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PDFUnderstanding the Disease of Addiction
By Meghan Vivo
Treating the Disease of Addiction
Think you know everything there is to know about addiction? If you blame yourself or someone you know for their addiction to drugs or alcohol, research shows you may need to reconsider.
Drug addicts and alcoholics are accused of being a lot of things: morally flawed, weak and self-consumed, to name a few. But in the past 20 years, scientific studies have shown that addicts are actually suffering from a chronic brain disease that causes significant and long-lasting damage to the brain.
The directors of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, as well as a growing number of addiction specialists now believe that environmental factors and genes play a significant role in addiction.
Drugs and the Brain
Drugs activate and overload the brain’s reward system by flooding it with the “feel good” neurotransmitter dopamine. In order to cope with this surge of neurotransmitters, the brain adapts by producing less dopamine, causing users to need larger amounts of a drug to bring their dopamine levels back to normal, and even larger amounts to feel “high.” This is known as tolerance. When a person stops taking the drug, they experience drug cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
In addition to feeling intense drug cravings, addicts face impairments in their ability to make decisions. Brain scans of drug addicts have shown changes in areas that affect judgment and behavior control. As a result, the brain’s primary focus is getting and using drugs regardless of the consequences. Even people with strong willpower and motivation to quit using cannot overcome these powerful cravings.
Drugs can also disrupt signals between brain cells, causing the brain to stop making or make too many neurotransmitters. In fact, research shows that drugs of abuse can produce up to 10 times the amount of dopamine as natural rewards, such as eating and exercising.
More Knowledge Leads to Better Drug Treatment
Along with this more advanced understanding of addiction as a disease come more effective drug treatments.
In order to achieve lasting recovery, drug rehab needs to address physical dependence on drugs through medication and behavioral change. Recovering addicts also benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapy to change negative thought patterns as well as life skills training and 12-Step work to address psychological dependence on drugs.
Relapse prevention planning and aftercare are other critical components of addiction treatment, as research shows that drug cravings can last months and even years after achieving sobriety. When tailored to the individual needs of each patient, this combination of treatments improves patients’ motivation to stay sober and their ability to function as members of the community.
The Camp Recovery Center, a drug rehab center for adults and teens in Scotts Valley, Calif., treats addiction as a chronic brain disease. Because substance abuse can result in both physical and psychological dependence, The Camp offers holistic addiction treatment that addresses each individual’s mind, body and spirit.
Using a combination of medication, individual, group and family counseling, art and recreational activities, 12-Step meetings and relapse prevention planning, patients at The Camp receive comprehensive care from a team of caring professionals who know that being addicted to drugs or alcohol isn’t a sign of a personal failing or character flaw.
Repairing the Damage
Addicts can’t simply quit being addicts. Ask most and they would almost certainly say they would if they could. It takes a great deal of time, commitment and hard work to rewire the brain and heal the damage of addiction. But it only takes a few minutes to make the decision to get the help you need to start the recovery process.
Addiction is a disease, but it is not a life sentence. With a comprehensive blend of drug treatments and a whole-hearted commitment to sobriety, recovery is possible.
