Compulsion Takes Over

At this point, compulsion takes over. The pleasure associated with an addictive drug or behavior subsides and yet the memory of the desired effect and the need to recreate it (the wanting) persists. It’s as though the normal machinery of motivation is no longer functioning. The learning process mentioned earlier also comes into play. The hippocampus and the amygdala store information about environmental cues associated with the desired substance, so that it can be located again. These memories help create a conditioned response—intense craving—whenever the person encounters those environmental cues.

Cravings contribute not only to addiction but to relapse after a hard-won sobriety. From experience, experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury MD, says that any person addicted to heroin is likely to be in danger of relapse when he or she sees a hypodermic needle, like for example, while another person might start to drink again after seeing a bottle of whiskey. Conditioned learning helps explain why people who develop an addiction risk relapse even after years of abstinence. And that is why keeping close touch with the experts is very important.

The formation of this facility (AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center) by doctor Akoury is to primarily make a difference in your life. We understand the dangers drug addiction tolerance can do to your health and all we want to do is to help you get back to your productive life and live it meaningfully. That is why, if you have any concern about addiction of any kind, you can schedule for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury today for the commencement of your recovery process.

Drug Addiction Tolerance Development

By nature, rewards usually come only with time and effort. And like I had mentioned before, addictive drugs and behaviors provide a shortcut, flooding the brain with dopamine and other neurotransmitters. Our brains do not have an easy way to withstand the onslaught. Addictive drugs, for example, can release two to 10 times the amount of dopamine that natural rewards do, and they do it more quickly and more reliably. In a person who becomes addicted, brain receptors become overwhelmed. The brain then responds by producing less dopamine or eliminating dopamine receptors an adaptation similar to turning the volume down on a loudspeaker when noise becomes too loud. As a result of these adaptations, dopamine has less impact on the brain’s reward center. People who develop an addiction typically find that, in time, the desired substance no longer gives them as much pleasure. And because of that, the development of drug addiction tolerance begins  hence they have to take more of it to obtain the same dopamine “high” because their brains have adapted and that is what is known as tolerance.

When the brain is under attack

By nature, rewards usually come only with time and effort. And like I had mentioned before, addictive drugs and behaviors provide a shortcut, flooding the brain with dopamine and other neurotransmitters. Our brains do not have an easy way to withstand the onslaught. Addictive drugs, for example, can release two to 10 times the amount of dopamine that natural rewards do, and they do it more quickly and more reliably. In a person who becomes addicted, brain receptors become overwhelmed. The brain then responds by producing less dopamine or eliminating dopamine receptors an adaptation similar to turning the volume down on a loudspeaker when noise becomes too loud. As a result of these adaptations, dopamine has less impact on the brain’s reward center. People who develop an addiction typically find that, in time, the desired substance no longer gives them as much pleasure. And because of that, the development of drug addiction tolerance begins  hence they have to take more of it to obtain the same dopamine “high” because their brains have adapted and that is what is known as tolerance.

Brain natural balance and drug addiction

Chronic over-stimulation of the brain (like that which occurs in addiction) interferes with the maintenance of the brain natural balance (homeostasis). When the brain has difficulty maintaining homeostatic balance, the wonderfully adaptive brain makes adjustments. It does this by creating a new balanced set-point. The creation of a new balance is called allostasis. This may not be very clear to many, but let me make it simpler by using a daily life illustration. Take for instance if you add more weight by 20 units, you will try fitting into your clothing’s despite the discomfort. But with time this will not be bearable and so you will have to adapt to the new body size by buying new clothes that will fit you well. Once this is done you will be more comfortable and at this point you will get used to the fact that your cloths are now large size and not medium or small sizes as it used to be and in the process your homeostasis balance changes from medium to large. And with this adjustment you become comfortable again.

Take note that the reverse can also take place in the future where the added 20 units may be lost to keep healthy and when that happens you will be compelled to make further readjustment to your clothing size by buying smaller sizes. Therefore even though at this moment you will be healthy due to the loss, you will still need to make an unpleasant and costly adjustment by buying smaller clothes. This is very similar to the unpleasant adjustment the brain must go through when people try to give up their addiction. Although this is a positive change, we will be uncomfortable while the brain makes readjustments to suits the present circumstances.

New standings into a common problem

Because of the consequences that comes with substance abuse, ideally nobody would on a voluntary basis wants to desire to develop an addiction, however many people get caught in its snare from very humble beginnings. And today looking at the prevalence of addiction it is amazing that drug use is almost getting out of hand. Take for instance the latest statistics from the government America where nearly 23 million Americans are addicted to either alcohol or other drugs representing a worrying figure of one in every ten being an addict. The statistics also indicate that more than two-thirds of people with addiction abuse alcohol. While the top three drugs causing addiction are marijuana, opioid (narcotic) pain relievers, and cocaine. These are not worth celebration. The sooner we find ourselves out of this statistics the better. It may seem a long journey, but with the help of experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Akoury MD, this journey can be made shorter and bearable if only you can schedule for an appointment with her today.

Meanwhile in the past the perception about addiction was not right and people who developed signs of addiction were actually seen as people with questionable character and lacking in willpower. As such the remedy was punishment since they were considered wrongdoers besides that they were also being encouraged to make peace with the community by turning away from their bad habits? Nonetheless a lot is currently being done and scientific findings are changing this old perception of addiction. Today addiction is recognized as a chronic disease that changes both brain structure and function. Just in the same way as cardiovascular disease damages the heart and diabetes impairs the pancreas, addiction hijacks the brain. This happens as the brain goes through a series of changes, beginning with recognition of pleasure and ending with a drive toward compulsive behavior thanks to the drug abuse prevalence that has hijacked the functions of the brain.

The brains ability to cope

From the concept illustrated above, the brain’s wonderful ability to make the readjustments, it is important noting that, it is these changes that account for many behaviors associated with addiction such as:

The powerful and lustful need to obtain drugs or continue with the indulgence of harmful activities despite the harm to self or loved ones
The difficulty of quitting an addictive drug or activity, and
The obsessive, all-consuming nature of addictions such that little else in life matters
This is because addiction caused the brain natural balance to change and accommodate the addiction. Once changed, the brain requires the addictive substance or activity in order to maintain this new homeostatic balance. Drugs and alcohol are not helping us in anyway. Instead of the poor health and social discrimination we get from drugs, let’s seek for solution by scheduling for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury today for a one on one sharing of what you are going through and she will in the most professional way offer you lasting solutions to all your concerns.

Substance abuse flow in the brain

The brain’s adaptation to the environment

Remember that the brain is the most dynamic and complex organ in our bodies. I believe that you are interested in finding out how to care for this most vital organ of your body. Therefore it will do you good to keep on the link to find out more from the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury. According to these experts, the proper functionality of the brain delivers quality assurance of our very survival. Doctor Akoury says that when our brains (the human brain) functions well, we are constantly adopting or adjusting to our environment (our surroundings) changes well. What many may not know is that this smooth adaptation is the work of our brain. And ironically, it is the brain’s ability to be so adaptive that contributes to the formation of all manner of addictions. From the various studies conducted by researchers across the globe, it has been established that addiction has direct effect to the brain and that it causes changes to the brain in at least four fundamental ways:

Addiction causes changes to the brain’s natural balance (homeostasis).
Addiction alters brain chemistry.
Addiction changes the brain’s communication patterns.
Addiction causes changes to brain structures and their functioning.
The findings listed above will help us understand the importance of the brain and why we must protect it from the effects of drug addiction which has been sighted as one of the main course of damage to this very vital organ. Doctor Dalal Akoury and her team of experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, are going to be very resourceful even as we discuss each of these fundamental changes that come with the effects of addiction to the brain progressively. You certainly don’t want to miss this and so we invite you to stay with us on the link and be enriched with this worthy health information. But in the meantime, if you are struggling with any kind of addiction, you may want to consult with doctor Akoury for a more professional undertaking today.