Originally Posted by Auvdar
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Kinda. The way I've learned it (self research and treatment shines light on this) is addiction has a lot to do with your hedonic set point.
Think of it as a base line in your brain. Without drugs, normal everyday things that are vital to survival gives you a normal shot of dopemine that will peak right above that line, giving you a "Hey, good job guy!" feeling. Eating, sex, sleeping, exercising etc etc will all release that.
Problem is when you add drugs. Drugs shoot dopemine way beyond what your brain would normally give you. So what ends up happening over time is your hedonic line raises to match up with the increased dopemine. This is big reason why people have major cravings when they quit. Normal shots of dopemine can't reach the new line, since it got set so high. So people feel depressed, anxious, angry etc etc since your brain has a very hard time giving you that "Hey, good job guy!' feeling. So in order to get there, your sub-conscience (the part of the brain you can't control much if at all) will tell you to take more drugs to reach that hedonic point. Your frontal cortex (read: everything that makes you, you) isn't quite evolved enough to have firm connections with the sub-consience brain, so it can get overrided very easily by your sub-brain. Making it very hard to say no sometimes.
This is why self help programs like AA are effective. Instead of reaching for the drug, you reach for a sober set of friends. You interact. And you do this, over and over because that is how your brain heals itself. Repeativness. Just like how you got hooked on a drug in the first place, by doing it over and over, the same thing applies to getting off it. Doing good sober life skills over and over. Just remember, it's not about going to a meeting and just sitting there. A meeting is just that, a meeting. It's where you meet people, like you.
Find some people who you can interact with. Go out to coffee with them. Or biking. Or whatever hobbies you like. If they have been sober awhile, they will help you stay sober. And that's the point, because if they help YOU stay sober that in turn helps them to stay sober.
Also, your hedonic set point over time does go back down to normal levels. Over time major cravings do go away for the most part. There is also a LOT more in the brain with addiction than what I posted, however that is a big one that a lot of people don't seem to realize.
Addiction is all just brain work. Once you learn how your brain is doing things as an addict, it makes it a lot easier to overcome the addiction. But like I said, the hedonic set point isn't the only reason, there are a ton of reasons. But that's a big one, especially when you are sobering up and dealing with cravings to realize. And realizing that with good sober repeatative actions it will help heal it.
That's why white knuckling things hardly ever works. Yes you can will-power things, but the vast majority of people who try will end up with a relapse. Overcoming addiction is much more about changing how you handle your life, then not using the drug. Once you make your life better and happier, you will have much less of a reason to pick up your drug of choice. You won't need it.
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12-03-2013, 11:21 PM
Hybrid Mode
