Brain Addiction Essay

Addiction: The effects on the brain 2% of the world's population have or have had an addiction, that's around 156 million people. 10% of those people are from America; that is about 15.6 million Americans that have struggled with an addiction. Drug Use Disorder is extremely common and usually co-occurs with other mental disorders. Drug abuse takes a big toll on the brain, causing you to become a zombie who only wants one thing. How does addiction work, what does it affect, what part does the brain even play in addiction, what are the treatments, and why should you even care? Important questions that will be discussed.

Many would describe the brain as an intricate complex computer. A brain works to do simple tasks, understanding the most complicated

Some brain areas affected by drugs are the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia play an important part in positive forms of motivation from healthy activities, such as eating and socializing. It also plays a part in habits and routines. The basal ganglia have a “reward circuit” and when you take a drug, this part of the brain is over-activated, producing the feeling of euphoria from a drug high. Over time, the over-activated circuit adapts and becomes used to the feeling and has a hard time feeling pleasure from anything but the drug. This is what builds tolerance against drugs, causing you to take more and chase the euphoria from that first initial high. The extended amygdala plays a part in feeling anxious, irritated, and uneasy. These feelings usually take place when an addict is not taking their drug, also known as withdrawal. After the drug high fades, this part of the brain causes you to seek out the drug again. The prefrontal cortex controls thinking, self-control, planning, and problem solving. It is also the last part of the brain to mature, which makes younger adults and especially teenagers vulnerable. The shifting balance from circuit to circuit makes an addict's brain impulsive, relying on drug compulsivity. Other drugs, like opioids, also affect the brain stem. The brainstem controls basic life functions and taking opioids can affect your heart rate, ability to breathe, and

Some are more likely to become addicted due to their genetic blueprints. Others will simply try it once and become addicts. There is no way of knowing who would become an addict but understanding how the mind of an addict works and who is more inclined to get a drug abuse disorder could help lower the rate of addicted minds. When scientists first began researching addiction in the 1930s, they believed that people who developed addictions were somehow morally flawed or lacking in willpower. They believed that with enough willpower they could muster up the intention to finally stop and quit for good. Though they were inherently wrong, we know now that an addict's mind is set up by a reward system in the brain, and when they become reliant on the drug to sustain the dopamine that comes with the drug, they can become violent and weary of those around them. They depend on the drug to bring them happiness, to put it short. This circuits their minds to seek out and secure that high no matter what it takes even if that means hurting a member of their family to even committing a severe crime in rare cases. Addicts have a higher likelihood of committing crimes, homelessness, and unemployment. It affects the lives of family, friends, and abusers. There is a high possibility you know someone or have known someone who has done a drug; it can be anyone in your life, your friend, your sister, your