Saturday, March 23, 2024

Why Do People Get Addictions

What To Do If You Or Someone You Know Is Suffering From An Addiction

How Drug Addiction Works

If you or someone you know has developed an addiction, its important to seek treatment. A person who suffers from addiction may be suffering from depression or other mental illnesses as well. To get help, they need to know what your problem is, so talking to someone about how they feel is an important first step on the road to recovery.

Before you goIf you think you might have an addiction problem, talk to your doctor or a specialised therapist first. They can help you figure out what kind of treatment would be best for you.

What Are The Most Common Causes Of Addiction

There are no substances that universally or uniformly cause people to become addicted. And the vast majority of people exposed to most substances considered addictive do not in fact develop addiction to them. Rather, a very complex array of cultural factors, social factors, and situational factors mingle with psychological factors, biological factors, and even personal values to influence the possibility of addiction.

Many different theories of addiction exist because they weight the role of contributing factors differently. Some current models of addiction emphasize the causative role of individual variations in biology or genes that make a substance or experience feel more or less pleasurable. Many models of addiction highlight the causative role of individual psychological factors, whether personality factors such as impulsiveness or sensation-seeking, or psychopathology such as the negative effects of early trauma. Other models of addiction emphasize the role that social and economic factors play in shaping behavior, such as the strength of family and peer relationships and the presence of absence of educational and employment opportunities.

How Does Addiction Affect The Body

It has a lot to do with brain chemistry.

The human brain is wired to reward us when we do something pleasurable. Exercising, eating, and other behaviors that are directly linked to our survival trigger the release of a neurotransmitter called dopamine.

This not only makes us feel good, but it encourages us to keep doing what were doing. It teaches our brains to repeat the behavior.

Drugs trigger that same part of the brain: the reward system. When someone uses a substancebe it marijuana, opioids, cocaine, or other drugstheir brain releases lots of dopamine. This process tells the brain that this is a behavior that should be remembered and repeated.

Not everyone who uses substances becomes addicted by this process, but if youre already at risk, this is where the cycle of addiction can begin. Thats because, according to the National Institutes on Drug Abuse , large surges of dopamine teach the brain to seek drugs at the expense of other, healthier goals and activities.

Once someone is addicted, theyre not using drugs to feel good theyre using drugs to feel normal.

Also Check: Why Do Drug Addicts Lose Teeth

Do People Really Get Addicted To Nasal Spray How Why

Every time I used it it’s the opposite of pleasant and it doesn’t even give you any buzz or anything, so why?

Yes. I was back in my teens and young adult days. Although the Dr calls it a “rebound congestion” vs addicted. My nose would never clear until he convinced me to stop using them completely for one week. I did and it all cleared up. He advised to only use them no more than 3 days in a row when I am congested. This was many years ago and I assume nothing has changed in this regard.

Yes. Because it only works for a limited time, so they use it over and over

doesn’t even give you any buzz

It didn’t need to. In this case it means mostly that without it condition of health is not optimal, because without it’s effects mucous membrane overproduce it things.

For people with chronically contested airways, the relief of being able to breathe is like a little high, imagine going through life only being able to breathe through the mouth. So you then have the options of surgery with a 50/50 success rate or being addicted to nasal spray.

In my own circle of friends I have one that had the operation of which they say it’s no better than before, and 2 that are using nasal spray regularly

Spillover Effect In Trout

Factors Leading To Addiction Stock Illustration

For their research, Horký and colleagues dosed 60 captive-bred brown trout with methamphetamine-laced water for two months, while keeping another group of 60 control trout in a drug-free tank. To simulate wild conditions, the researchers ensured that the drug levels matched the meth levels other researchers have documented just downstream of wastewater treatment plants in Czechia and Slovakia.

In the first few days after being removed from the methamphetamine tank, the fish moved around less, which the team interpreted as stress from drug withdrawal. Analysis of brain tissue showed that the fish that moved the least had the most methamphetamine in their brains.

The researchers also gave the trout from both groups a choice to enter one of two streams of water: one with methamphetamine and one without. The meth-exposed trout preferred to swim in the meth-laced water, particularly in the four days after their drug supply stopped. Over time, the study trouts preference for methamphetamine declined to match those of the control fisha clear sign of addiction withdrawal, Horký says.

You May Like: How To Cure An Addictive Personality

Also Check: How To Deal With Husband Addiction

Why Do People Get Addicted To Heroin

A person on heroin may adopt a physical dependence on the highly addictive opioid made from morphine. Heroin is extracted from the resin of seeds of the opium poppy plant and is sold in white or brown powders. It can resemble a black sticky substance known as black tar heroin. Many people assume heroin is a stimulant, but it is a depressant. In addition, there are numerous dangers attached to the use of the drug, causing severe health complications. So, why do people get addicted to heroin?

Use Of Two Or More Tobacco Products

Some people have suggested that use of e-cigarettes by young people might protect them from using cigarettes. There is no evidence to support this claim. Some studies show that non-smoking youth who use e-cigarettes are more likely to try conventional cigarettes in the future than non-smoking youth who do not use e-cigarettes. And among high school students and young adults who use two or more tobacco products, a majority use both e-cigarettes and burned tobacco products. Burned tobacco products like cigarettes are responsible for the overwhelming majority of tobacco-related deaths and disease in the United States.

Read Also: How To Stop Nicotine Addiction

What Are Substance Abuse And Addiction

The difference between substance abuse and addiction is very slight. Substance abuse means using an illegal substance or using a legal substance in the wrong way. Addiction begins as abuse, or using a substance like marijuana or cocaine.

You can abuse a drug without having an addiction. For example, just because Sara smoked pot a few times doesn’t mean that she has an addiction, but it does mean that she’s abusing a drug and that could lead to an addiction.

People can get addicted to all sorts of substances. When we think of addiction, we usually think of alcohol or illegal drugs. But people become addicted to medicines, cigarettes, even glue.

Some substances are more addictive than others: Drugs like crack or heroin are so addictive that they might only be used once or twice before the user loses control.

Addiction means a person has no control over whether he or she uses a drug or drinks. Someone who’s addicted to cocaine has grown so used to the drug that he or she has to have it. Addiction can be physical, psychological, or both.

Physical Signs Of Meth Addiction

Drug Addiction: How Opioids Like Fentanyl Work

When a family member is addicted to meth, they will show obvious signs of physical decline such as:

  • Extreme weight loss

Further evaluation by doctors might reveal underlying health problems. These include hypertension, a weakened immune system, and damage to the heart, liver, kidney, lungs, nerves, and blood vessels particularly in the brain.

While overdose and death can happen to anyone who misuses meth, they are more prevalent in people who are addicted.

Read Also: How To Solve Drug Addiction

They Get It From Their Parents

As they say, its all in the genes. While theres no single gene responsible for addiction, a family history of it does increase the risk. Children of addicts who use tend to take in higher amounts of a given drug due to higher levels of tolerance.

Social environment plays a role too. Drug cues come into play here. They include people and places, drug paraphernalia, and negative stressors, such as childhood adversity.

Teenagers possess an even greater risk than most. The judgment and reasoning centers of their brains have yet to develop fully. Theyre also more inclined to take drugs out of rebellion or experimentation.

What Are The Most Common Substances Of Abuse

Around the world and in the U.S., nicotine is the most widely used addictive substance tobacco causes a reported 40 million deaths worldwide. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, smoking kills more than 1,000 Americans every day, and although tobacco use is generally declining in the U.S. its use is increasing among some groups of young people, especially in the form of vaping, or inhaling nicotine vapors.

Alcohol in some form is widely used for pleasurable purposes and is an important part of the social fabric worldwide, today as in ancient times. Nevertheless, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 14.6 million U.S. adults over the age of 18 have alcohol use disorder, marked by uncontrolled drinking. Around the world, 240 million people are reportedly dependent on alcohol alcohol abuse is most prevalent in Eastern Europe and least prevalent among Asians.

Painkillers including prescription opiates such as oxycodone and fentanyl and the illegal drug heroin account for more than 10 percent of all addictions in the U.S, affecting more than 2.5 million people, according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

Depressive agents such as sedatives and tranquilizers are widely used medically to combat stress, anxiety, and sleep disorders, but NIDA reports that 3.5 to 5 percent of the population uses tranquilizers and sleeping pills nonmedically.

Read Also: What Are Addiction Withdrawal Symptoms

Addicted To Smoking: The Top Drugs Considered Most Addictive

For many years, researchers have been busy trying to figure out the most addictive drugs in the world. Factors they used to determine the addictiveness of these drugs is how their users tolerate them after repeated use. Another factor is how grave the withdrawal symptoms of the drugs are.

Without much ado, here is the list of the worlds most addictive drugs ranked from first to last, and where smoking stands.

Also Check: How Many People Are Addicted To Drugs In The Us

Teach Children Early How To Deal With Stress In A Healthy Way

The most addictive drugs probably arent the ones you think ...

Many young people grow up hearing, Wait until you feel the stress of the real world. But in fact, the stress of being an adolescent can be just as awful. And lets face it not every child grows up in a peaceful home. When hanging out with friends, the pressure to conform which may mean drinking, smoking weed or even trying pain pills raided from a parents medicine cabinet at a party could be the start of a serious substance use problem. This is especially true for young people already genetically predisposed to addiction.

There are some very good emerging articles on this that lead us to believe that with intervention we can alter trajectories for children who have been exposed to stress, said Diana H. Fishbein of the University of Pennsylvania.

One of those interventions is the PATHS Curriculum, which teaches self-regulation, the brief explains. In her study of students in kindergarten through second-grade in Baltimore city schools, she found PATHS improved inhibitory control, stress physiology and emotional regulation, thereby reducing behavioral problems.

PATHS stands for Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies. It teaches the life skills of self-control, emotional understanding, positive self-esteem, relationships and interpersonal problem solving.

Read Also: Books On Addiction And Recovery

How Is Substance Use Disorder Treated

Effective treatments for substance use disorders are available.

The first step is recognition of the problem. The recovery process can be delayed when a person lacks awareness of problematic substance use. Although interventions by concerned friends and family often prompt treatment, self-referrals are always welcome and encouraged.

A medical professional should conduct a formal assessment of symptoms to identify if a substance use disorder is present. All patients can benefit from treatment, regardless of whether the disorder is mild, moderate, or severe. Unfortunately, many people who meet criteria for a substance use disorder and could benefit from treatment dont receive help.

Because SUDs affect many aspects of a persons life, multiple types of treatment are often required. For most, a combination of medication and individual or group therapy is most effective. Treatment approaches that address an individuals specific situation and any co-occurring medical, psychiatric, and social problems is optimal for leading to sustained recovery.

Medications are used to control drug cravings, relieve symptoms of withdrawal, and to prevent relapses. Psychotherapy can help individuals with SUD better understand their behavior and motivations, develop higher self-esteem, cope with stress, and address other psychiatric problems.

A person’s recovery plan is unique to the person’s specific needs and may include strategies outside of formal treatment. These may include:

Why Do People Get Addicted To Drugs And What Can You Do About It

The first part of that question has no simple answer. Addiction isnt a matter of choice or willpower or even pleasure. Its a complex set of factors that include genetics, stressors, mental illness, and even basic pain management.

Legal addictions present a unique problem. Theyre often not detected until a something worse arises.

For smokers, its cancer. For alcoholics, its repeated heavy drinking and drunkenness. Opioid addicts end up relying on their pills.

Addiction is a disease. It has symptoms. It can relapse.

Fighting addiction isnt easy. It requires treatment, support, and understanding.

Fortunately, treatment options are available. No matter what youre addicted to or your level of addiction, you can get help. Thats what we do.

At Trafalgar, were addiction experts. We offer a private solution, designed to help you get your life back on track.

Why do people get addicted to drugs? For many reasons.

Why do people quit? Just one: to live. Call us today at 1-855-972-9760 or email us from our website.

Well give you all the resources you need to get clean!

Read Also: How Many People Are Addicted To Heroin

What Environmental Factors Influence Addiction

There are many factors that influence addiction beyond genes and biology. One of the most significant is the family milieu and early life experiences. Family interactions, parenting style, and levels of supervision all play a role in development of coping skills and susceptibility to mental health problems. Studies have linked authoritarian or neglectful parenting, family violence, and divorce to increased likelihood of substance use problems later in life. Growing up with strong ties to and a sense of belongingto a family, to a belief tradition, to a cultureare known to be protective against addiction.

Peers play an enormous role in addiction susceptibility, especially among teens and young adults most people use drugs for the first time as teenagers. Misuse of prescription drugs, for example, is highest among young adults aged 18 to 25, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Alcohol is the most commonly abused drug among adolescents in the United States. The behavior patterns of friends influence everyone in the group. Further, psychological distress, especially depression and anxiety, has been shown to play an important role in such substance use.

What Does Meth Feel Like

Why do we get addicted to drugs?

As a stimulant, meth increases activity in certain areas of the brain, and functions of the central nervous system are heightened as a result. For example, heart rate, body temperature, respiration, and blood pressure all rise under the influence of meth. Energy, attention, focus, pleasure, and excitement are enhanced as well, as chemical messengers in the brain, such as dopamine, are increased by the interaction of meth. Elevated levels of dopamine cause the intense high that is associated with meth, and the desire to recreate this feeling makes the drug extremely addictive.

When someone is taking meth, they are alert and energized, and can stay awake for long periods of time. When meth wears off, however, a significant crash generally occurs, leaving individuals feeling fatigued, lethargic, hungry, depressed, and anxious. As a result, meth is commonly taken in a binge pattern, often called a run, where small amounts of meth are taken every few hours for a couple days to prolong the high. This pattern of abuse can more quickly lead to drug dependence and addiction.

Also Check: Why Am I So Addicted To Weed

Are Some Substances More Addictive Than Others

The synthetic stimulant methamphetamine is widely considered one of the most addictive agents. Often inhaled, it directly affects the dopamine and other neurotransmitter systems system to produce an extremely fast and intensebut short-livedhigh, with an altered sense of energy and power. Further, by changing the responsiveness of dopamine receptors, methamphetamine blunts the experience of reward from normal sources of pleasure.

Crack cocaine is also considered highly addictive. Cocaine processed so that it can be smoked, it enters the blood stream rapidly and produces a rapid rush of a high the immediate response becomes powerfully reinforcing, driving the motivation to repeat the experience.

Who Can Become Addicted To Drugs

The short answer is that anyone can become an addict. However, there are some factors that can make certain individuals more susceptible than others. Drugabuse.gov states that three of these factors are biology, environment, and development.

Biology and environment go hand in hand, in a way.

According to a study in PubMed Central, Both genetic and environmental variables contribute to the initiation of use of addictive agents and to the transition from use to addiction. Addictions are moderately to highly heritable. Family, adoption and twin studies reveal that an individuals risk tends to be proportional to the degree of genetic relationship to an addicted relativeThe moderate to high heritabilities of addictive disorders are paradoxical, because addictions initially depend on the availability of the addictive agent and the individuals choice to use it.

In other words, addiction can be genetic but is also affected by the environment in which one is raised. If drugs and alcohol are not readily available and are not considered the norm as someone is growing up, they are less likely to begin using the substances.

However, if substance abuse is common in the home they are raised in, they may be more prone to considering it normal and partaking in it themselves, leading to addiction.

This is where development also comes into the picture.

Recommended Reading: How To Get Off Sugar Addiction

- Advertisement -spot_img
Popular Articles
Related news