In 1987, the Partnership for Drug-Free America (PDFA) came out with a commercial that had the best depiction of how drugs affect the brain. An egg was shown to represent the brain and a hot frying pan was indicative of drugs. The egg was cracked into the frying pan while you heard the sizzling of the egg in the hot pan. The announcer says, Okay, last time. This is your brain. This is drugs. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?
This representation of what happens to the brain is the reality of drug use. A brain is made of many different parts that help human beings function on a daily basis. Your 3-pound brain sits at the forefront of all your activities. It is responsible for the basic functions of your body, gives you your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions, while deciphering and responding to all your experiences. The functionality of the brain is complex and regulates many activities that occur.
Information in your brain is altered by drugs in a way that neurons are sent, received, and processed. While drugs will imitate the chemicals in the brain, drugs cannot actually stimulate neurons in the same manner as an organic neurotransmitter which sends mixed signals to the brain. When the reward center of the brain is triggered, it impresses that something needs to be recollected to acquire the benefits repeatedly.
An addict gets addicted to drugs in the exact same way. Drug abuse tricks the brain’s reward system in the same fashion that a natural reward would do. Dopamine from the brain during drug use, can release up to 10 times more than that of natural rewards and lasts for a longer duration. The reaction is so powerful that addicts continue to take drugs again and again to try and get the same high.
The ironic part in the continuity of drug abuse is that the Dopamine levels continue to decrease making an addict feel depressed and unable to have the desire to do the same things. An addict builds a tolerance in efforts to try and gain back that same first high with no avail. The more the abuse endures, the worse the problem gets with trying to bring the Dopamine back up to par.
The addiction cycle can be never-ending and suck the life right out of an addict. Long-lasting changes of the brain deceive the addict into staying in their addiction by creating triggers and cravings that could lead to relapse.
If you, or someone you know, have a problem with drugs, let us show you how get into recovery and prevent relapse. Our 5-week partial care program is designed to help you beat cravings to achieve sobriety. Call us today and let us help you: 844-720-6847
