Addiction as a Brain Disease - Literature review Example

Addiction Is a Brain Disease Over the years, the number of types of addiction has increased. An addicted person is said to be one who has no control over the things he/she does, uses or takes. It is not just in physical things such as alcohol but also anything else for example, shopping. This means that there are two types of addiction: behavioral addiction and substance dependence. This can be harmful for oneself and for others. Furthermore, it is important to distinguish between a habit and an addiction: a habit is what a person chooses to do, and there is no physical and physiological aspect to it, till you become so used to that substance that you cannot do without it. With addiction you also cannot survive on the same doses every time; you need to increase the dosage every time in order to satisfy yourself and you cannot stop without help. It causes many problems in every aspect of one’s life and needs to be considered. Its causes and treatments need to be laid out for better understanding. (Nordqvist, March) The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain that allows human beings to evaluate situations, make rational decisions and control their emotions and desires. This part of the brain is still developing in adolescence and abusing it will have a very dire effect in the future. (Buljan, 2010) An addict is a person who is addicted. This person will have desires and cravings, in which he will urgently want to indulge, and usually symptoms of withdrawal accompany this feeling if he does not get the substance he craves. There are several reasons for this disease. Genetics are suspected, and so is the environment, but the new explanation that has been discovered is that it is a brain disease. (Maureen C Nash, 2011) The roles of the reward mechanisms in the brain are suspected to be involved with this disease. Dopamine systems stimulate the brain when it receives a reward be it food, or any other thing that the person likes. This is the only centre of the brain that stimulates it, and no additional centre has been found to cause addiction. Taking the substance that you are addicted to changes the wiring of your brain and you require special needs to fulfill your cravings. Dopamine is activated with the use of the substance or aspect that you are addicted to; and this is not a natural process, but a highly unnatural one as you make your brain accustomed to the aspects that it is usually not used to, but is in fact actually sensitive to. It not only arouses your brain and rewards it but the arousal it leads to is of abnormal nature, leading to changes in the brain’s motor and cognitive abilities. Other researchers believe that what is involved in addiction includes: the medial prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus, amygdala and nucleus accumbens. There are other cortical structures involved in the rewarding centre of the brain apart from dopamine. This was shown by Hans Breiter with the help of functional magnetic resonance imaging. In simple terms, drugs such as morphine, or money, or shopping, rewards your brain and satisfies it. But if you don’t acquire them, you will experience withdrawal. This is not just the case with drugs, but also non-drug expectations. A drug will lead to ‘drug rewards’ whereas a non drug will lead to a ‘non-drug reward.’ (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2000) Positron emission tomography studies by Nora Volkrow showed that substance abusers had fewer striatal D2 receptors. There was also lower monoamine oxidase B which is important in the reward circuit of the brain in those who were addicted to smoking. This meant that more dosage was needed every time to stimulate the reward centers because addiction was reducing the enzymes needed to stimulate it. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2000) The brain reward system can be further extended beyond the dopamine system. The stimulation has to do with the synaptic actions when dopamine is stimulated which are affected by addiction. Since the brain is not used to such stimulation, it is required to adapt to it, a process called ‘neuroadaptation’. This also means that greater addiction leads to more sprouting of the dendrites in the brain, as the dopamine neurons are embedded everywhere in the brain circuit and they are the neurons that actually interact with the drug. All this requires adaptation. There are also excitatory amino acid terminals near the dopamine terminals and they are stimulated and interact together to excite the aforementioned areas of the brain: frontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdale, which enable the brain to make decisions for the rest of the body. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2000) Addiction also conditions your brain. It only senses the arousal, but doesn’t know the source of it, and is indirectly unaware of it, and a person will become conditioned and subsequently helpless if he is not made to recognize the source of this arousal. One works hard to achieve this arousal, to the extent that he becomes blind. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2000) Other studies go further to prove that dopamine leaves lasting pleasurable memories embedded in your brain, and as they fade, you want to attain them again. This is why it is so hard to say no to addiction: it is a brain disease and you cannot reset your brain wiring once it has been tampered with unless you get help and really strive to say “no”. Dopamine is also important in the respect that it helps in decision making as mentioned earlier: it tells the brain what to focus on and what the body needs to survive. Those who have fewer aspects in life that interest them are more susceptible to look for other ways to excite themselves. This becomes a requirement of the body while at the same time harms it. Therefore it is not that simple to get over addiction: one needs a whole new set of experiences to replace the good ones created by the wrong things. It takes time, and memories take a great deal of time to fade away, so with it one needs patience, as do those around addicts. (Smithstein, 2010) An addict is usually in denial about the fact that he or she simply cannot quit and needs that habit in his life to survive. Addicts will continue misusing the bad habit even after their body shows negative responses to it such as ulcers, sores, declining social life etc. Other symptoms include being obsessed with that habit: spending time and effort that you could spend doing something more productive. In such efforts, you cut down on other parts of your life, but you are more vulnerable if you already have insufficient amount of things to look forward to in life. Lastly, the substance dosage increases and it is abused for longer periods: not just the tangible substances but the intangible aspects. For example, you start off with gambling once a week but then you start playing regularly and every time you lose. This is a sign that you should quit, and you are probably even pressed for money after some time. But if you hurdle on blindly without care of who you are borrowing money from, who you are playing with and what for, and how much debt you are in, then you are truly an addict. As you lose sight of yourself, it becomes difficult to control your actions or impulses because that habit is the one controlling you and your brain, and not the natural chemicals of the brain: you have distorted your neural pathways. (Maureen C Nash, 2011) Addiction can be compared to other diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Some diseases occur as a result of habit initially till they become embedded in your body or brain and then you are helpless and need external help for it. However in the beginning you are in control. Some diseases spring up mysteriously, or due to genetics and you cannot control them from the beginning. You cannot compare these diseases to addiction as the latter starts off with a habit, unless you have a genetic predisposition to it. However, mostly it is a brain disease. Firstly, there are many similarities between addiction and type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a result of one’s own poor choices of food, eating patterns, unhealthy lifestyle. Obesity is growing and this is one of the major reasons for diabetes. This is how addiction starts off as well. One wants to experiment, or is inclined towards addiction, or has few things in life to be occupied with and indulges in a habit. This habit becomes an addiction as you become dependent on it. After that you need insulin shots and rehab centers to cure your disease. From a poor choice, it becomes a disease. Both diseases change everything in life from the decisions you make, be it about your food, or any other aspect. Both affect those around you as they are concerned and try to help you to deal with it. Also, you need to effectively fight your own brain to take back control of it and to overcome you disease. Both are brain diseases to a large extent as new research shows: the inability to produce insulin is related to the brain as areas of the brain also have the capability to control blood sugar level. And dopamine and amino acid receptors are related to addiction. (Gregory, 2011) There are also relapses, tolerances, withdrawal symptoms in addiction as with many diseases, such as cancer and depression. Many diseases are recurrent, and sometimes they come back reinforced, and the body is more vulnerable so one needs to be careful that a relapse doesn’t occur. Similar is the case with addiction. Conclusively, all diseases usually start as a bad choice of lifestyle, or stem from an unhealthy environment or habit, and they build up to be something that is outside our control. Even cancer is curable up to a certain stage where it becomes fatal. When one reaches that stage where a habit turns into a disease, one cannot go through the process alone. Some diseases are irrecoverable from, but you can control many, and even eliminate some. The threat, however, that they will recur is always present. Also, one needs to look to their family, friends, or community for help in a crisis. Counseling, rehab, yoga and all other remedies aim to relax the body, keep the person fulfilled and happy. Nobody is recommended additional stress or activity in any disease be it glaucoma or cancer. Recent research reaffirms that every disease is somehow related to the brain as most receptors and chemicals originate from there, and rational decision making is done by the brain, therefore, addiction is not only a brain disease, but it can be linked to various other diseases defined by the DSM model. References Buljan, D. (2010). Fight against Addiction. Alcoholism, 85+. Gregory, R. (2011). Drug Addiction vs Diabetes, A consequence of choice. The poor diabetic. Maureen C Nash, M. M. (2011). Addiciton. Retrieved from http://emedicinehealth.com National Institute on Drug Abuse, B. M. (2000). Addiction becomes a brain disease. Sciverse , 27-33. Nordqvist, C. (March). All About Addiction. Medical News Today. Smithstein, S. (2010). Dopamine: why its so hard to "just say no". Psychology Today. Read More