What Is Drug Addiction?

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people to repeat the behavior of abusing drugs.

As a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the dopamine surges by producing less dopamine or reducing receptors. The user must therefore keep abusing drugs to bring his or her dopamine function back to ’’normal’’ or use more drugs in an effort to try to achieve a dopamine high.

Long-term drug abuse causes changes in other brain chemical systems and circuits, as well. Brain imaging studies of drug-addicted people show changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment, decision-making, learning and memory, and behavior control. Together, these changes can drive an abuser to seek out and take drugs with irresistibility, or to become addicted to drugs. While these brain changes can powerfully affect behavior and the desire to use drugs, people in the middle of an addiction do not completely lose their ability to use judgment and make decisions; their desire to stop using drugs and follow in treatment relies on the wish to live sober.  As with many chronic, relapsing disorders, recovery then becomes a lifelong process.

Why Do Some People Become Addicted While Others Do Not?

There is no single cause that can predict whether or not a person will become addicted to drugs. Risk for addiction is influenced by a person’s biology, social environment, and age or point of development. The more risk an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. For example:

Biology. The genes that people are born with, blending with environmental influences, account for about half of their addiction liability. Additionally, gender, ethnicity, and any other mental disorders may influence risk for drug abuse and addiction.

Environment. A person’s environment includes many different influences, from family and friends to social groups and quality of life, in general. Factors such as peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, stress, and relationship to parental figures can greatly influence the course of drug abuse and addiction in a person’s life.

Development. Genetic and environmental factors relate with important growth stages in a person’s life to affect addiction exposure, and young people experience a double challenge. Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier that drug use begins, the more likely it is to grow to more serious abuse. And because youths’ brains are still developing in the areas that govern decision making, judgment, and self-control, they are especially prone to risk-taking behaviors, including trying drugs of abuse.