Unfortunately, addiction is often seen as a moral failure or lack of willpower or discipline. However, more and more studies are proving that this is not the case. These studies are backed up by modern psychology and neuroscience.
This is because addiction involves a complex interaction between brain chemistry, behaviour, environment and psychology. Understanding how the brain gets hooked or becomes dependent on substances or behaviours is essential for those suffering from addiction issues as well as anyone working in the field of mental health and addiction recovery.
Whether individuals are addicted to substances long term, or simply at the start of their addiction and substance dependence, addiction reshapes the neural pathways in the brain and alters how people make decisions. These changes explain why people struggling with addiction often find it incredibly difficult to stop, even when the negative consequences are obvious and severe.
By exploring the psychology behind addiction, we can better understand how detox, rehab and ongoing recovery support works to help individuals to recover from an addiction to drugs or alcohol.
This article will explore why addiction is now considered as a brain disorder, how the reward pathway and dopamine work in the body as well as why people’s tolerance increases the more people abuse addictive substances. Finally, we will also discuss the importance of professional rehab treatment and medical detoxes.
Addiction as a Brain Disorder
In numerous psychological research studies, addiction is recognised as a chronic brain disorder. This means that it affects the brain’s reward system, motivation circuits, impulse control and emotional regulation.
This is because the human brain is built to seek pleasure and always avoid pain. Activities that promote the individual’s survival including eating, socialising and reproduction trigger the release of dopamine in the body, which is a neurotransmitter associated with reward. In fact, dopamine tells the brain that an experience is important, pleasure and therefore worth repeating.
However, addictive substances such as alcohol, opioids and other stimulants produce much stronger dopamine surges than natural rewards, such as eating do. Over time, the brain begins to prioritise the substance over everyday activities such as eating and spending time with loved ones.
Unfortunately, repeated exposure to addictive substances gradually changes how the brain functions over time. What begins as controlled, voluntary use can change into compulsive behaviour that is incredibly hard to control or to stop.
The Reward Pathway and Dopamine
When it comes to addiction and dopamine, it is also important to understand how the brain’s reward pathway works. At the centre of addiction lies the brain’s reward pathway, which is often referred to as the brain’s mesolimbic dopamine system. This system connects a number of important brain structures, including the brain’s ventral tegmental area, the brain’s nucleus accumbens and the brain’s prefrontal cortex.
When a person uses an addictive substance, the ventral tegmental area releases dopamine into the nucleus. This produces feelings of pleasure, relief and sometimes even euphoria. The prefrontal cortex then steps in and interprets the experience. This helps to determine whether the behaviour should be repeated again in the future or avoided.
Nevertheless, the problems start when substances artificially stimulate this pathway. For example, drugs and alcohol can release 2 – 10 times the amount of dopamine than natural rewards do, which can pose a number of issues going forward.
This intense reward system trains the brain to prioritise the substance in the future. Over time, the brain learns that alcohol, drugs or other addictive behaviours are the fastest route to pleasure and should be consumed more intensively.
As addiction continues, everyday experiences such as spending time with loved ones become less rewarding and pleasurable. Activities that once brought satisfaction, such as taking part in hobbies, doing well at work or spending time with the people you love begin to feel dull in comparison to consuming the addictive substance. For people suffering from an addiction, nothing is more important than the addiction.
How Does Tolerance Work?
One of the most important features of addiction is increased tolerance. The increase in tolerance happens when the brain gets used to repeated exposure to addictive substances such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or alcohol.
At first, small amounts of the addictive substance will produce strong effects. However, over time and after repeated use, the brain and your body will start to require more of the addictive substance in order to feel the same effect. During this time, the dopamine receptors will reduce, and your brain’s response will also change as a result.
Due to this, the individual suffering from the addiction must consume larger amounts of the addictive substance in order to achieve the same effect. Unfortunately, tolerance often leads to escalation that could lead to regular consumption and eventually into full dependency and addiction. When it comes to an alcohol addiction, this escalation can require structured rehab and recovery support such as alcohol therapy or a medically supervised detox.
Withdrawal and the Role of Detox
Once the brain and body is physically dependent on an addictive substance, removing it can trigger a number of different withdrawal symptoms. These withdrawal symptoms happen because the brain and body have come to require it in order to function normally.
Withdrawal symptoms will vary depending on the addictive substance involved, but common effects include anxiety, irritation, depression, insomnia, stomach aches and intense cravings.
In severe cases of addiction, particularly addictions to alcohol or certain drugs such as cocaine, withdrawal can be incredibly dangerous without professional medical and around the clock support.
This is why detox is often the first stage of addiction treatment. A professional, medical detox allows the body to safely remove the addictive substance from the body, while medical professionals manage the potentially dangerous and life threatening withdrawal symptoms. The goal of a medical detox is not to cure addiction, but to rid the body of the addictive substance and to stabilise the body, so that the individual can start the necessary psychological treatment.
Psychological Addiction
It is also important to understand that addiction is not solely driven by chemical changes to the body and to the brain. In fact, your mental health will be impacted too.
People often start to suffer when they are in certain environments, experience emotions or social situations where substance use might be present. Over time, these cues can trigger cravings, even when the addictive substance is not present.
Examples of common psychological addiction triggers include visiting locations where substances were previously used, or stressful or emotionally difficult experiences.
Likewise, people might be triggered psychologically when spending time in social groups associated with drinking or drug use or celebrating something.
These things all activate certain memory circuits that are linked to the brain’s reward system. When this happens, the brain starts to anticipate dopamine release and produces cravings for the addictive substance. This is the reason why a lot of people relapse in the future, even long after they recover from an addictive substance.
The Importance of Professional Addiction Treatment
As discussed above, addiction affects multiple areas of the brain and the body, which is why it is important to seek professional and effective treatment that addresses both biological and psychological factors of addiction, mental health and trauma.
It is important to understand that when it comes to long term recovery, a medical detox alone is simply not enough. Without long term addiction therapy and behavioural support, people suffering from an addiction are at risk of relapsing later down the line.
An effective and professional rehab treatment plan might include a medical detox and later therapy, including cognitive behavioural therapy, group therapy, family therapy or aftercare support.
Professional treatment plans such as inpatient rehab provide structured environments where individuals can focus entirely on their recovery without the distractions or triggers from everyday life.
When recovering from an addiction, it is important to understand that treatment and recovery is not the same for everyone. In fact, different individuals require different levels of support as well as different types of therapy depending on the substance they are addicted to, how long they have been addicted to the substance for, whether or not they suffer from mental health issues and their other social circumstances.
Conclusion
As discussed above, the psychology of addiction highlights how deeply substances and behaviours can affect the human brain and how easy it is for addictive substance use to turn into an addiction. What begins as innocent use gradually turns an addiction and increased tolerance as well as changes to the brain and to the body
By researching the brain’s dopamine pathways, trauma, trigger and stress responses, as well as how the brain processes pleasure, professionals are able to gain better insight into why addiction can become so severe and why recovery from an addictive substance usually requires professional and structured detox and therapy support.
Recognising addiction as a mental health issue and disorder encourages a more compassionate approach to addiction treatment. For those looking to recover from an addiction, detox, inpatient or outpatient rehab and long term therapy all play an incredibly important role when it comes to helping people to rebuild their lives after an addiction issue.