Dopamine and Addiction

Understanding how drug and alcohol addiction affects the brain is a big step forward in helping to end the stigma of this complex disease and encouraging people to choose treatment.

The Role of Dopamine in Addiction

The balancing act of a neurotransmitter called dopamine plays an important role in both the cause of addiction and the pathway to recovery.

When we experience pleasurable events, our body releases dopamine. The brain registers all pleasures in the same way, whether they originate with opioids, alcohol, nicotine, a romantic encounter, or a satisfying meal.

Developing Tolerance

Addictive drugs can release two to 10 times the amount of dopamine that natural rewards do, and they do it more quickly and more reliably.  In a person who becomes addicted, brain receptors become overwhelmed.  The brain responds by producing less dopamine or eliminating dopamine receptors—an adaptation similar to turning the volume down on a loudspeaker when noise becomes too loud.

Dopamine and Addiction

Over time, people who develop an addiction typically find that they have to take more of the desired substance to obtain the same dopamine “high” because their brains have adapted—an effect known as tolerance. Tolerance is both a physical and psychological process. The more times the behavior is repeated, the more substance needed to get the same effect.

Compulsion Takes Over

As the pleasure associated with an addictive drug or behavior subsides, the memory of the desired effect and the need to recreate it (the wanting) persists. It’s as though the normal machinery of motivation is no longer functioning.

Social stresses like loneliness, poverty, violence, and other psychological and environmental factors also play an important role in addiction by creating a conditioned response whenever the person encounters environmental cues, anxiety or stress.

Medication-Assisted Treatment

By relieving the withdrawal symptoms and psychological cravings that cause chemical imbalances in the body, Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) has been effective in treating opioid and alcohol dependency.

Research shows that a combination of medication and therapy can successfully treat substance use disorders, and help sustain recovery.

Canyonlands Healthcare offers Medication-Assisted Treatment for opioid and alcohol dependency in rural Arizona communities. Find a location in your area.