West Palm Beach FL Drug Rehab Centers
Can you cure or prevent drug addiction?
Most drugs act on the brain’s “reward circuit,” which causes pleasure and floods it with dopamine. A healthy reward system encourages people repeat those actions that are vital for their wellbeing, such as eating or spending time with loved one. Dopamine surges in the reward system are what encourage the continuation of risky but pleasant behavior such as drug use. The individuals are then required to repeat the activity.
As someone continues to use drugs the brain adapts, reducing the capacity of cells in reward circuits to respond to it. This causes the person to feel less high than they did when they first tried the drug. It is known as tolerance. To feel the same high, they might take more of this drug. These brain adaptations often make it difficult for people to get pleasure from things that they used to like food, sex, and social activities.