What Makes Addiction a Chronic Brain Disease?

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A couple of scientists used to examine the MRI scans of the brain and surprisingly, the scans of drug addicts and non-addict people were distinctly different from each other. Therefore, they concluded that if the substance use is repeated for a while, the brain of an addict goes through different stages. At last, there comes a point when addiction becomes a disease that is displayed in the behavior of a person.

In 2011, a huge group of 80 addiction experts gave hope to people struggling to leave substance abuse by redefining addiction. According to them, the neurology of the brain is designed in a way that it can build a tolerance for opioid abuse and it is not only related to a person’s choices or willpower.

Why Addiction is a Chronic Brain Disease

Addiction is a chronic brain disease and the people who used to think opioid abuse is only related to habits and mindset should change their perception. However, the question arises, what makes addiction a chronic brain disease? These are the three reasons that tell us how addiction makes your brain unhealthy:

The Reward System of Our Brain Starts Running Anticlockwise

Addiction revamps your brain’s reward system negatively. You no longer feel motivated to do good things like your fellows. Instead, bad things come forward and misguide you. Along with that, your body demands a reward in the form of the substance serving if you try to pursue productive habits.

The Development of the Frontal Cortex

The frontal cortex helps you decide and judge a particular behavior and its outcomes and then give a reaction according to your judgment. Interestingly, this part of the brain keeps developing in the young adulthood of our life. In addition, when young adults try to indulge in substance abuse for the sake of fun or fashion, they find it hard to get back to normal life again. Because the continuous usage of the substance results in the development of addiction along with the frontal cortex.

The Opioids Misguide the Brain

Dopamine is a chemical that is being transported from one brain cell to the next and is responsible for our happiness and sense of achievement. When a person uses an addictive substance, it connects itself with a bring cell and like hackers hack the data of a computer. That substance goes inside the brain cell system and allows dopamine to flow. The dangerous part of this whole operation is that the dopamine released illegally is almost 10 times more than the legal manner.

An Interesting (and mortal) Fact!

We know that people die from diseases and it is a serious matter. We do not accuse those people; instead, all the experts try to reduce the number of deaths in every possible way. It is the case with addiction and every day, a big number of 174 people experience death because they take overdoses on drugs to experience short-term pleasure. Nearly 10% of the population of the United States of America deals with this disease once in a lifetime.

Is Addiction a Choice?

Addiction is a choice in the very beginning, but it becomes a headache for addicts very soon and they have to take the opioids to find pleasure and feel good. Because all the previous activities that were pleasant before do not make the brain release dopamine in a quantity comparable to the quantity released by opioid misuse.

What is the Worst Part of the Addiction?

Unfortunately, the brain changes remain with a person for a couple of years even after quitting the drug abuse.

What is the Best Way to Treat Addiction?

Yes! Fortunately, many ways allow the addicts to beat the guilt and live a confident and purposeful life. The most effective ways include using medical detox, and inpatient and outpatient treatments. Moreover, different types of behavioral therapies work best for most of the patients. Most of the rehab centers are endorsing the co-occurring disorder treatment that is designed to take care of both the mental and physical health of the patient.

The recent change of concepts also supports the use of co-occurring disorder treatment. Because we all acknowledge that our minds and bodies are not separate things. Mental health is not a petty issue anymore. People with an addiction are more likely to have mental health issues than others.

Seek Addiction Treatment Before It Is Too Late!

Addiction is a curse that can be cured with the proper treatment. Addiction treatment centers often accept all state-funded insurance and offer addiction treatment programs like:

Make sure that you do your research and select the best rehab for your needs. 

The Bottom Line…

Now, we can say that addiction is a disease that not only destroys the physical health of a person but it also alters the social and works lifestyle. And we all should avoid abusing patients and help them in the manner we do the patients with cancer and brain tumor. Because our fellows who became prone to substance abuse are in pain and do not wanna go all their life plans to go in vain.

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