Facts About Addiction

The American Society of Addiction Medicine describes addiction as “a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.” It is a serious disease affecting the reward center in your brain. Substance use addiction occurs after compulsive use of drugs and/or alcohol that alters your brain chemistry, creating a chemical dependence on the substance that you’re using. Addressing addiction is very challenging to do on your own and it often requires professional help and treatment. 

The physical causes of addiction in the brain have to do with its reward center. The development of drug addiction has to do with how psychoactive substances affect chemicals in the brain such as dopamine, serotonin, endorphins and oxytocin. These chemicals are generally released in response to normal, healthy activities that you do every day, such as eating and drinking. Your reward center is designed to release these chemicals in response to life-sustaining activities, triggering you to repeat those activities. Drugs and alcohol mimic this chemical response, teaching your reward center to seek out more. 

Addiction is caused by multiple factors working together in most cases. These factors can include genetics, environment and development. 

Yes, but it’s not simple. Because addiction is a chronic disease, people can’t simply stop using drugs for a few days and be cured. Most patients need long-term or repeated care to stop using completely and recover their lives.

Addiction treatment must help the person do the following:

• stop using drugs
• stay drug-free
• be productive in the family, at work, and in society 

There are many options that have been successful in treating drug addiction, including:

• behavioral counseling
• medication
• medical devices and applications used to treat withdrawal symptoms or deliver skills training
• evaluation and treatment for co-occurring mental health issues such as depression and anxiety
• long-term follow-up to prevent relapse

*Information sourced from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, to learn more go to https://www.drugabuse.gov/