Addiction is not just a simple collection of urges and behaviors. Rather, it is a full-fledged brain disorder that can adversely affect how the brain works and is structured. These physical changes can make addicted individuals more prone to cravings, erratic behaviors, depression, anxiety, and more. This is why fighting addiction can be so hard – addicts fight their brains every time they crave a given substance. The connection between drug addiction and the brain is a complicated one. While many drugs can cause damage to the brain, various treatments can help addicts cope with addiction’s symptoms and give them a chance at reversing the damage through sustained abstinence. Learning how these changes to the brain occur and how they manifest psychologically and physically can be the first step to combating them and overcoming addiction.
Addiction and the Brain’s Reward System
Neurons, Neurotransmitters, and Addiction
The mechanisms by which addictive drugs affect these changes differ with the substance. All drugs “interfere with how neurons send, receive, and process signals via neurotransmitters.” Some “lead to abnormal messages being sent through the [neuronal] network,” while others “can cause the neurons to release abnormally large amounts of natural neurotransmitters or prevent the normal recycling of these brain chemicals.” DrugAbuse.gov notes that these processes produce visible changes in brain areas as varied as the basal ganglia, the extended amygdala, and the prefrontal cortex. These brain areas play important roles in regulating motivation, stress, and cognition.
Medical Imaging and Addiction’s Damage to the Brain
The Role of Professional Treatment
Addiction damages numerous parts of the brain, affecting a person’s motivation, emotional regulation, mood, and impulse control. Fighting addiction is about far more than willpower. Real recovery requires using every tool to learn how to recognize and combat cravings, avoid or disempower triggers, and find newer, healthier coping mechanisms and emotional outlets other than substance abuse.
Lasting abstinence from addictive substances can repair damage to the brain. However, it isn’t easy to achieve sustained recovery without a plan, the proper tools, a safe environment, and a supportive community. This is why professional addiction treatment centers can be so helpful. Granite Recovery Centers provides a full continuum of drug rehab treatment in New Hampshire, implementing a unique blend of 12-step work with proven clinical modalities in its inpatient recovery programs. We will help you or your loved one develop healthy strategies and techniques to fight addiction through therapy, community, step work, relapse prevention planning, and numerous forms of active recovery. If you or a loved one is struggling with drug addiction, please call our Admissions Specialists at (855) 712-7784 or message us.