The medical cause of addiction is due to a link between the repeated use of a substance, usually an addictive substance. The human brain experiences pleasure or a different feeling than the body is normally feeling, it likes it and wants more of this feeling, which leads to needing more of the substance responsible for the feeling.
Neurotransmitters and Increased Tolerance
The brain is affected by substance abuse whether its nicotine, alcohol, or drugs. Physical changes occur in some nerve cells or a neuron. What happens is that the neurons or nerve cells release neurotransmitters into an empty space called synapses, which are between nerve cells. Then, they are received by receptors in other neurons. A chemical is the result of when the nerve cell releases a neurotransmitter, and it transmits an electric impulse from cells to cells, organs, muscles, and other tissue in the body. These neurotransmitters are called messengers of neuralgic data.
An increase tolerance is simply where the person who is potentially addicted to a substance doesn’t get the same feeling or pleasure and has to increase the dosage in order to get it. As time goes by, the user of the substance will no longer experience a good feeling or pleasure from the substance and simply take it in order to prevent withdrawal symptoms to where the substance makes them feel normal. According to experts, once the tolerance increases, that is when the risk of addiction is the greatest.
Addiction and Prescription Medications
Illegal drugs are often thought to be the only substances a person may become addicted to these days, but that is not true. The truth is, prescription drug addiction has and is becoming a serious problem with public health in America plus in other countries. It has been considered an epidemic by many researchers. An increase in prescription drug abuse is a result of pain being treated differently than it was in the past. Scientists have conducted a study of the difference in treating pain from a few years ago till now.
Changes in pain treatment policy’s and medication came about in the 1990’s. Due to substance abuse where pain in concerned, doctors are still skeptical about writing out prescriptions for this “fifth” vital sign. The regular vital signs such as body temperature, blood pressure, and respiratory readings are the first four signs a doctor looks for, but they will take caution concerning the fifth.
Psychiatrists View on Addiction
Drug addiction has been studied by many psychiatrists, who have studied psycho-dynamic causes of drug addiction and have a clearer understanding of how it works. Many people in therapy do not seem to have the ability to calm themselves when they are feeling stressed out. The ability to do so is called psychic homeostasis or self-mood regulating. Normally, this is learned between the ages of one and three. The toddler learns this from caring parents.
Many parents, who are drug users, seem to be less nurturing toward children, showing unresponsive or no protective care. Even if children accomplishment good things, the parents may send confused signals, being overly interested, and pressuring yet not encouraging.
Eating Disorders and Food Addiction
Many people don’t consider an eating disorder to be an addiction, yet when you compare it to drugs and alcohol, the same mannerisms concerning habit or addiction seems to apply. Even though eating disorders do mainly affect women, they do show how a person’s ability to control a substance doesn’t seem balanced. If a person wants to calm oneself due to a distant or rejecting parent, compulsive eating can be an attempt to make up for the loss or at least apply as a substitute for the parent.
Food is known more as a primitive form of self-medication. As well as “love”, food can calm a distressed child or even an adult. Food addiction can cause not only children, but adults to turn to for relief or substitute for love and nurturing. This type of individual may be more apt to turn toward other substances such as drugs or alcohol for the same reasons.
