormones and chemicals into your bloodstream to get you motivated just as it did in the cave -- but it's not working.
There is just no dopamine to be had (a natural brain opiate) and unfortunately you (or anyone) simply can not function if you are dopamine deficient.
You become anxious and begin to sweat.
You wonder how people are going to view you, all pale and sweaty and stammering -- unable to meet new clients and transact business.
You will probably get fired, were that to be the case often enough.
But wait -- the brain and specifically the amygdala remembers that if you drink alcohol, you get a surge of dopamine.
The brain remembers this and begins to tell you you must have alcohol or essentially you are going to die.
Somehow in alcoholics and addicts, this memory and urge gets mixed into the amygdala and messages are transmitted at the survival level.
The urge to drink alcohol is comparable to you the scenario above in the desert without water for days.
Imagine again how powerful the amygdala truly is.
If you were in 100 degree heat dying of thirst with no water for days and were handed a large, ice cold glass of water -- could you not drink it? Think about it.
You are dying, so of course you will drink it.
You would probably not hesitate to allow someone to cut a limb off your body to have that drink you are so thirsty and you brain is telling with such power you MUST drink that water at all costs.
Well, because the message is coming to the alcoholic fro the amygdala, the same degree of intensity is how badly an alcoholic or addict wants their substance.
Take a moment to imagine this and you will understand why the relapse level is so high.
This should help you understand how, when an addict or alcoholic relapses, that message was so strong it overwhelmed any logical excuse to not have a drink.
I am not going to say you can see how it almost isn't their fault -- but that's the comparable situation.
It's pretty awful, isn't t? And so it is with the brain and dopamine (and other neurotransmitters).
The brain uses its amazing ability to recall what it needs to keep you surviving, and it mixes up this message and stores it for some reason in the amygdala, where the call to use drugs or drink is powerful enough to be compared to any strong instinct to survive.
Your cortex tells you rationally that smelling of alcohol in the morning is not acceptable, but it also tells you how you can cover up that smell.
Drink Vodka and chew a lot of gum.
But the Vodka is so important to that person because of what's happening in the brain that he (or she) ends up having a drink no matter what the time is.
I believe that most addicts and alcoholics are people with neurochemical imbalances that require some sort of treatment or they will just continue to relapse, over and over again.
If a doctor can diagnose the mood disorder properly, then he can offer a medication to start working on that end of the problem.
This is called dual diagnosis and if you or a loved one does have a drinking or drug problem, make CERTAIN that your treatment involves being thoroughly examined for any number of disorders that could be the root cause of addiction.
The message here is that not only is addiction a disease of the brain, but that it is likely linked to other disorders that may help explain where the addiction is originating or how it is being "turned on".
The prospect for being able to lead a healthy more normal life may actually reside in another disorder up to 80 percent of the time, some experts believe.
So next time you have a conversation where the addict alcoholic is being condemned on a moral basis, you'll hopefully agree these are diseases that are just as dangerous as cancer, and as difficult or maybe even more difficult to beat.
A real key to coming out on top of it all, as I feel I have been able to do, is to go get diagnosed to see if you have any disorders, get to a dual diagnosis treatment center and have the disorder treated, and then live at a sober living to pull your life and head together to readjust to this new way of living.
Had they been talking about the same people with almost any other medical problem and said "he's diabetic" or "she's got cancer", however, their tone would probably have been much different -- likely more sympathetic.
This is because addiction is generally still not viewed as a disease, unfortunately, but is perceived by many people to be more of a character flaw and/or a lack of willpower.
Most addicts themselves beat themselves up daily about the notion that they are too weak to kick their habits.
These simple analogies and explanations that follow may help clarify the issue and help a few people understand addicts and the problems they face a little better.
The brain is at the center of life in our bodies and if you consider its most basic function it is to keep us alive and maintain our species by telling us when to eat (by signaling hunger), drink (by signaling thirst), procreate to have offspring, and when to fight or when to flee -- presumably to thwart danger.
These are several of the most basic and powerful instincts among many that reside in the amygdala and limbic system (the "oldest" evolutionary part of the brain).
Found in the center of the brain, the almond-shaped amygdala is a complex of related nuclei that plays a role in emotionally laden memories, but is most known for being the area responsible for the "fight or flight" response.
This is considered a natural defense that every animal uses one of its primary strategies for staying alive.
It's one of the oldest sites in the brain, but we still don't know everything about it.
It contains a huge number of opiate receptor sites which can relate to not only fear, but rage and sexual feelings also.
It is believed to be responsible for anxiety disorders in humans also, and anxiety is symptomatic of most mood disorders.
Consider it a critical "survival" area of the brain that sends out basic messages of survival instinct that are so powerful that there is no way we can ignore them.
If you were in the desert and had been unable to drink water for days, this area of your brain would be entirely focused on finding water.
Your tongue would swell up and the sensation of thirst would be so strong that it would be practically unbearable.
Imagine a thirst so powerful that you would resort to drinking your own urine -- or anything liquid -- to relieve that thirst.
In another scenario if you were a caveman lying around the den with your group and the last animal carcass has been picked clean for days now -- it would be time to go hunt.
As the group gets a move on you are suffering from a sprained ankle and you really do not want to get up and go.
But your brain tells you that you must, or you would be left behind and eventually starve to death.
So the brain injects adrenaline and lots of dopamine into your bloodstream to get you up and going, because it knows you don't have a choice if you want to stay alive.
Those two chemicals are also responsible for enabling you to function normally.
Today you are still that same being, but in an evolutionary second society has advanced radically and you are no longer in a cave.
You are lying in bed and suffering from depression and anxiety that are so bad you can hardly think about functioning and it's time to go to work.
You really don't want to get out of bed, but you have missed work for several days and you are about to get fired.
Your brain knows if you get fired you will not be able to provide food for your family (hunt) so it tries to inject adrenaline and dopamine and other hormones and chemicals into your bloodstream to get you motivated just as it did in the cave -- but it's not working.
There is just no dopamine to be had (a natural brain opiate) and unfortunately you (or anyone) simply can not function if you are dopamine deficient.
You become anxious and begin to sweat.
You wonder how people are going to view you, all pale and sweaty and stammering -- unable to meet new clients and transact business.
You will probably get fired, were that to be the case often enough.
But wait -- the brain and specifically the amygdala remembers that if you drink alcohol, you get a surge of dopamine.
The brain remembers this and begins to tell you you must have alcohol or essentially you are going to die.
Somehow in alcoholics and addicts, this memory and urge gets mixed into the amygdala and messages are transmitted at the survival level.
The urge to drink alcohol is comparable to you the scenario above in the desert without water for days.
Imagine again how powerful the amygdala truly is.
If you were in 100 degree heat dying of thirst with no water for days and were handed a large, ice cold glass of water -- could you not drink it? Think about it.
You are dying, so of course you will drink it.
You would probably not hesitate to allow someone to cut a limb off your body to have that drink you are so thirsty and you brain is telling with such power you MUST drink that water at all costs.
Well, because the message is coming to the alcoholic fro the amygdala, the same degree of intensity is how badly an alcoholic or addict wants their substance.
Take a moment to imagine this and you will understand why the relapse level is so high.
This should help you understand how, when an addict or alcoholic relapses, that message was so strong it overwhelmed any logical excuse to not have a drink.
I am not going to say you can see how it almost isn't their fault -- but that's the comparable situation.
It's pretty awful, isn't t? And so it is with the brain and dopamine (and other neurotransmitters).
The brain uses its amazing ability to recall what it needs to keep you surviving, and it mixes up this message and stores it for some reason in the amygdala, where the call to use drugs or drink is powerful enough to be compared to any strong instinct to survive.
Your cortex tells you rationally that smelling of alcohol in the morning is not acceptable, but it also tells you how you can cover up that smell.
Drink Vodka and chew a lot of gum.
But the Vodka is so important to that person because of what's happening in the brain that he (or she) ends up having a drink no matter what the time is.
I believe that most addicts and alcoholics are people with neurochemical imbalances that require some sort of treatment or they will just continue to relapse, over and over again.
If a doctor can diagnose the mood disorder properly, then he can offer a medication to start working on that end of the problem.
This is called dual diagnosis and if you or a loved one does have a drinking or drug problem, make CERTAIN that your treatment involves being thoroughly examined for any number of disorders that could be the root cause of addiction.
The message here is that not only is addiction a disease of the brain, but that it is likely linked to other disorders that may help explain where the addiction is originating or how it is being "turned on".
The prospect for being able to lead a healthy more normal life may actually reside in another disorder up to 80 percent of the time, some experts believe.
So next time you have a conversation where the addict alcoholic is being condemned on a moral basis, you'll hopefully agree these are diseases that are just as dangerous as cancer, and as difficult or maybe even more difficult to beat.
A real key to coming out on top of it all, as I feel I have been able to do, is to go get diagnosed to see if you have any disorders, get to a dual diagnosis treatment center and have the disorder treated, and then live at a sober living to pull your life and head together to readjust to this new way of living.
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