How substance use affects the brain

Have you ever found yourself asking the question “Why can’t my loved one just STOP abusing and using drugs and or alcohol?” I grew up asking that question over and over again! I would even create my own understanding as to why my mother chose drugs and alcohol over her children. It tore me apart and created internal turmoil that shifted and molded my young and developing mind. It wasn’t until many years later and after much heartache that I began to understand. How an Addicted Brain Works. Accepting and understanding It isn’t about exercising greater control over one’s impulses.

We all have pleasure circuits in the brain known as the reward system which is one of the most primitive parts of the brain and necessary for us to survive. Dopamine is a chemical that is released when our reward system or pathway is activated and in return, a jolt of satisfaction is quickly experienced. Something as simple as eating our favorite food will create this surge or a jolt of dopamine that will encourage us to want to eat that particular food again in the future.

When a person introduces addictive substances to the brain it causes the brain to change. A simple pleasurable, surge of dopamine and natural reward that we experience from eating our favorite foods is now intensified and our reward pathways are flooded 10 times more with each use of the addictive substance. Stop and think about that for a moment!

Because the brain is so remarkable and its ability to recognize the chronic use of the addictive substance the circuits in the brain begin to adapt and build up a tolerance becoming less sensitive to dopamine. The original sensation and reward first experienced have decreased and the amount of needed addictive substance has increased.

This leaves so many chasing and craving a high that they originally felt in the beginning. The craving and need to feel that original high becomes the most important thing that one begins to live for. Sound rational decision-making and judgment seem to be gone and habits have developed that are now life changing. Some wounds and scars are visible, and others are hidden deep within, families are destroyed, and lives are lost.

My mother has continued to abuse drugs and alcohol for 61 years. Most of her life and all of mine. Educating myself on Substance Abuse Disorder and understanding that it is a brain disease has made my journey with her and her addiction a little easier at times. Please join our community at Virtual Hope so that we can continue to support one another through loving and understanding our hard-to-love, loved ones.