What Drug Addiction Does To Your Brain and What You Can Do About It

Drug addiction has many harmful effects. This is a fact that is known to many. So, why do people give in to addictive drugs even when they know it’s bad for them?

Turns out, there’s more to drug addiction than you might think. One of the first things you need to know about it is that drug addiction is a health problem. 

And just like any problem, drug addiction is best solved by understanding it better. 

How Addictive Drugs Affect The Brain

Many people take pills or get injected with drugs. Yet, not everyone gets addicted.

Addiction happens when drugs take over your brain. So, to understand — and treat — addiction, it is important to understand how drugs affect your brain. 

Your brain has two basic goals:

1. To keep your body alive.

2. To help you reproduce.

This is why you feel good when you eat delicious food. This is also why you feel rewarded when you have sex. 

These experiences fulfill the goals of your brain. In return, your brain sends a signal to your body which gives you a feeling of pleasure and reward. To help you survive, your brain trains you to keep looking for experiences that bring you the same good, rewarding feeling. 

Addictive drugs like narcotics create a shortcut to this good, rewarding feeling. Drugs can even make that feeling more powerful. It gives you a rush of satisfaction. And addiction will keep pushing you to take that shortcut, so you can reward yourself quickly and in great amounts. 

What’s more, drugs will make you remember that satisfying effect as better than it actually was. 

Drug Addiction and Its Effects

The feeling of pleasure or reward that your brain sends to your body is not bad in itself. In fact, it is important in keeping you alive. 

You put yourself in danger when you keep taking a shortcut to these satisfying effects by using drugs. 

Why? Because your brain and body cannot bear excessive and prolonged use of drugs. Your body becomes weak and you’re more at risk of getting diseases.  

Over time, drugs will change other parts of your brain, too. These changes can happen in the parts of your brain that help you control emotions and make decisions. So, you may act carelessly and have poor judgment of your situation. Worse, your body will no longer get that same satisfying effect that drugs had before. That is why drug addicts increase the amount of drugs they’re taking or try a different substance. 

Detoxing from Drugs

Ever experienced a headache because you skipped your morning coffee? This is an example of your body on withdrawal. 

Quitting more powerful substances like drugs will, therefore, have more powerful effects. These effects include breathing problems, heart problems, anxiety, and depression. 

The good news is, there is a safer and healthier way to treat drug addiction.

This process is called drug detox. 

Detox eases your brain and body into functioning without drugs. The medication used in drug detox programs, such as Suboxone, will help you feel comfortable as drugs leave your body. That way, you don’t experience drastic withdrawals. 

Because drug addiction is more than physical dependence, you also need emotional and mental support. This is why a good drug detox program must include counseling. PainStop offers a drug detox program that includes both medication and counseling. Click here to know more about it. 

Remember that your brain’s purpose is to help you stay alive. Through medication and counseling, you can train your brain so that you will no longer depend on drugs or crave its effects. You can train your brain again to fulfill its goal in a healthy and safe way.

Narcotic Addiction Treatment Plan

Substance abuse disorders can affect people of all ages and walks of life. Narcotic dependence results in physical and mental illnesses that when left unchecked, can lead to grave consequences. What’s more, the effects of narcotic abuse goes beyond the person using it. It also deeply impacts one’s family, friends, and community. 

With devastating consequences and rising cases, the US Department of Health and Human Services has made narcotic addiction treatment and recovery services more accessible. 

How PainStop Spine Clinic Can Help

PainStop Spine Clinic now offers Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) to people struggling with narcotic dependence. MAT is a narcotic treatment program that uses a combination of medication and counseling to treat substance addiction and to help prevent overdose. 

PainStop Spine Clinic has a two-fold narcotic treatment program that focuses on the following:

1. Suboxone Treatment Plan - Suboxone (or other buprenorphine preparations) has many benefits when it comes to treating opioid dependency. Compared to other narcotic treatment medications, Buprenorphine is safer and more accessible. The medication produces similar effects to narcotics in low to moderate doses. This helps wane the patient off of narcotics to prevent cravings or withdrawals. Buprenorphine is also a long-acting agent, which means that patients may not necessarily have to take it every day. 

2. Substance Addiction Counseling - Narcotic addiction can sometimes go deeper than physical dependence. Some social or psychological factors can trigger a patient to relapse even when they are no longer physically hooked to narcotics. Apart from providing medication for addiction, PainStop also has a team of social workers that provide patient counseling. Through counseling, the patient can recognize and sort out harmful thought patterns, beliefs, and emotions that can lead to relapse. Counseling also helps a patient be accountable for their actions, which is an important step towards independence.

Patient-Focused Treatment

Narcotic addiction may have increased over the years, but its treatment and recovery services are now more accessible. It is an illness that needs a treatment plan that focuses on the individual patient’s needs. 

Through Suboxone (or buprenorphine preparations) medication and counseling, PainStop Spine Clinic gives patients a safe, accessible, and patient-focused treatment program. Ultimately, the goal of Medication-Assisted Treatment is to help patients fully recover and live purposeful lives.