What Is Addiction
Addiction happens when someone cannot stop using drugs or alcohol even if they want to, despite the negative consequences. Addiction overshadows everything else and disrupts a person’s life, making it difficult for them to meet daily responsibilities, maintain healthy relationships or perform certain duties. What usually begins as an escape or stress reliever turns into something they depend upon to feel normal, and function or simply get through the day.
The shift from recreational or occasional use to dependency happens because repeated exposure to drugs or alcohol triggers changes in the brain which makes it difficult to stop using. By releasing large amounts of dopamine and activating the brain’s reward system, drugs and alcohol become associated with pleasure and certain pathways such as those that affect memory, motivation and reward are altered. The brain is rewired and “learns” that substance use is a shortcut to feeling good. As the brain adapts to the presence of drugs or alcohol, powerful cravings develop, and the brain begins to rely on them to function.
These changes demonstrate that addiction is not a sign of poor willpower or a lack of strength or morals, but rather a disease that alters brain chemistry. Like other diseases, such as diabetes or cancer, addiction is caused by a combination of environmental, behavioral and biological factors that increase an individual’s risk. One of its most defining symptoms is a loss of control, with many of those affected being both physically and psychologically unable to stop or decrease their use without professional help.