The Effects Of Drug Addiction

Drug addiction is a brain disease because drugs change the brain’s structure and how they work. Over a period of time drugs start to affect the brain by challenging an addicted person’s self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs. “Most drugs affect the brain's reward circuit by flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. This overstimulation of the reward circuit causes the intensely pleasurable "high" that leads people to take a drug again and again. Over time, the brain adjusts to the excess dopamine, which reduces the high that the person feels compared to the high they felt when first taking the drug—an effect known as tolerance. They might take more of the drug, trying to achieve the same dopamine high.”, States National Institute on Drug Abuse. After long term use of drugs it affects functions such as learning, judgment, decision-making, stress, memory, and behavior. Even though an addict knows this, they still use

While the choice to use alcohol and drugs is initially voluntary, alcohol and/or drug addiction arises because the normal functioning of the brain is impaired so that alcoholism and drug addiction become a “chronic relapsing disease of the brain” (National Institute of Drug Abuse, Drugs, Brains and Behavior. The Science of Addiction. 2014, 5). Drugs impact the pathways of the brain by flooding the circuit with dopamine, which disturbs and distorts normal communication between the brain’s neurons. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain which regulates movement, emotion, motivation and feelings of pleasure. Over stimulating the system with drugs produces euphoric effects which strongly reinforce the behavior of drug use teaching the user to repeat drug use. Continuing alcohol and drug use despite the adverse consequences of such use results in abusers experiencing some or all of the following symptoms: mental stress, impulsive behavior, anger, disorganized thinking, poor coping skills, inadequate decision making and inflexible cognitive response patterns.

Most people associate dangerous addiction with the use of illegal drugs, but substance abuse consists of any dangerous dependence, including alcoholism and reliance on prescription drugs. For centuries, substance abuse was regarded by society as a personal failing or moral fault, and addicts were shunned and forced to the fringes of the community. Substance abuse today is recognized as a disease, typified by the brain becoming reliant on certain substances to deliver neurotransmitters like dopamine or serotonin. Street drugs like marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamines react with the brain in a similar way to legal addictives, such as alcohol, tobacco, and inhalants.

Different parts of the brain are accountable for managing certain roles and every time Amy uses her oxycodone impulsively she is affecting these major parts of her brain that are very critical for everyday life. The part of the brain that is affected when using drugs are the brain stem, the cerebral cortex, and the limbic system; each requiring a (n) significant role.

Brain imaging studies in the areas of the brain responsible for decision-making, judgment, learning, and memory, and behavior control have showed significant changes that can alter the way the brain works in individuals who have a drug addiction (Goldberg, 2011, p. 148). When drugs enter the brain, they interfere with the communication systems and also interfere with neurons

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

In the following paper I aim to highlight the roll of the brain in the body and it’s different parts that come together to form the most complex organ in the body and what drug use and abuse can do both in the short term and long term. The focus of this paper will be on two specific substances; cocaine and opiates. It will examine what each substance and does to the brain and what, if any, long term affects it has on the brain.

All drugs have an effect on the brain. Addictive drugs primarily target the dopamine system, creating a 'rewarding' feeling. Within seconds of drug intrusion in the body, the drugs bring about dramatic changes to synapses in the brain. Because addictive drugs triggers a rewarding sensation within the brain, they produce a euphoric, pleasuring state of being.

Drug abuse is the consumption of any natural or synthetic substance or drug in an unapproved quantity for increased performance and enhancement. Most people abuse drugs because they want to gain the psychological effect with methods neither approved nor supervised by medical professionals. (Med India, Network for Health, n.d.) Drug Addiction is when drug abuse becomes a compulsion for maintaining psychological and emotional balance. Drugs decompose the basic structure of a whole society, by weakening families, reducing human productivity, corrupting governments, and demolding law respecting citizens. (Med India, Network for Health, n.d.) According to Med India, “The trafficking of illicit drugs and hallucinogens is the largest illegal business in the world accounting for about 8% of international trade, amounting to about $400 billion annually” (Med India, Network for Health, n.d.). Drugs decompose a whole society

Substance addiction can hugely impact on a person’s thinking, functioning and behaviour. Whilst depressant drugs such as alcohol and opioids slow down your central nervous system (CNS), stimulants such as cocaine or amphetamine increase the activity of the CNS, leading to higher blood pressure, heart rate and increased alertness. Repeated abuse of the substance leads to tolerance and withdrawal, in turn this leads to the user showing signs of irrational behaviour. Another form of substance abuse is hallucinogens; they can cause powerful changes in sensory perceptions. It works by binding to the serotonin receptors, these neurons control visual information and emotions, and this can lead to various effects on the user. Neurobiology can help us understand the reasons for addiction and the effects they have on us. Groman and Jentsch (2012) discuss key issues of differentiating the causes and consequences of addiction through neuroimaging and behavioural research on monkeys, they found that the dysfunction of the dopamine

An individual’s behavior and emotion becomes chemically altered often resulting in dependency, aggression, onset of diseases and poor judgement. This poses a dangerous threat to the neurotransmitters since they have multiple jobs in different parts of the brain. Drugs of abuse are able to exert influence over the brain reward pathway either by directly influencing the action of dopamine within the system, or by altering the activity of other neurotransmitters that exert a modulatory influence over this pathway. These drugs are often powerful and have been known to trigger schizophrenic behavior and can also cause a person to cease breathing, for example hallucinogens such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin are able to artificially stimulate the serotonin receptor (Sapolsky, 2005).

Today a large problem in society is drugs. drugs can affect the human body in many ways. it causes a lot of harm that people are not swear of. one spot in the body that drugs affect you is the brain. drugs can affect the brain in ways people never thought it would.

Drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, ecstasy, heroin and cannabis, are of natural or synthetic origin, which can alter the emotional state, perception, body functioning and behaviour of an individual. Drugs are known to work in the brain by activating certain brain circuits via different mechanisms, and stimulate or inhibit different neurons in the pathway. However, due to the effects of each drug being different, a drug will affect either different pathways and neurons in the brain to that of another, or through a different process, i.e. direct or indirect activity. This essay will discuss the different mechanisms of action that cocaine, ecstasy, heroin and

Many believe that drug and alcohol abuse are related to being a “bad” person, but what if you save lives as a living? A large majority of substance abusers have either been traumatized or have come from a bad background--scarring and causing them to seek out a way to make themselves feel better without having to tell someone. The newest series to hit Netflix, Nurse Jackie, shows addiction, and it’s lack of discrimination, in its truest form as an amazing nurse, Jackie Payton, struggles to juggle her family, work, and addiction.

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.”