Addiction: How does it effect on our Physical and Psychological Health

 What is addiction? And How does it feel to be addicted to something? Some of us probably found the answer to that even if it is a minor. I also have experienced a mild version of it before. I think the concept of ‘addiction’ is mostly a Psychological thing, a health sickness. Most people sometimes think it is a lack of willpower or morally flawed rather than psychological sickness. 

Let me share my experience when I felt like being addicted to something. Though it's a mild one but it was interesting,

Not so long ago after my HSC exam quarantine started due to COVID-19 pandemic. I was stuck at home for months. I remember I was so bored. My mind was only interested in video gaming or watching Youtube videos for entertainment. After a day or two I started binge watching Youtube for hours, which felt like minutes to me. I spent days and nights on the internet and lost track of time. Weeks after weeks would pass by and it felt like I was in a different realm since my mind was occupied by digital entertainment, totally disconnected from the world and reality. 

However deep down I knew what I was doing was wrong and still couldn't undo anything. I felt like I was in a loop, stuck in a matrix and it is a really uncomfortable feeling by the way.

Eventually my parents got upset and snatched my phone away, which got me very upset. But looking back, that actually saved me from my addiction. Thanks to them I was able to return to my normal life.I think it’s common that almost everyone at that age worldwide was affected similarly in the quarantine.

Now what is addiction and how is it related to our well being?

Addiction is a  neuropsychological disorder characterised by a persistent and intense urge to do certain something or engage in a behaviour that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. This something can be anything especially engaging drugs, alcohol and anything that  include compulsive engagement in rewarding stimuli along with the negative consequences (Wikipedia).

Addiction is a medical disorder that affects the brain and changes behaviour.

However that doesn’t mean someone enjoying something is considered to be an addict. We find pleasure in many things in our life. Talking to our loved ones, doing things in leisure times, eating favourite dishes, etc are the formation of habits that makes one's life enjoyable. This pleasure that we feel actually comes from the natural reward system in our brain.

But when certain habits alter brain function in ways that creates craving and weakens one’s self control, the person tends to engage in the habit repeatedly despite having negative consequences of overdoing it. This is why the feeling of craving is an indicator of addiction.

Sorry this article might seem boring to you. Bear with me, I have some important facts to discuss later, I’m sure you’ll find it worth reading.

Research from Yale Medicine tells us, addiction develops when the pleasure circuits in the brain get overwhelmed, in a way that can become chronic and sometimes even permanent. This is what’s at play when you hear about reward “systems” or “pathways” and the role of dopamine when it comes to addiction. 

Now let’s talk about how people really get addicted in the first place? 

Most people firsthandly suffer from various mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, loneliness, emptiness, boredom, bipolar disorder,  post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) etc. Then they turn to substances in order to distract themselves from those traumatic events. 

Aside from mental health, there are countless negative effects on physical health that are cause by addiction. Drugs, alcohol and other addictive substances lead one to addiction and repetitive use of those substances cause many life threatening heath damages. 

For example, if someone becomes addicted to drugs and overuses them he or she might suffer lung or heart disease, stroke, cancer and many long term diseases.

People that are addicted to drugs experience the worst kind of addiction because the damage the drugs cause to their mental and physical health is very impactful and sometimes the health damage becomes permanent if not treated in time.

This happens because addictive substances trigger an outsized response when they reach the brain. Instead of a simple, pleasurable surge of dopamine (a hormone that creates pleasure and happiness), many drugs of abuse such as opioids, cocaine, or nicotine cause dopamine to flood the reward pathway, 10 times more than a natural reward. The brain remembers this surge and associates it with the addictive substance.

‘Achieving that pleasurable sensation becomes increasingly important, but at the same time, one builds tolerance and needs more and more of that substance to generate the level of high he craves’ (Yale Medicine, 2022). 

NIDA stated that drugs can alter important brain areas that are necessary for life-sustaining functions and can drive the compulsive drug use that marks addiction. 

Addiction can also cause problems with focus, memory,  learning, decision making and judgement. Therefore seeking drugs or addictive behaviour is driven by habit - not conscious or rational decisions.

Still with me? Good, here I’m presenting some social norms dealing with addiction. After reading this let me know whether I’m right or wrong, it might change your perspective.

The misunderstanding of addictive behaviour is not new, we have been mistreating the victims with opioid disorder (a chronic disease of the brain—sometimes called an addiction). These victims are thought to be morally flawed or lacking in willpower or both. This attitude overlooks the complex biological, psychological, and environmental factors that contribute to addiction.

Blaming and shaming individuals with addiction put them in an additional challenge of overcoming it. This type of view shaped society’s responses to drug use, treating it as a moral failing rather than a health problem and it led to an emphasis on punishment, rather than prevention and treatment (NIDA). 

This might result in many negative consequences - suicide or self harming. There are many examples of it. So a change is necessary to prevent it. We need to be very conscious about it and fight to make a change.

Today, thanks to the discoveries of scientists our perspective and response towards the people with these disorders have changed. They are infected with a type of mental sickness, which is salvageable. Again, addiction is a disease that requires treatment, not a personal choice or character flaw.

Back when I was a victim of mild opioids I wasn’t morally flawed or lacking in willpower, I understood what I was doing made me stuck in the loop. I just didn’t know how to stop it. I know it sounds confusing and that is basically what my brain response was - very confused.

To put it simply, Addiction is NOT a lack of willpower or a moral failing. It’s compulsive, out of control feel-good-now-but-pay-for-it-later behaviour that destroys lives, careers, and marriages. Its victims suffer greatly, leaving them feeling empty and alone.

Yes I understand that it might be my fault putting myself in that situation in the first place. But the cause of intense addiction unlike mine is much more complex than that and also salvaging the problem is not an easy thing.

The best natural treatment for addiction without any side-effects can be ‘meditation’. When craving starts, people with addiction cannot control their minds. As meditation trains one to control their mind it hands over the control of their own life, making it less challenging for someone who’s going through addiction. 

Besides behavioural therapy or counselling, medication can be another option. It really depends on the patient which treatment works the best. For drug addicts medications are used to help people detoxify from drugs. Though it’s important, detoxification alone without subsequent treatment generally leads to resumption of drug use.

Was I able to make a change in your perspective? I’m a little curious, you know. If I did, let's join the forces to make a change in the world starting with our country. It is possible to recover from addiction but it’s painful and tough work. Sadly, despite effective treatments, only 10% of people ever receive them.

If you or any of your family members suffer from addiction, start or encourage them to start treatment as soon as possible. Therefore one can live a life happy and fulfilling.

References:

Addiction. Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction

(2022, May 25).How an Addicted Brain Works. Yale Medicine.

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/how-an-addicted-brain-works

Volkow, M.D. How Science Has Revolutionized the Understanding of Drug Addiction. National Institution on Drug Abuse.

https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/addiction-science/drugs-brain-behavior-science-of-addiction