by Lisa Frederiksen
I am often asked this question – especially as it relates to the fact that addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease. How is it that drugs hijack the brain? Why do some people become alcoholics/drug addicts and others do not? Please find the following brief answers to both questions.
The neural networks involved with Pleasure/Reward (dopamine pathways, meaning they rely on the neurotransmitter, dopamine) are based in the small area of the brain known as the Limbic System. When stimulated, these dopamine-reliant neural networks produce good feelings–the reward for the activity. Basically, without dopamine, we cannot experience pleasure.
Many of these dopamine-reliant neural networks are hardwired, such as those related to the pleasure/reward derived from eating, drinking or having sex—activities necessary for the human species to survive. Drugs of addiction (including alcohol) stimulate these same pathways, which is why people repeat the behavior (drink or use drugs, again). When repeatedly stimulated (as with an addiction), these pathways in the Limbic System treat the substance as if it’s critical for survival and can set up cravings that are five times stronger than our instinctual drive to eat when hungry, for example. These same networks, in turn, “talk to” other neurons (brain cells), which is why so many other areas of the brain are affected when a person drinks or uses drugs in excess — areas responsible for memory, judgment, learning, logic and the like. In the case of addiction, all of these interconnected neural networks form brain maps around the various activities related to the addiction — the hiding, sneaking, lying, denying, rationalizing, seeking, recovering from…
While both substance abuse and addiction (aka substance dependence) cause chemical and structural changes in the brain as just described, and thus changed behaviors, there are five key risk factors that contribute to a person developing the brain disease of addiction; in other words, crossing the line from substance abuse to substance dependence (addiction).
These risk factors include: genetics (if it runs in the family, genetic predisposition – not an “addiction” gene, rather genetic differences, such as higher or lower levels of neurotransmitters or receptors or the liver enzymes that break down alcohol, as examples); social environment (where heavy drinking or drug use is viewed as “normal,” causing a person to drink or use heavily, which given their brain/genetic make-up, may lead to substance abuse and/or addiction); childhood trauma (verbal, physical, emotional abuse, which “wires” unhealthy coping skills and brain changes); early use (critical brain development ages 12-early 20s makes the brain especially vulnerable to brain changes caused by substance misuse), and mental illness (e.g., depression, anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, bipolar – which also cause brain changes and often a tendency to “self medicate” with alcohol or drugs). The more risk factors, the more susceptible a person is to the possibility of “crossing the line” from abuse to addiction.
To better understand the brain disease of addiction, as well as what happens in the brains of family members who cope with it when it has not been diagnosed, treated or healthily discussed, consider reading my book, Loved One In Treatment? Now What! And given a picture is often worth a thousand words – check out the section of this blog.
Related post: Is Alcohol Abuse Alcoholism?
by Lisa Frederiksen
I am often asked this question – especially as it relates to the fact that addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease. How is it that drugs hijack the brain? Why do some people become alcoholics/drug addicts and others do not? Please find the following brief answers to both questions.
The neural networks involved with Pleasure/Reward (dopamine pathways, meaning they rely on the neurotransmitter, dopamine) are based in the small area of the brain known as the Limbic System. When stimulated, these dopamine-reliant neural networks produce good feelings–the reward for the activity. Basically, without dopamine, we cannot experience pleasure.
Many of these dopamine-reliant neural networks are hardwired, such as those related to the pleasure/reward derived from eating, drinking or having sex—activities necessary for the human species to survive. Drugs of addiction (including alcohol) stimulate these same pathways, which is why people repeat the behavior (drink or use drugs, again). When repeatedly stimulated (as with an addiction), these pathways in the Limbic System treat the substance as if it’s critical for survival and can set up cravings that are five times stronger than our instinctual drive to eat when hungry, for example. These same networks, in turn, “talk to” other neurons (brain cells), which is why so many other areas of the brain are affected when a person drinks or uses drugs in excess — areas responsible for memory, judgment, learning, logic and the like. In the case of addiction, all of these interconnected neural networks form brain maps around the various activities related to the addiction — the hiding, sneaking, lying, denying, rationalizing, seeking, recovering from…
While both substance abuse and addiction (aka substance dependence) cause chemical and structural changes in the brain as just described, and thus changed behaviors, there are five key risk factors that contribute to a person developing the brain disease of addiction; in other words, crossing the line from substance abuse to substance dependence (addiction).
These risk factors include: genetics (if it runs in the family, genetic predisposition – not an “addiction” gene, rather genetic differences, such as higher or lower levels of neurotransmitters or receptors or the liver enzymes that break down alcohol, as examples); social environment (where heavy drinking or drug use is viewed as “normal,” causing a person to drink or use heavily, which given their brain/genetic make-up, may lead to substance abuse and/or addiction); childhood trauma (verbal, physical, emotional abuse, which “wires” unhealthy coping skills and brain changes); early use (critical brain development ages 12-early 20s makes the brain especially vulnerable to brain changes caused by substance misuse), and mental illness (e.g., depression, anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, bipolar – which also cause brain changes and often a tendency to “self medicate” with alcohol or drugs). The more risk factors, the more susceptible a person is to the possibility of “crossing the line” from abuse to addiction.
To better understand the brain disease of addiction, as well as what happens in the brains of family members who cope with it when it has not been diagnosed, treated or healthily discussed, consider reading my book, Loved One In Treatment? Now What! And given a picture is often worth a thousand words – check out the section of this blog.
Related post: Is Alcohol Abuse Alcoholism?