Drug Addiction is a Complex Disease - NIDA
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Drug Addiction is a Complex Disease - NIDA
Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction
National Institute on Drug Abuse
November 2011
Preface: NIDA's mission is to lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction. This charge has two critical components. The first is the strategic support and conduct of research across a broad range of disciplines. The second is ensuring the rapid and effective dissemination and use of the results of that research to significantly improve prevention and treatment and to inform policy as it relates to drug abuse and addiction.
Many people do not understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. It is often mistakenly assumed that drug abusers lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop using drugs simply by choosing to change their behavior. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting takes more than good intentions or a strong will. In fact, because drugs change the brain in ways that foster compulsive drug abuse, quitting is difficult, even for those who are ready to do so. Through scientific advances, we know more about how drugs work in the brain than ever, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and lead productive lives.
Drug abuse and addiction have negative consequences for individuals and for so-ciety. Estimates of the total overall costs of substance abuse in the United States, including productivity and health- and crime-related costs, exceed $600 billion annually. This includes approximately $193 billion for illicit drugs,1 $193 billion for tobacco,2 and $235 billion for alcohol.3 As staggering as these numbers are, they do not fully describe the breadth of destructive public health and safety implications of drug abuse and addiction, such as family disintegration, loss of employment, failure in school, domestic violence, and child abuse.
What Is Drug Addiction
Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the addicted individual and to those around him or her. Alt-hough the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most people, the brain changes that occur over time challenge an addicted person’s self control and hamper his or her ability to resist intense impulses to take drugs.
Fortunately, treatments are available to help people counter addiction’s powerful disruptive effects. Research shows that combining addiction treatment medications with behavioral therapy is the best way to ensure success for most patients. Treatment approaches that are tailored to each patient’s drug abuse patterns and any co-occurring medical, psychiatric, and social problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life without drug abuse.
Similar to other chronic, relapsing diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, drug addiction can be managed successfully. And as with other chronic diseases, it is not uncommon for a person to relapse and begin abusing drugs again. Relapse, however, does not signal treatment failure—rather, it indicates that treatment should be reinstated or adjusted or that an alternative treatment is needed to help the individual regain control and recover.
What Happens to Your Brain When You Take Drugs?
Drugs contain chemicals that tap into the brain’s communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. There are at least two ways that drugs cause this disruption: (1) by imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers and (2) by overstimulating the “reward circuit” of the brain.
Some drugs (e.g., marijuana and heroin) have a similar structure to chemical messengers called neurotransmitters, which are naturally produced by the brain. This similarity allows the drugs to “fool” the brain’s receptors and activate nerve cells to send abnormal messages.
Other drugs, such as cocaine or methamphetamine, can cause the nerve cells to release abnormally large amounts of natural neurotransmitters (mainly dopamine) or to prevent the normal recycling of these brain chemicals, which is needed to shut off the signaling between neurons. The result is a brain awash in dopamine, a neurotransmitter present in brain regions that control movement, emotion, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. The overstimulation of this reward system, which normally responds to natural behaviors linked to survival (eating, spending time with loved ones, etc.), produces euphoric effects in response to psychoactive drugs. This reaction sets in motion a reinforcing pattern that “teaches” people to repeat the rewarding behavior of abusing drugs.
As a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of dopamine receptors in the reward circuit. The result is a lessening of dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit, which reduces the abuser’s ability to enjoy not only the drugs but also other events in life that previously brought pleasure. This decrease compels the addicted person to keep abusing drugs in an attempt to bring the dopamine function back to normal, but now larger amounts of the drug are required to achieve the same dopamine high—an effect known as tolerance.
Long-term abuse causes changes in other brain chemical systems and circuits as well. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that influences the reward circuit and the ability to learn. When the optimal concentration of glutamate is altered by drug abuse, the brain attempts to compensate, which can impair cognitive function. Brain imaging studies of drug-addicted individuals show changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment, decision making, learning and memory, and behavior control. Together, these changes can drive an abuser to seek out and take drugs compulsively despite adverse, even devastating consequences—that is the nature of addiction.
Why Do Some People Become Addicted While Others Do Not?
No single factor can predict whether a person will become addicted to drugs. Risk for addiction is influenced by a combination of factors that include individual biology, social environment, and age or stage of development. The more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. For example:
•Biology. The genes that people are born with—in combination with environmental influences—account for about half of their addiction vulnerability. Additionally, gender, ethnicity, and the presence of other mental disorders may influence risk for drug abuse and addiction.
•Environment. A person’s environment includes many different influences, from family and friends to socioeconomic status and quality of life in general. Factors such as peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, stress, and quality of parenting can greatly influence the occurrence of drug abuse and the escalation to addiction in a person’s life.
•Development. Genetic and environmental factors interact with critical developmental stages in a person’s life to affect addiction vulnerability. Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier that drug use begins, the more likely it will progress to more serious abuse, which poses a special challenge to adolescents. Because areas in their brains that govern decision making, judgment, and self-control are still developing, adolescents may be especially prone to risk-taking behaviors, including trying drugs of abuse.
Prevention Is the Key
Drug addiction is a preventable disease. Results from NIDA-funded research have shown that prevention programs involving families, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing drug abuse. Although many events and cultural factors affect drug abuse trends, when youths perceive drug abuse as harmful, they reduce their drug taking. Thus, education and outreach are key in helping youth and the general public understand the risks of drug abuse. Teachers, parents, medical and public health professionals must keep sending the message that drug addiction can be prevented if one never abuses drugs.
National Institute on Drug Abuse
November 2011
Preface: NIDA's mission is to lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction. This charge has two critical components. The first is the strategic support and conduct of research across a broad range of disciplines. The second is ensuring the rapid and effective dissemination and use of the results of that research to significantly improve prevention and treatment and to inform policy as it relates to drug abuse and addiction.
Many people do not understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. It is often mistakenly assumed that drug abusers lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop using drugs simply by choosing to change their behavior. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting takes more than good intentions or a strong will. In fact, because drugs change the brain in ways that foster compulsive drug abuse, quitting is difficult, even for those who are ready to do so. Through scientific advances, we know more about how drugs work in the brain than ever, and we also know that drug addiction can be successfully treated to help people stop abusing drugs and lead productive lives.
Drug abuse and addiction have negative consequences for individuals and for so-ciety. Estimates of the total overall costs of substance abuse in the United States, including productivity and health- and crime-related costs, exceed $600 billion annually. This includes approximately $193 billion for illicit drugs,1 $193 billion for tobacco,2 and $235 billion for alcohol.3 As staggering as these numbers are, they do not fully describe the breadth of destructive public health and safety implications of drug abuse and addiction, such as family disintegration, loss of employment, failure in school, domestic violence, and child abuse.
What Is Drug Addiction
Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the addicted individual and to those around him or her. Alt-hough the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most people, the brain changes that occur over time challenge an addicted person’s self control and hamper his or her ability to resist intense impulses to take drugs.
Fortunately, treatments are available to help people counter addiction’s powerful disruptive effects. Research shows that combining addiction treatment medications with behavioral therapy is the best way to ensure success for most patients. Treatment approaches that are tailored to each patient’s drug abuse patterns and any co-occurring medical, psychiatric, and social problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life without drug abuse.
Similar to other chronic, relapsing diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, drug addiction can be managed successfully. And as with other chronic diseases, it is not uncommon for a person to relapse and begin abusing drugs again. Relapse, however, does not signal treatment failure—rather, it indicates that treatment should be reinstated or adjusted or that an alternative treatment is needed to help the individual regain control and recover.
What Happens to Your Brain When You Take Drugs?
Drugs contain chemicals that tap into the brain’s communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. There are at least two ways that drugs cause this disruption: (1) by imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers and (2) by overstimulating the “reward circuit” of the brain.
Some drugs (e.g., marijuana and heroin) have a similar structure to chemical messengers called neurotransmitters, which are naturally produced by the brain. This similarity allows the drugs to “fool” the brain’s receptors and activate nerve cells to send abnormal messages.
Other drugs, such as cocaine or methamphetamine, can cause the nerve cells to release abnormally large amounts of natural neurotransmitters (mainly dopamine) or to prevent the normal recycling of these brain chemicals, which is needed to shut off the signaling between neurons. The result is a brain awash in dopamine, a neurotransmitter present in brain regions that control movement, emotion, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. The overstimulation of this reward system, which normally responds to natural behaviors linked to survival (eating, spending time with loved ones, etc.), produces euphoric effects in response to psychoactive drugs. This reaction sets in motion a reinforcing pattern that “teaches” people to repeat the rewarding behavior of abusing drugs.
As a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of dopamine receptors in the reward circuit. The result is a lessening of dopamine’s impact on the reward circuit, which reduces the abuser’s ability to enjoy not only the drugs but also other events in life that previously brought pleasure. This decrease compels the addicted person to keep abusing drugs in an attempt to bring the dopamine function back to normal, but now larger amounts of the drug are required to achieve the same dopamine high—an effect known as tolerance.
Long-term abuse causes changes in other brain chemical systems and circuits as well. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that influences the reward circuit and the ability to learn. When the optimal concentration of glutamate is altered by drug abuse, the brain attempts to compensate, which can impair cognitive function. Brain imaging studies of drug-addicted individuals show changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment, decision making, learning and memory, and behavior control. Together, these changes can drive an abuser to seek out and take drugs compulsively despite adverse, even devastating consequences—that is the nature of addiction.
Why Do Some People Become Addicted While Others Do Not?
No single factor can predict whether a person will become addicted to drugs. Risk for addiction is influenced by a combination of factors that include individual biology, social environment, and age or stage of development. The more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. For example:
•Biology. The genes that people are born with—in combination with environmental influences—account for about half of their addiction vulnerability. Additionally, gender, ethnicity, and the presence of other mental disorders may influence risk for drug abuse and addiction.
•Environment. A person’s environment includes many different influences, from family and friends to socioeconomic status and quality of life in general. Factors such as peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, stress, and quality of parenting can greatly influence the occurrence of drug abuse and the escalation to addiction in a person’s life.
•Development. Genetic and environmental factors interact with critical developmental stages in a person’s life to affect addiction vulnerability. Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier that drug use begins, the more likely it will progress to more serious abuse, which poses a special challenge to adolescents. Because areas in their brains that govern decision making, judgment, and self-control are still developing, adolescents may be especially prone to risk-taking behaviors, including trying drugs of abuse.
Prevention Is the Key
Drug addiction is a preventable disease. Results from NIDA-funded research have shown that prevention programs involving families, schools, communities, and the media are effective in reducing drug abuse. Although many events and cultural factors affect drug abuse trends, when youths perceive drug abuse as harmful, they reduce their drug taking. Thus, education and outreach are key in helping youth and the general public understand the risks of drug abuse. Teachers, parents, medical and public health professionals must keep sending the message that drug addiction can be prevented if one never abuses drugs.
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Join Date: May 2012
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Just wanted to share this... I find our NIDA Director to be a great role model, especially for us ladies:
Nora D. Volkow, M.D., became Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health in May 2003. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction.
Dr. Volkow’s work has been instrumental in demonstrating that drug addiction is a disease of the human brain. As a research psychiatrist and scientist, Dr. Volkow pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate the toxic effects and addictive properties of abusable drugs. Her studies have documented changes in the dopamine system affecting, among others, the functions of frontal brain regions involved with motivation, drive, and pleasure in addiction. She has also made important contributions to the neurobiology of obesity, ADHD, and aging.
Dr. Volkow was born in Mexico, attended the Modern American School, and earned her medical degree from the National University of Mexico in Mexico City, where she received the Robins award for best medical student of her generation. Her psychiatric residency was at New York University, where she earned the Laughlin Fellowship Award as one of the 10 Outstanding Psychiatric Residents in the USA.
Dr. Volkow spent most of her professional career at the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Upton, New York, where she held several leadership positions including Director of Nuclear Medicine, Chairman of the Medical Department, and Associate Director for Life Sciences. In addition, Dr. Volkow was a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Associate Dean of the Medical School at the State University of New York (SUNY)-Stony Brook.
Dr. Volkow has published more than 530 peer-reviewed articles and written more than 80 book chapters and non-peer reviewed manuscripts, and has also edited three books on neuroimaging for mental and addictive disorders.
During her professional career, Dr. Volkow has been the recipient of multiple awards, including her selection for membership in the Institute of Medicine in the National Academy of Sciences and the International Prize from the French Institute of Health and Medical Research for her pioneering work in brain imaging and addiction science. She was recently named one of Time Magazine’s “Top 100 People Who Shape Our World” and was included as one of the 20 people to watch by Newsweek magazine in its “Who’s Next in 2007” feature. She was also included in Washingtonian Magazine’s 2009 and 2011
Nora D. Volkow, M.D., became Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health in May 2003. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction.
Dr. Volkow’s work has been instrumental in demonstrating that drug addiction is a disease of the human brain. As a research psychiatrist and scientist, Dr. Volkow pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate the toxic effects and addictive properties of abusable drugs. Her studies have documented changes in the dopamine system affecting, among others, the functions of frontal brain regions involved with motivation, drive, and pleasure in addiction. She has also made important contributions to the neurobiology of obesity, ADHD, and aging.
Dr. Volkow was born in Mexico, attended the Modern American School, and earned her medical degree from the National University of Mexico in Mexico City, where she received the Robins award for best medical student of her generation. Her psychiatric residency was at New York University, where she earned the Laughlin Fellowship Award as one of the 10 Outstanding Psychiatric Residents in the USA.
Dr. Volkow spent most of her professional career at the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Upton, New York, where she held several leadership positions including Director of Nuclear Medicine, Chairman of the Medical Department, and Associate Director for Life Sciences. In addition, Dr. Volkow was a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Associate Dean of the Medical School at the State University of New York (SUNY)-Stony Brook.
Dr. Volkow has published more than 530 peer-reviewed articles and written more than 80 book chapters and non-peer reviewed manuscripts, and has also edited three books on neuroimaging for mental and addictive disorders.
During her professional career, Dr. Volkow has been the recipient of multiple awards, including her selection for membership in the Institute of Medicine in the National Academy of Sciences and the International Prize from the French Institute of Health and Medical Research for her pioneering work in brain imaging and addiction science. She was recently named one of Time Magazine’s “Top 100 People Who Shape Our World” and was included as one of the 20 people to watch by Newsweek magazine in its “Who’s Next in 2007” feature. She was also included in Washingtonian Magazine’s 2009 and 2011
Nature Girl
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This is an informative post, allforcnm, and I thank you for sharing it here.
Let me just say, since we recently had issues with this, that this thread will welcome discussion but not debate. If you feel a need to attack or debate, please move on to a thread that needs support.
There are many theories on why some people become addicted and the reasons our loved ones did may vary as much as their circumstances, biology and personal heath.
I am grateful people are researching the cause and hope that one day this will lead to a cure or at least good treatment resources available to all.
Hugs
Let me just say, since we recently had issues with this, that this thread will welcome discussion but not debate. If you feel a need to attack or debate, please move on to a thread that needs support.
There are many theories on why some people become addicted and the reasons our loved ones did may vary as much as their circumstances, biology and personal heath.
I am grateful people are researching the cause and hope that one day this will lead to a cure or at least good treatment resources available to all.
Hugs
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1,927
I was reading another thread about how a discussion was sparked between husband and wife on this topic. It made me think of the above publication from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
I have found a lot of helpful information on government, and professional medical association websites. They cover everything from addiction, specific drug information, working definitions of recovery, guidelines for effective treatment, recommendations for family, statistical information, the latest in research studies, clinical trials, and drug prevention. (As a parent, learning about prevention is also high on my list). Most of these websites are funded by taxpayers, so that is also great incentive to make use of them... Below are some of my other favorite sites.
Each one gives me Hope for the future every time I read there. Hope for my husband if he should happen to relapse. Hope that my toddler will never have to experience addiction in his lifetime.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - Homepage
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
ASAM Home Page
I had a p.m. from another member comparing the NIDA document to the video on addiction called Pleasure Unwoven. I don’t know who originally introduced this video to SR, so I cant give credit; but we both agreed it is very similar. If anyone has not yet viewed it, and would like to: Pleasure Unwoven Full Movie Documentary by Kevin McCauley - YouTube
I have found a lot of helpful information on government, and professional medical association websites. They cover everything from addiction, specific drug information, working definitions of recovery, guidelines for effective treatment, recommendations for family, statistical information, the latest in research studies, clinical trials, and drug prevention. (As a parent, learning about prevention is also high on my list). Most of these websites are funded by taxpayers, so that is also great incentive to make use of them... Below are some of my other favorite sites.
Each one gives me Hope for the future every time I read there. Hope for my husband if he should happen to relapse. Hope that my toddler will never have to experience addiction in his lifetime.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - Homepage
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
ASAM Home Page
I had a p.m. from another member comparing the NIDA document to the video on addiction called Pleasure Unwoven. I don’t know who originally introduced this video to SR, so I cant give credit; but we both agreed it is very similar. If anyone has not yet viewed it, and would like to: Pleasure Unwoven Full Movie Documentary by Kevin McCauley - YouTube
Life Health Prosperity
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Louisana
Posts: 6,752
Allforcnm, you are FANTASTIC. Thank you. It hasn't been enough for me to just be clean and sober, I want to understand why I am an addict. I was having trouble believing in the disease model of addiction until I watched Pleasure Unwoven Full Movie Documentary by Kevin McCauley - YouTube . I found the movie in somebodies thread and used it in one of my replies. I recommend it for all addicts. Once again thanks. 
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Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Canada
Posts: 628
Great thread. I have a son who is addicted to marijuana. My issue is that he does not go for treatment. Does not keep his appointments or use the resources he is being given. I just have to wait till he wants yo get better, in the meantime he is getting worse.
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Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 165
THANK YOU Allforcnm! this information is invaluable. you should have a link on this site with all of your wealth of knowledge so that we can refer back to it. right now, all i do is copy/paste your posts and read them when i need support...lol!
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 924
Greetings allforcnm.
I am 98% sure that I posted information on Nora Volkow, NIDA and also a man named Gabor Mate when I arrived here. When I was active in my relationship with my ex I was thoroughly investigative and found everything I could find on addiction...and specifically addiction to crack. I read all the research, watched every utube video and film I could find and interviewed people in the rooms who I knew had been afflicted by crack.
Having been in recovery for over four years when I met my ex, and having many loved ones also successful in recovery...I had full faith that recovery works. I still believe that.
I also knew some background info about my ex...awesome family, state tennis champ, student council, captain of the football team...and I had also heard that he was "in" recovery. So I projected ALL kinds of character "benefits" all over the reality of where he was actually AT in his life when I "re-met" him twenty years after high school.
I fell in love in a matter of days. (One sign of a codependent tendency...) And when he started "relapsing" I was DEVASTATED. I KNEW I was going to be the one to save him...and that when I saved him we would live in bliss.
My being in recovery was a benefit to our relationship. I was so willing to show him how it worked...to keep coming back, to stick around until the miracle happened. I studied addiction in my own pastoral care graduate classes...and I was/am ALL ABOUT the disease model. Meanwhile the crack relapses continued.
He would disappear for days, come back dirty, stinky, penniless and wild eyed. God only knows where he had been...God and probably a "prostitute" (sorry). And then...would begin the crushing days long depression, the wallowing horrible self pity...self shaming. Days and weeks would get sucked up by the disease, and then once again "we" would start the climb upward.
I knew from Nora that his brain impulses were totally hi jacked. She taught me that I really had no place taking his relapses personally. I knew from Gabor that the original wound was a lack of love...I knew that me ex had suffered abuse, I understood my own original wounds and why I had become a drug using, sex using, sugar using, full blown alcoholic. I understood. I kept gathering more and more evidence and research to understand better...and also as evidence about why I should stay...why I could stay...when my life was being sucked into the black hole of crack and exasperated mental illness as a result. (crack was deepening his bi polar condition....which is also a disease.)
At this point I have written a book. Seriously, I have hundreds of pages...and yes, I guess even just this particular post is a book!
But...what I came to discover is that my own attachment to the addict...is ALSO a disease. One can read about attachment disorders and codependency and many other topics that have to do with us rather than the addict. It was important to me to start researching my own dis-ease. I had to lay down the search for more and more understanding of what he suffered from....and start understanding what I suffered from.
Meetings, sponsorship, readings, research, therapy and SR...all have helped me to find my way to a healthier life. I have had help in finding my own self diagnosis, deeper understanding about my own impulses and hi jacking.
I made the decision to leave my ex. I know he has a horrible disease, and I care about him, I love him, and I feel sad for the state of his life. I just decided I could no longer live it with him. Living and caring for anyone with a disease can be quite a heroic effort. The problem is that living with my ex's disease involved living with the threat of criminals (the one and ONLY time he sent a message about where he was when he was on a binge is because he had two armed gangsters in his back seat...THANK GOD I was far enough along on MY recovery to not go find him...I can only begin to imagine what that scene could have turned into. In the past I would have got in my car and sped to his location. His disease likely involved prostitutes.
But worst of all his disease involves deflection, manipulation, deceit and lies...it is how it thrives...and I had to become very aware of how that aspect of his disease affected my own well being. There ARE aspects of the disease which can become contagious. The contagion spreads through particular types of love.
If an addict is in contact with fellow recovering addicts...virtually surrounded by love in some sort of recovery supporting system, there is less likely contagion rate because fellow addicts call BS without romantic love getting torn asunder. I came to a point where I fully believed that he would find all the love he needed in the company of fellows in recovery. I finally realized that my research and understanding of his disease did not change how it affected my life...except for this very important part...I learned to NOT take it personally. It took me several months of grief to not actually take it personally...(how is a broken heart not personal! ) but not taking it personally, understanding the disease part...was essential in letting go.
Mind you that this post is about being in relationship with someone who has almost a twenty year struggle, in and out of over a dozen treatments, dozens and dozens of sober houses, a dozen or so psych ward stays...
Yes...definitely a disease.
He told me once that I "couldn't handle his recovery"
I just could not handle the symptoms...and that is okay...self preservation is okay.
There are hundreds out there who are willing to help him,
I did not need to destroy my life for him to get help with his disease...it is always available.
Thank you for your post...maybe the research will help someone understand someone else who is a little earlier in their need for support...or maybe it will help someone understand someone else who is deeper down the spiral and "not taking it personally" will help them detach, one way or another.
XO L
I am 98% sure that I posted information on Nora Volkow, NIDA and also a man named Gabor Mate when I arrived here. When I was active in my relationship with my ex I was thoroughly investigative and found everything I could find on addiction...and specifically addiction to crack. I read all the research, watched every utube video and film I could find and interviewed people in the rooms who I knew had been afflicted by crack.
Having been in recovery for over four years when I met my ex, and having many loved ones also successful in recovery...I had full faith that recovery works. I still believe that.
I also knew some background info about my ex...awesome family, state tennis champ, student council, captain of the football team...and I had also heard that he was "in" recovery. So I projected ALL kinds of character "benefits" all over the reality of where he was actually AT in his life when I "re-met" him twenty years after high school.
I fell in love in a matter of days. (One sign of a codependent tendency...) And when he started "relapsing" I was DEVASTATED. I KNEW I was going to be the one to save him...and that when I saved him we would live in bliss.
My being in recovery was a benefit to our relationship. I was so willing to show him how it worked...to keep coming back, to stick around until the miracle happened. I studied addiction in my own pastoral care graduate classes...and I was/am ALL ABOUT the disease model. Meanwhile the crack relapses continued.
He would disappear for days, come back dirty, stinky, penniless and wild eyed. God only knows where he had been...God and probably a "prostitute" (sorry). And then...would begin the crushing days long depression, the wallowing horrible self pity...self shaming. Days and weeks would get sucked up by the disease, and then once again "we" would start the climb upward.
I knew from Nora that his brain impulses were totally hi jacked. She taught me that I really had no place taking his relapses personally. I knew from Gabor that the original wound was a lack of love...I knew that me ex had suffered abuse, I understood my own original wounds and why I had become a drug using, sex using, sugar using, full blown alcoholic. I understood. I kept gathering more and more evidence and research to understand better...and also as evidence about why I should stay...why I could stay...when my life was being sucked into the black hole of crack and exasperated mental illness as a result. (crack was deepening his bi polar condition....which is also a disease.)
At this point I have written a book. Seriously, I have hundreds of pages...and yes, I guess even just this particular post is a book!
But...what I came to discover is that my own attachment to the addict...is ALSO a disease. One can read about attachment disorders and codependency and many other topics that have to do with us rather than the addict. It was important to me to start researching my own dis-ease. I had to lay down the search for more and more understanding of what he suffered from....and start understanding what I suffered from.
Meetings, sponsorship, readings, research, therapy and SR...all have helped me to find my way to a healthier life. I have had help in finding my own self diagnosis, deeper understanding about my own impulses and hi jacking.
I made the decision to leave my ex. I know he has a horrible disease, and I care about him, I love him, and I feel sad for the state of his life. I just decided I could no longer live it with him. Living and caring for anyone with a disease can be quite a heroic effort. The problem is that living with my ex's disease involved living with the threat of criminals (the one and ONLY time he sent a message about where he was when he was on a binge is because he had two armed gangsters in his back seat...THANK GOD I was far enough along on MY recovery to not go find him...I can only begin to imagine what that scene could have turned into. In the past I would have got in my car and sped to his location. His disease likely involved prostitutes.
But worst of all his disease involves deflection, manipulation, deceit and lies...it is how it thrives...and I had to become very aware of how that aspect of his disease affected my own well being. There ARE aspects of the disease which can become contagious. The contagion spreads through particular types of love.
If an addict is in contact with fellow recovering addicts...virtually surrounded by love in some sort of recovery supporting system, there is less likely contagion rate because fellow addicts call BS without romantic love getting torn asunder. I came to a point where I fully believed that he would find all the love he needed in the company of fellows in recovery. I finally realized that my research and understanding of his disease did not change how it affected my life...except for this very important part...I learned to NOT take it personally. It took me several months of grief to not actually take it personally...(how is a broken heart not personal!
) but not taking it personally, understanding the disease part...was essential in letting go.Mind you that this post is about being in relationship with someone who has almost a twenty year struggle, in and out of over a dozen treatments, dozens and dozens of sober houses, a dozen or so psych ward stays...
Yes...definitely a disease.
He told me once that I "couldn't handle his recovery"
I just could not handle the symptoms...and that is okay...self preservation is okay.
There are hundreds out there who are willing to help him,
I did not need to destroy my life for him to get help with his disease...it is always available.
Thank you for your post...maybe the research will help someone understand someone else who is a little earlier in their need for support...or maybe it will help someone understand someone else who is deeper down the spiral and "not taking it personally" will help them detach, one way or another.
XO L
Last edited by Ann; 04-10-2013 at 04:28 PM. Reason: Change a phrase
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Join Date: Mar 2013
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And a big thank you for YOUR post, leslie!!! I'm still in the 'taking it personally' stage, but I hope to one day be able to change that and detach. You know, funny thing is, whenever my XA would do something to upset me or, let's just call it what it is, treat me badly, he would always say to me, in an almost chiding, teasing way, "Don't take it personally. It's not anything you did wrong, it's me." Hmmmm....maybe those were some of the few times when he was actually being as honest as he could be with me....but then again, I could just be giving him too much credit, as I've done from Day One. I guess I'll never really know....
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So bc they have taken a lot of drugs that increased dopamine levels, the body stopped creating its own dopamine at regular levels...
Could this explain why my husband is kinda depressed in general when he's not using?
This is why he wants more pills, right? Bc over the years he has gotten his dopamine levels all outta whack?
Is this how you understand what're article is saying too?
How does the body learn to create more dopamine itself? Or can it?
Sent from my iPhone using SoberRecovery
Could this explain why my husband is kinda depressed in general when he's not using?
This is why he wants more pills, right? Bc over the years he has gotten his dopamine levels all outta whack?
Is this how you understand what're article is saying too?
How does the body learn to create more dopamine itself? Or can it?
Sent from my iPhone using SoberRecovery
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Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1,927
Originally Posted by shinebright7 
So bc they have taken a lot of drugs that increased dopamine levels, the body stopped creating its own dopamine at regular levels...
Could this explain why my husband is kinda depressed in general when he's not using?
This is why he wants more pills, right? Bc over the years he has gotten his dopamine levels all outta whack?
Is this how you understand what're article is saying too?
How does the body learn to create more dopamine itself? Or can it?
Sent from my iPhone using SoberRecovery
Could this explain why my husband is kinda depressed in general when he's not using?
This is why he wants more pills, right? Bc over the years he has gotten his dopamine levels all outta whack?
Is this how you understand what're article is saying too?
How does the body learn to create more dopamine itself? Or can it?
Sent from my iPhone using SoberRecovery
It takes time, but the brain can recover. | National Institute on Drug Abuse
My husbands main drug was opiate based pain meds, but he also had a dependence on xanax (benzo) and used some cocaine before he quit. He experienced depression, anxiety, fatigue also for months and the doctors told me it was related to changes going on in his body. He is almost a year now, and his mood has got back to normal I think. I would suggest your husband also get a physical checkup if he doesnt improve because sometimes there are underlying issues that can cause problems and are left undiagnosed, because its assumed all symptoms are addiction realted.
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Originally Posted by lesliej
Greetings allforcnm.
I am 98% sure that I posted information on Nora Volkow, NIDA and also a man named Gabor Mate when I arrived here. When I was active in my relationship with my ex I was thoroughly investigative and found everything I could find on addiction...and specifically addiction to crack
I made the decision to leave my ex. I know he has a horrible disease, and I care about him, I love him, and I feel sad for the state of his life. I just decided I could no longer live it with him. Living and caring for anyone with a disease can be quite a heroic effort. The problem is that living with my ex's disease involved living with the threat of criminals (the one and ONLY time he sent a message about where he was when he was on a binge is because he had two armed gangsters in his back seat...THANK GOD I was far enough along on MY recovery to not go find him...I can only begin to imagine what that scene could have turned into. In the past I would have got in my car and sped to his location. His disease likely involved prostitutes.
But worst of all his disease involves deflection, manipulation, deceit and lies...it is how it thrives...and I had to become very aware of how that aspect of his disease affected my own well being. There ARE aspects of the disease which can become contagious. The contagion spreads through particular types of love. Mind you that this post is about being in relationship with someone who has almost a twenty year struggle, in and out of over a dozen treatments, dozens and dozens of sober houses, a dozen or so psych ward stays...
Yes...definitely a disease.
He told me once that I "couldn't handle his recovery"
I just could not handle the symptoms...and that is okay...self preservation is okay.
Thank you for your post...maybe the research will help someone understand someone else who is a little earlier in their need for support...or maybe it will help someone understand someone else who is deeper down the spiral and "not taking it personally" will help them detach, one way or another.
XO L
I am 98% sure that I posted information on Nora Volkow, NIDA and also a man named Gabor Mate when I arrived here. When I was active in my relationship with my ex I was thoroughly investigative and found everything I could find on addiction...and specifically addiction to crack
I made the decision to leave my ex. I know he has a horrible disease, and I care about him, I love him, and I feel sad for the state of his life. I just decided I could no longer live it with him. Living and caring for anyone with a disease can be quite a heroic effort. The problem is that living with my ex's disease involved living with the threat of criminals (the one and ONLY time he sent a message about where he was when he was on a binge is because he had two armed gangsters in his back seat...THANK GOD I was far enough along on MY recovery to not go find him...I can only begin to imagine what that scene could have turned into. In the past I would have got in my car and sped to his location. His disease likely involved prostitutes.
But worst of all his disease involves deflection, manipulation, deceit and lies...it is how it thrives...and I had to become very aware of how that aspect of his disease affected my own well being. There ARE aspects of the disease which can become contagious. The contagion spreads through particular types of love. Mind you that this post is about being in relationship with someone who has almost a twenty year struggle, in and out of over a dozen treatments, dozens and dozens of sober houses, a dozen or so psych ward stays...
Yes...definitely a disease.
He told me once that I "couldn't handle his recovery"
I just could not handle the symptoms...and that is okay...self preservation is okay.
Thank you for your post...maybe the research will help someone understand someone else who is a little earlier in their need for support...or maybe it will help someone understand someone else who is deeper down the spiral and "not taking it personally" will help them detach, one way or another.
XO L
I agree with so much of what you said. I think when a person looks at addiction as a disease, and learns how the drugs are affecting a person’s brain function, then it does take much of the anger away. Hopefully for some it also takes away the thinking ..if they just loved me enough, or if I could just love them enough, then it would all go away …because we realize there is a medical issue going on.
The comment you made about 'self-preservation' this is exactly what my husband said I was doing when I asked him to move out, live his drug life alone until he was done. (Of course he did not come to this conclusion until after therapy). But ever since he phrased it that way, I have realized that is what I did. But I can’t take credit for making the conscious decision, because for me it was more a survival instinct or something. Plus I knew nothing about addiction, I thought he would stop in a month or so.. had no idea it would be a year! (and now I realize that was actually a small miracle).
I think you share an important message. No one should destroy their life in an attempt to save another. The statistics on NIDA say 40% - 60% of patients relapse, other professional sites give this example: 1/3 of all people who get proper treatment for their individual needs will recover and not suffer relapse, 1/3 will have multiple relapses, and require multiple treatments but will recover. But the last 1/3 will remain addicts for life despite treatment attempts. They may have periods of abstinence, but will ultimately die with their addiction intact.
Thank you for sharing your experience here. Its heartbreaking to have to walk away from your significant other, but your proof in time the wounds do heal, acceptance sinks in, and life not only goes on, but it can turn out wonderful.
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Well guys.... It looks like SR viewers really were watching the "Pleasure Unwoven" video that I referred to earlier in the thread... Sadly I got a note saying it was no longer active on YouTube. I checked and the Full Version has been made private. But for those of you who were able to view it... YAY... for those who missed it... there are plenty of clips still available on YouTube that will give good visual to match up with the NIDA research. But to order the whole movie, gotta shell out some $$ on Amazon.
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Originally Posted by allforcnm
Im going to refer back to the NIDA website for an answer to your question. I couldnt remember what your husbands primary drug was, but I think the link below is accurate for all drugs. You can go there and do searches on his specific drug also.
It takes time, but the brain can recover. | National Institute on Drug Abuse
It takes time, but the brain can recover. | National Institute on Drug Abuse
He has seriously over done it with acid and mushrooms in the past. Weed too.
And klonopin is one of his favorites. That's what got him the Felony DUI with alcohol involved too. But he will take whatever is handy now -- like when I had Tylenol 3 after being at the dentist. Or vicodin. Or dilaudid from when I was in the hospital.
The site didn't have much in the way of information about long term affects of using a lot of acid (because they haven't studied it as much.)
But I know his brain has been affected by all the drug use over the years.
I'll keep poking around and seeing what else the site can offer me. Thanks again. xo
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Thank you for sharing this information, Allforcnm. I spent over an hour today looking at some of the websites you posted. I will be reading more !!! When I came to this site a couple of weeks ago, the Pleasure Unwoven Video was shared to me right away by two different people. The first time I watched it, I was crying the whole time because it explained exactly what I was seeing with my husband. He had been clean for over three years and was in a binge of alcohol and cocaine. I watched it again the next day because I kept thinking about it, but this time I wasn’t crying and I took it all in. That was the start of my making good decisions. I called his psychologist who spent almost an hour on that first call with me verifying what the video showed, and telling me he could help him if he was willing to come in. I called his parents who had been through this before, and knew better how to handle him when he was in this awful state of mind. See I was not part of his life when he went through this before. I was lost, and spent a week thinking he was going to snap out of it at any time. But what I saw was him getting worse, and I didn’t understand until I became aware of what was going on in his brain. I know now the drugs rewired his brain. I also identify with why he relapsed. The three triggers that were mentioned in the video were what set my husband brain off in relapse .He had been under stress for months and had not been taking care of himself (he has worked with a psychologist ongoing for years but had stopped about 7 months ago) he had an unexpected visit from an old friend who still used cocaine and brought it into work, and offered it to my husband (this was verified later by my husband business partner who saw most of it), and then once he took one hit of the drug, it was all back and those old pathways in the brain activated again. I am grateful to the people who reached out to me here, and explained in words what I was seeing, and then offered me the video to watch. I shared it with my husband since he stopped binging and started working with his doctor again, and I shared it with his parents. Understanding whats going on has helped me, and now Im taking time to learn more because I know this could happen again to my husband. I was caught off guard, not prepared and it’s a bad place to be. Im learning now how to put things in place to make sure Im ok if theres a next time. My husband had a relapse prevention plan, and his parents and even his business partner had formed relapse plans, but since we married, things had been ok and I never got added into the plans. That’s happening now. Ive been learning a lot these last few weeks. I was upset hearing the full video was pulled, but the author has all these individual ones available and when you watch them in order together you get the whole picture of how addiction affects the brain, and why its called a disease. These are from his own YouTube channel, hopefully they wont ever go away!
Here’s the whole series of Pleasure Unwoven Videos (#1-8) by Dr.Kevin McCauley.
His Channel:
kevintmccauley1965's channel - YouTube
Individual Clips in order:
1. Is Addiction Really a Disease? - YouTube
2. The Choice Argument - YouTube
3. The Genetics of Addiction - YouTube
4. Dopamine's Role in Reward - YouTube
5. Periodic Table of Intoxicants - YouTube
6. Dopamine & Glutamate in Addiction - YouTube
7. Stress & Addiction - YouTube
8. Hypofrontality in addiction - YouTube
Here’s the whole series of Pleasure Unwoven Videos (#1-8) by Dr.Kevin McCauley.
His Channel:
kevintmccauley1965's channel - YouTube
Individual Clips in order:
1. Is Addiction Really a Disease? - YouTube
2. The Choice Argument - YouTube
3. The Genetics of Addiction - YouTube
4. Dopamine's Role in Reward - YouTube
5. Periodic Table of Intoxicants - YouTube
6. Dopamine & Glutamate in Addiction - YouTube
7. Stress & Addiction - YouTube
8. Hypofrontality in addiction - YouTube
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