Effects Of Drug Abuse On The Brain

Drugs are chemicals they work in the brain by tapping into the brain's communication system and interfering with the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. Some drugs, such as marijuana and heroin, can activate neurons because their chemical structure mimics that of a natural neurotransmitter. This fools receptors and allows the drugs to lock onto and activate the nerve cells. Although these drugs mimic brain chemicals, they don't activate nerve cells in the same way as a natural neurotransmitter, and they lead to abnormal messages being transmitted through the network.

In today’s session, group members received education on how alcohol and drug abuse affects the brain chemistry. Group members learned how different categories of substances and how they act in the mind and body.

One of the largest domestic problems around the world is drug usage. My family wasn 't perfect; we lacked affection growing up and you never really got it until you were born or dying. We didn 't care though we didn 't let it affect us we were grateful that we were raised with that tough exterior, we were grateful they built us ready for reality and that life was not going to be a walk in the park, they taught us to expect the worst but to always hope for the best. We were never loving but always there for each other through the tough and good times but there was also a lot of negatives that came with growing up like that, we had always had problems with violence, divorce, alcohol and illnesses in my family. We were brought up to be tough, physically and mentally, but out of all the things my family has seen, out of all the things my family has been through, we were not prepared for the challenge that was about to be brought upon us for a couple of years. In fact most of us didn 't even know there was a problem no one expected it or saw it coming.

Heroin, a chemical imposter, is an illegal, extremely addictive drug derived from opium. Heroin can reach the brain by methods of injection, nasal inhalation, or smoked. In our brain there are many receptor sites, each site specific for different neurotransmitters. In this paper I will refer to the opiate receptor. Naturally, our brain is responsible for making endorphins, a natural opiate of the body. These endorphins are the “feel good” chemical sensations in the brain, when we are exposed to pain or stress. Heroin mimics the opium chemical, creating the effect of pleasure and euphoric feelings. I will look into how heroin affects the cerebral cortex and how different genders perceive and treat the effects of heroin. The opiates in

The drugs affect the brain by either increasing the amount of a neurotransmitter by activating the release of a neurotransmitter, or by inhibiting the release of a neurotransmitter, or by blocking the degradation of a neurotransmitter. This action depends on the type of drug used. All drugs activate the reward center of the brain. Virtually all drugs of abuse directly or indirectly augment dopamine in the reward pathway. The neurotransmitters involved in drug addictions are dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, Glutamate, and Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) plus endogenous opioids and cannabinoids. The standard functions of these neurotransmitters are regulating the pleasure and reward system, attention, mood, and memory. Dopamine

Drugs effect 2 parts of the human brain 1st the cerebral cortex in control of our senses hearing, sight, feel, and taste. The front part of the cerebral cortex controls our thinking including the ability to think, plan, and solve problems the 2nd is the limbic system which contains the brains reward system and moderates our ability to feel pressure. Drugs are used to fool the brain into activating mimicking brain chemicals leading to abnormalities in the brain processing systems. Most drugs target the limbic system for the reward system filling the limbic system with dopamine teaching the brain that doing drugs is a thing to do repeatable.

The pharmacological effects of substance abuse are how they work within our brain chemicals to change our feeling. Drugs react with our neurotransmitters. They allow neurons to communicate with each other which communicates with our body on what to experience and what to do. “All this action occurs in the section of our brain called our “primitive brain”. This is also referred to as the survival section of our brain. There are four major neurons that drugs target in our brain. These four neurons are called dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and endorphins” (Turpin, 2016). Dopamine for example is what is released in the brain when stimulants are taken it stimulates our reward center. Opiates release endorphins and GABA along with dopamine and serotonin

Ecstasy is both a hallucinogenic, causing hallucination, and a stimulant drug. Ecstasy is the name given to methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). It was first synthesized in 1912 by Merck chemist Anton Köllisch. Ecstasy appears to disturb the body 's ability to regulate its temperature and this can lead to serious problems with overheating of the body. Ecstasy can be swallowed as a pill or tablet or snorted like a powder. Users of ecstasy can experience a rush of good feelings, a high, and makes someone 's feelings much more intense, whether they 're good or bad feelings. Ecstasy’s effects usually last up to 6 hours.

Cocaine which is also known as coke is a powerful restorative mostly used as a recreational drug. Some humans usually snort it, inhale it or even inject it into their veins. Whatever method is used of taking it in, cocaine immediately enters the bloodstream and travels to the brain. In the brain, cocaine obstructs with the chemical messengers neurotransmitters that nerves use to interact with each other. The resulting chemical increase between nerves causes the human to feel high. Feeling high is described as feeling restlessness, paranoid, etc. Cocaine can narrow blood vessels in the brain, causing strokes or even heart attacks. Cocaine can react to the brain by causing the human to have seizures and can lead to violent behavior. The brain

Drugs affect the brain by tapping into the communication system and interfering with the way neurons normally send, receive, and process information. Drugs also pleasure the brain, most drugs target the brains reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine. Constant use to drugs disrupts the way critical brain stuctures interact to control and inhabit behaviors related to drug use.

Many psychiatric and psychoactive drugs that are available on the market, pharmaceutically or illegally, closely resemble neurotransmitters and are actually able to mimic it to the extent that it fools the receptors. Basically, these drugs hijack the neurotransmitters. Once these drugs are ingested, it enters into the brain, gets into the synapse and binds itself to the receptor. This then causes the inappropriate release of neurotransmitters and alter the breakdown and recycling of neurotransmitters or can be used to destroy particular neurotransmitters completely (Sapolsky, 2005, p. 14).

Addiction is very complex, and it is important to recognize how people can become addicted to things. Despite beliefs, addicts are not merely individuals who lack morals or self-control. It is not quite as simple as just choosing to not do something. According to the American Society to Addiction Medicine, “Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory, and related circuitry… Addiction is often characterized by inability to consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral control, craving, diminished recognition of significant problems with one’s behaviors and interpersonal relationships, and dysfunctional emotional response.” Drug usage and abuse mainly affects the reward circuit of the brain. The reward circuit is responsible for the body’s ability to feel pleasure. Drugs cause the reward system to be flooded with dopamine, and this overstimulation causes a “high”. This, in turn, leads the brain to adjust to excess dopamine. Due to drugs altering brain chemistry, drug addiction is classified as a chronic disease. A chronic disease like this can also disturb learning, judgement, stress,

Drug addiction is influenced by many factors. Not only does the brain change when taking constant doses of a certain drug, but life as you know it changes to. Drugs are misleading they cause you to think that your life is becoming better, when it actually is becoming much worse. “Fooling” is what drugs do best; they fool the brains receptors by sending abnormal messages to the brain. After all, what good really comes from drugs? When someone starts taking it they just simply can’t stop, even if they wanted to. However, if they actually do stop there are many side effects to this, “persistent vulnerability to relapse long after drug taking has ceased”. They lose total control over their brain and bodies. How lamentable is it watching someone’s life shatter in to pieces right in front of your eyes, and there’s nothing you can do about it. How sad is it knowing they had a reason for living before this all began, that they wanted to actually achieve something before they leave this world. All the drug dosage did was completely destroy them. Hence, drug addiction leads to greed, treachery, murder; dreams fall to pieces and life is nothing but a living hell.

Have you ever dealt with the effects of drug addict? A drug is a person who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, which has a psychological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body. The effects of drug use can vary depending on the person. According to “Causes and types of narcotic addiction: A Psychosocial View” in the Psychiatric Quarterly it says, “The causes of drugs stem from the manner of which you were introduced to it whether it be by abnormal curiosity, chance encounters with addicts and narcotic peddlers, or prolonged illness” (Ausubel). The effects of drugs can be have different effects on everyone differently depending if its for pleasure or for relieving pain Most of the effects of drugs occur in the brain, where it increases the level of dopamine at a specific site possibly giving the addict the pleasure they were feigning for (Robbins). As a child I didn’t know much about drugs except for what your parents and teachers at school tell you which is, “Just Say No.”

What are Drug: Drugs are substances which when are administered to the body (Inhaled, injected etc) result in a temporary psychological effect on the body. When a recreational drug is taken it causes dopamine – a hormone which causes great