Chapter: 2
Understanding Addiction
In this chapter
I’ll try to make you understand about addiction, so keep on reading. Some part of
our brain releases a chemical called dopamine due to certain behaviour and that chemical gives pleasure or satisfaction.
These feelings of satisfaction become a desire and the person wants to repeat
the same
behaviour that causes release of
dopamine.
For example,
food and sex releases dopamine, that’s why people want to eat food (especially
sweet food because it releases more dopamine) even they are full and wants to
have sex even they don’t need a child or even when it isn’t a right time.
Similarly,
pleasure or satisfaction gained by release of dopamine causes impacts on brain
and helps users to learn quickly to do those behaviour which releases dopamine.
That’s why even a small child learns to suck mother’s milk easily. And that’s
why it is not very hard to learn to watch TV because various scenes of TV also
help to release dopamine.
All the
activity which releases dopamine can make you addict. But some substances like
drug, cigarette, alcohol and behaviour like gambling can make you addict easily
and can cause a lots of damage. These kinds of substances directly stimulate
the part of our brain which releases dopamine. Thus it causes to release
two-ten times more amount of dopamine than our brain releases normally, giving
the user sense of rush or high (extreme pleasure). And if an activity or use of
substance releases more amount of dopamine then we will learn more quickly to
do that activity or use that substance. That’s why due to release of more dopamine
user learns to use the substances like drugs, alcohol and cigarettes more
quickly. And slowly, slowly due to
continuous use, it becomes a habit to use that substance and to get that much
pleasure.
Overtime due to
prolong use of such substances brain stops to release as much dopamine as it previously
used to release when using such substances. This increases the level tolerance
leading to physical dependency. That’s why person needs to involve in more
intense use of such substances just to feel normal or to get that kind of
pleasure experienced in initial use of such substances. This works like vicious
circle which will be difficult to break.
Thus, due to quicker process of
learning, increasing in level of tolerance and formation of habit to use such
substance, user becomes a addict. As a result, the user loses control over the
act of taking addicted substance or engaging in addicted activity. So he/she
tries to engage in such activity or use such substance as much as he cans even
forgetting all kind of responsibility.
In this way,
addiction happens.
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