Addictive drugs activate the brain’s reward systems. The promise of reward is very intense, causing the individual to crave the drug and to focus his or her activities around taking the drug.

The ability of addictive drugs to strongly activate brain reward mechanisms and their ability to chemically alter the normal functioning of these systems can produce an addiction. Drugs also reduce a person’s level of consciousness, harming their ability to think or be fully aware of present surroundings.

What Is A Drug?

In medical terms, a drug is any substance that when taken into a living organism may modify
one or more of its functions. Drugs can provide temporary relief from unhealthy symptoms
and/or permanently supply the body with a necessary substance that the body can no longer produce by itself. Some drugs produce unwanted side affects. Some drugs lead to an unhealthy dependency that has both physiological and behavioral roots.

Why people use drugs

No one wants to be a drug addict or alcoholic, but this doesn't stop people from becoming addicted. The most commonly asked question is simply - how? How could my son, daughter, father, sister or brother become a liar, a thief, someone who cannot be trusted? How could this happen? And why won't they stop?

The first thing you must understand about addiction is that addictive drugs are basically painkillers. They chemically kill physical or emotional pain, and alter the mind's perception of reality. They make people numb.

For drugs to be attractive to a person, there must first be some underlying unhappiness, sense of hopelessness or physical pain that they want to escape.

Drug addiction follows a cycle like this:

The life cycle of addiction begins with a problem, discomfort or some form of emotional or physical pain a person is experiencing. They find this overwhelming and very difficult to deal with.

We start off with an individual who, like most people in our society, is basically good. This person encounters a problem or discomfort that they do not know how to resolve or can't confront. This could include problems such as difficulty fitting in as a child or teenager, anxiety due to peer pressure or work expectations, identity problems, or divorce as an adult. It can also include physical discomfort, such as an injury or chronic pain. The person experiencing the discomfort has a real problem. They feel their present situation is unendurable, yet see no good solution to the problem.

Everyone has experienced this in life to a greater or lesser degree. The difference between an addict and the non-addict is that the addict chooses drugs or alcohol as a solution to the unwanted problem or discomfort.

The addiction progresses

Analogous to an adolescent child in their first love affair, the use of drugs or alcohol becomes obsessive. The addicted person is trapped. Whatever problem they were initially trying to solve by using drugs or alcohol fades from memory. At this point, all they can think about is getting and using drugs. They lose the ability to control their usage and disregard the horrible consequences of their actions.

Drug tolerance In addition to the mental stress created by their unethical behavior, the addict's body has also adapted to the presence of the drugs. They will experience an overwhelming obsession with getting and using drugs, and will do anything to avoid the pain of withdrawing from them. This is when the newly-created addict begins to experience drug cravings.

Now the addict seeks drugs for both the reward or 'pleasure' they give him, and also to avoid the mental and physical horrors of withdrawal. Ironically, the addict's ability to get 'high' from the alcohol or drug gradually decreases as their body adapts to the presence of the foreign chemicals. They must take more and more, not just to get an effect but often just to function at all.

At this point, the addict is stuck in a vicious, dwindling spiral. The drugs they abuse have changed them, both physically and mentally. They have crossed an invisible and intangible line.

They are now a drug addict or alcoholic.

Drugs and Problems

An individual tries drugs or alcohol. The drugs APPEAR to solve their problem as they begin to feel better. Because they now SEEM better able to deal with life, the drugs become very valuable to them. The person looks at drugs or alcohol as a cure for unwanted feelings. The painkilling effects of drugs or alcohol become a solution to their discomfort. Inadvertently the drug or alcohol now becomes valuable because it helped them feel better. This release is the main reason a person uses drugs or drinks a second or third time. It is just a matter of time before they become fully addicted and lose the ability to control their drug use. Drug addiction results from excessive or continued use of physiologically habit-forming drugs in an attempt to resolve the underlying symptoms of discomfort or unhappiness.

How Drugs Affect Behavior

The addict will now attempt to withhold the fact of his drug use from friends and family members. They will begin to suffer the effects of their own dishonesty and guilt. They may become withdrawn and difficult to reason with as well as behaving strangely. The more they use drugs and alcohol, the guiltier they will feel, and the more depressed they will become. They will sacrifice their personal integrity, relationships with friends and family, their job, their savings, and anything else they may have in an attempt to get more drugs. The drugs are now the most important things in their life. Their relationships and job performance will go drastically downhill.

There is such a thing as a drug personality. It is artificial personality that is created by drugs. Drugs can change the attitude of a person from their original personality to one secretly harboring hostilities and hatreds they don't permit to show on the surface. This establishes a link between drugs and increasing difficulties with crime and the modern breakdown of social and industrial culture. The drug personality includes such characteristics as:

• Mood swings
• Unreliable.
• Unable to finish projects
• Unexpressed resentment and secret hatreds
• Dishonesty.
• Lies to family, friends, employers
• Withdraws from those who love them.
• Isolates self
• May appear chronically depressed
• May begin stealing from family and friends

Drug metabolites

When a person uses drugs over a period of time, the body becomes unable to completely eliminate them. Drugs and alcohol are broken down into metabolites in the liver. These metabolites, although removed rapidly from the blood stream, become trapped in the fatty tissues. The body contains various types of tissues that are high in fat content, all of which are capable of storing these drug metabolites. These drug residues remain stored in the body's fatty tissues for years. Tissues in our bodies that are high in fats are turned over very slowly. When they are turned over, the stored drug metabolites are released into the blood stream and reactivate the same brain centers as if the person actually took the drug. The former addict now experiences a drug re-stimulation (or flashback) and drug craving. This is common in the months after an addict quits and can continue to occur for years or even decades.

The cycle of quitting , withdrawal , craving and relapse

When the addict initially tries to quit, cells in the brain that have become used to large amounts of drug metabolites are now forced to deal with very decreased amounts. Even as the withdrawal symptoms subside, the brain demands that the addict give it more of the drug. This is called drug craving. Craving is an extremely powerful urge and can cause a person to create all kinds of reasons they should begin using drugs or drinking again. They are now trapped in an endless cycle of trying to quit, craving, relapse and fear of withdrawal. Eventually, the brain cells will become used to having lowered levels of drug metabolites again. But, because deposits of drug or alcohol metabolites release back into the bloodstream from fatty tissues for years, craving and relapse remain a cause for concern. Left un handled, the presence of metabolites even in microscopic amounts cause the brain to react as if the addict had actually taken the drug and can set up craving and relapse even following years of sobriety.