The Disease of Addiction

"Drug addiction is a brain disease that can be treated."
Nora D. Volkow, M.D.
Director
National Institute on Drug Abuse

The above images and quote appear in the booklet Drugs, Brains, and Behavior - The Science of Addiction published by the National Institute On Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is critically important that we understand that addiction, including alcoholism, is a disease.  It is defined as a, “a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences.”

Many people feel that alcoholism and addiction are choices; therefore, they shouldn’t be classified as disease.  However, “when drug abuse takes over, a person's ability to exert self control can become seriously impaired. Brain imaging studies from drug-addicted individuals show physical changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment, decision making, learning and memory, and behavior control.  Scientists believe that these changes alter the way the brain works, and may help explain the compulsive and destructive behaviors of addiction.”

Alcohol and drugs work on the very primitive areas of the brain that control the reward systems, those that we depend on for survival.  Studies have shown that when alcohol and drugs, as well as other addictive behaviors, act on the reward systems, the reasoning parts of the brain are actually shut down, making it virtually impossible for an alcoholic or addict to stop like social drinkers or casual users.

So, is there hope for the alcoholic/addict? 

The answer, thankfully, is a resounding, "YES!"”
The image below shows the recovery in the brain of a methamphetamine addict after 14 months of abstinence.  This is especially good news, because there are myths that methamphetamine addiction cannot be successfully treated.

Source: The Journal of Neuroscience, 21(23):9414-9418. 2001

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