Why Do Some People Become Addicts?
Most people who experiment with drugs, then, do not become addicted. So who is at risk?
Emerging … people who become addicted are wired differently from those who do not. People addicted to such drugs as cocaine, heroin and alcohol have fewer dopamine receptors in the brain’s reward pathways than nonaddicts. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter critical to the experience of pleasure and desire, and sends a signal to the brain. Drug addicts may have blunted reward systems in the brain, and that for them everyday pleasures don’t come close to the powerful reward of drugs.
Full NYT article on why some become addicts.
This is interesting, but doesn’t it tend to let the users off the hook?
It sets us up for the “my genes did it” defense.
I’ve also heard that people who are risk takers, daredevils and adrenaline junkies have low serotonin. Taking risks is similar to taking a drug. But I’m not convinced having fewer dopamine receptors leads to addiction. That would suggest cocaine addicts would also engage in other behaviors that boost feel-food brain chemicals.
I was reading about addiction a few weeks ago. The most interesting thing that I found was that addiction is a form of learning. People learn to associate drugs (or chocolate or exercise) with pleasure. The more you do it, the more the brain fills in the gaps and strengthens the association.
The author’s point was that if you change your routines and push your brain to experience new forms of pleasure, those neural pathways don’t form in the same way. This gives you access to a wider array of pleasurable activities but without the same risk of addiction. I’m not sure you can extrapolate his comments to hard drug use, but it certainly puts eating that slice of dessert into perspective.
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