Addiction as a Brain Disease

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction can be defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. Though many people see addiction as a choice – a voluntary action done to produce a pleasurable feeling– scientific evidence proves that addiction is much more complicated than that.
Though it is true that the initial decision to take a drug is often voluntary, continued use is often not. With continually drug use, a person’s ability to exercise self -control can often become seriously impaired. Brain imaging studies of individuals addicted show extreme physical changes in areas of the brain critical for judgement, decision-making, and learning and memory. Due to these changes, it is incredibly challenging for an individual to stop using drugs. These structural and chemical changes in the brain are also why scientists are beginning to refer to addiction as a brain disease.
Drugs are nothing more than chemicals that disrupt the brain’s normal communication system by influencing the way nerve cells send, receive, and process information. Drugs can do this by either imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers or by overstimulating the reward circuit of the brain.
For example, take marijuana. The chemical in marijuana, THC, has a similar structure to a naturally produced neurotransmitter in the brain, anandamide. Cannabinoid receptors are normally activated by anandamide, however, due to the similar structure between anandamide and THC, THC can bind to these receptors. This causes aversive side effects on the mind and body, including the memory problems and impaired motor coordinators.
Other drugs though, such as cocaine, cause the nerve cells to release abnormally large amounts of natural neurotransmitters, such a dopamine. Normally, dopamine is release by a neuron in response to a pleasurable signal, and then recycled back into the cell that released it. However, cocaine prevents dopamine from being recycled, causing excess amounts of dopamine to be build up, disrupting normal communication.  With repeated use then, cocaine can cause long-term effects in the brains reward pathway ultimately leading to addiction.
From these two examples, it is evident that drugs have extreme influences on the brain’s structure and function, resulting in addiction. However, these examples only touch the very basics of addiction. There are many more complicated concepts that need to be understood to grasp the full picture. So, before passing judgement on individuals with addiction, think back to this reading and do some research of your own. The challenges that these individuals face are much more complicated then they first seem.