If you or someone you know is struggling with drug abuse, it’s time to get help. Addiction is a progressive disease that can lead to health problems, jail and even death if left untreated.

The use of drugs can cause changes in the brain that trigger cravings, intense desires and other signs of addiction. Those changes can also impact how you interact with other people, your career and your health.

Substances that Change Your Brain

Stimulants, nicotine, opioids, alcohol, and sedatives change the brain in several ways when you use them. They interfere with normal processing and cause dramatic changes in neurons and brain circuits that can be present even after you stop using them.

All addictive drugs affect a part of your brain called the basal ganglia, which controls reward and learning. When you first start to use a drug, it produces an intense surge of the neurotransmitter dopamine in this area.

However, as you use the drug over time, these circuits adapt and become less sensitive to dopamine. This is an effect known as tolerance.

When this happens, you need more of the drug to get the same level of pleasure and you crave it in order to experience the same high. Over time, this can become an addiction and you may struggle to stop using it or control your urges.

Pleasure

Despite what you may have heard, drug addiction is not caused by pleasure. Instead, it is caused by the brain’s reward circuit.

This circuit is responsible for the positive feelings you get when you do something you like. However, when you start to abuse drugs, this circuit is overactive and makes it harder for you to feel any positive feelings.

It’s also important to note that the reward circuit is not the only area in the brain that affects your mood. There are many other areas that control emotions and behavior, such as the basal ganglia and extended amygdala.

Addiction

Addiction is a serious illness that causes long-lasting harm. It disrupts the normal functioning of the brain and body, and is usually preventable.

People who are addicted often find themselves using substances in ways that are harmful to themselves and their relationships, health and society. They may continue to use substances even after they know the problems they are causing.

Drugs that are addictive flood the brain with high levels of a chemical called dopamine. This triggers feelings of intense pleasure, referred to as the “high.”

As drugs cause this increased dopamine release, your brain learns that it needs these substances in order to feel good. Over time, you may need to take higher doses or other substances to get the same high.

Treatment for addiction includes medical and behavioral therapies. These are designed to help individuals reduce substance abuse and develop new coping skills that will keep them healthy in the long run. They include medications to treat withdrawal symptoms, counseling and support groups.

Treatment

The most effective treatments for drug addiction focus on treating the core reasoning behind the problem. This can help patients develop new coping skills and change their thinking about drugs.

Counseling and other types of therapy are the most common form of treatment for drug abuse. These services can address issues such as underlying mental health disorders, relationship problems or other concerns that may have led to the use of drugs in the first place.

Supervised medical detoxification is also sometimes needed for severe physical dependency. This procedure helps people safely withdraw from addictive substances and prevents the onset of life-threatening withdrawal symptoms and medical conditions.

A person's treatment plan is based on their individual needs and goals. It can include a combination of medications, group therapy, individual counseling and support groups.