Dual Diagnosis Treatment Center in South Hill
What is drug dependence? Addiction is a disorder that alters the brain and behavior. A person who is addicted to drugs cannot resist the temptation to use them, no matter how harmful they might be. The earlier you get treatment for drug addiction, you can prevent the disease from getting worse.
Drug addiction can include heroin, cocaine and other illicit substances. Dependence can be caused by nicotine, alcohol, sleep and anti-anxiety medications, as well as other legal substances.
It is possible to become addicted to prescription and illicitly purchased opioid painkillers. This epidemic has now reached epidemic proportions in the United States. The majority of drug overdose deaths occurred in 2018, thanks to opioids.
At first, you may choose to use medication because it is enjoyable for you. You might believe you have the ability to control how much and how often you use it. Over time, medication can affect how your brain works. These bodily changes could be permanent. They can cause you loss of control and lead to destructive conduct.
Brain changes that are a result over time of drug addiction can pose a challenge to an addict's ability to self-control and hinder their ability resist their overwhelming desire to use drugs. Substance addiction is a serious disease that can lead you to relapse.
After attempting to stop using drugs for a while, a person who has relapsed will be able to re-inject them. Relapse means that more therapy or a new strategy is needed.
Most drugs flood the brain's reward system with the chemical messenger dopamine. Dopamine spikes within the reward circuit are responsible for the reinforcement and perpetuation of dangerous, but pleasant, behaviors. People are more likely than not to repeat the same behavior.
The brain adapts to the dopamine in the brain over time. It reduces the dose relative to the initial dose. This phenomenon is known as tolerance. In an attempt to experience the same pleasure with the dopamine they receive, they may consume more of the drug.