However, research does suggest that drug and alcohol use disorders are not uncommon. It is important to note that this is only an estimate—your own individual level of risk is moderated by a number of factors.
There are a lot of factors that may make you more susceptible to one drug over another. Everyone is different and there are many factors that play a role in whether or not someone develops a drug addiction.
Varying factors can include the biological make-up of your body, how sensitive you may be to a certain drug, and the chemical make-up of the drug itself. Some people might be able to use a drug many times without experiencing any ill effects, while another person might take the same drug and have a bad reaction or even overdose the first time they use it.
Likewise, you can become addicted to a drug the first time you try it, while another person might never form an addiction at all. Just as there are vast differences between the people doing drugs, there are also big differences between the types of drugs out there. For example, you may use powdered cocaine and never become addicted to it, but if you were to sample crack cocaine or heroin, you might get addicted the first time you try it.
Sometimes an addiction can sneak up on you slowly and insidiously. As you continue to use a drug, you can slowly build up a tolerance to it, which means that you no longer get the same feeling or "high" that you once got by taking a small amount.
Once your tolerance begins to build, you might increase the dose or frequency of taking the drug. You are trying to get that same "high" that you felt in the beginning when your body was not used to the drug. As you continue to build tolerance, you end up taking more of the drug. Your body becomes chemically dependent on the drug. Which means, you discover that you need to take the drug just to feel normal or leveled out.
Drug addiction is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain—they change its structure and how it works. These brain changes can be long-lasting and can lead to harmful behaviors. Brain imaging studies of people with addiction show physical changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment, decision-making, learning and memory, and behavior control.
Research tells us that repeated use of a drug actually begins to make chemical changes in the brain that alters the brain's reward system. When someone continues to use a substance even when it no longer provides pleasure, it's called the pathological pursuit of rewards , or addiction.
Usually, it takes some time for a drug to begin to change the brain's reward system to the point that a person forms an addiction , but some drugs can do so very quickly. Drugs can potentially have life-threatening consequences , and individuals can have very different reactions to the same drug. If you are particularly sensitive to the effects of a certain drug, trying it even once could potentially be dangerous.
It means replacing drug use with healthy behaviors like exercise and cooking. This requires education, combined with cognitive therapy to get to the root of their drug-using behaviors. Over time, the brain can be taught to crave healthier behaviors and to dismiss drug cravings by considering the outcomes and alternatives. It can be taught to seek and prioritize meaningful relationships and activities, rather than drugs and alcohol. It can be taught this through abstinence, ongoing therapy, active management, cognitive reframing , and professional support.
While professional drug treatment can help a person re-wire their brain back to a healthier state, we as loved ones have some re-wiring to do as well. We need to re-frame the way we think about addiction. By thinking that addiction is a choice, or a moral failing, we only prevent the ones we love from seeking help. In many cases of addiction, the person does not have the control or willpower to quit drugs and get help.
They need your support and compassion to get there. Skip to content. The preeminent addiction treatment program for young men and women Turnbridge operates leading mental health and substance abuse treatment programs throughout Connecticut.
Common risk factors, or potential causes of drug addiction , include: Stressful early life experiences, such as being abused or experiencing trauma History of physical or sexual abuse Genetic vulnerability i.
Re-Framing Our Thinking While professional drug treatment can help a person re-wire their brain back to a healthier state, we as loved ones have some re-wiring to do as well. Next: Pregnant and Addicted to Drugs? Get the Help You Deserve. This area, known as the prefrontal cortex, is the very region that should help you recognize the harms of using addictive substances. Nonetheless, they take it. Addiction tends to run in families, and certain types of genes Stretches of DNA, a substance you inherit from your parents, that define characteristics such as your risk for certain disorders, such as addiction.
But not all members of an affected family are necessarily prone to addiction. Other factors can also raise your chances of addiction. Teens are especially vulnerable to possible addiction because their brains are not yet fully developed—particularly the frontal regions that help with impulse control and assessing risk. Pleasure circuits in adolescent brains also operate in overdrive, making drug and alcohol use even more rewarding and enticing.
NIH is launching a new nationwide study to learn more about how teen brains are altered by alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drugs. Researchers will use brain scans and other tools to assess more than 10, youth over a year span. The study will track the links between substance use and brain changes, academic achievement, IQ, thinking skills, and mental health over time. To treat addiction, scientists have identified several medications and behavioral therapies—especially when used in combination—that can help people stop using specific substances and prevent relapse.
Unfortunately, no medications are yet available to treat addiction to stimulants such as cocaine or methamphetamine, but behavioral therapies can help. More severe cases might require months or even years of treatment and follow-up, with real efforts by the individual and usually complete abstinence from the substance afterward.
NIH-funded researchers are also evaluating experimental therapies that might enhance the effectiveness of established treatments.
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