Let's talk about addiction!

At one point or the other, you've gotten addicted to something. It might be as simple as getting addicted to a snack or as complicated as getting addicted to a bad habit. Sometimes, you might even be addicted to a person. 

It's just a trick your brain plays on you. This system is called The Brain's Reward System. We could use a more Neuroscientific term, it's called the Mesolimbic Dopamine System. The former sounds more relatable and less scary, so we'll stick with it.😅

The Brain's Reward System is a clever tricky system. We can call it the pleasure center of the body. Let's have a quick throwback to when you were a kid. You know how you do something little for your dad and he rubs your chubby cheeks and gives you your favorite biscuit and then the next day, you decide to do it again so he gives you another biscuit? 

It gets to some point, he stops giving you biscuit because your action doesn't really impress him, so you do something more to revive the impression and then he gives you your favorite biscuit again.

You can relate, right? That's exactly the trick your brain plays on you.

There's this major messenger released in your brain that does the whole 'feel good thing'. It's called Dopamine. 

Let's have another scenario. One day you're so stressed, having sat in a 4 hour anatomy class and then you're about to go home, and your course rep says you have one more compulsory class, another 2 hours in college. You get home stressed and your roommate serves you a very nice meal that makes you feels so good and relaxed. 

The next time you have a stressful day, your brain is going to make you crave that same meal, over and over... the addiction builds up. 

This is what actually happened, when you had that meal after that stressful day, the pleasure center in your brain released that messenger, Dopamine. Dopamine made you feel good and satisfied and then sent a message to your brain's memory center. It said "Hey guys, note this down. We just had a nice plate of Pasta from Purple n Vanilla and it made us feel really good."

So, your memory center jots it down, and then the next time you're stressed and hungry, you brain remembers how good you felt after having that pasta and makes you crave it again. Simple.

This is the basic method of operation of the Brain's Reward System. This is also what happens when you get addicted to a substance, (pain relief, opioids or drinks). For context, we'll take Molly for example. Molly is the nickname for a commonly abused substance, 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine. Let's just stick to the nickname, Molly.😁 

You use it for the first time and you feel good with feelings of euphoria, empathy and even increased energy. Dopamine and other messengers get released in large numbers and your memory registers that sense of pleasure. 

You continue to use Molly to recreate that pleasant experience but your brain starts to adapt and get less impressed. So you take more than you normally do, just to achieve that same feeling. It works for some time and your brain adapts again, then you have to increase the quantity further to achieve that same experience and at the same time, your brain relies on Molly to feel normal and then... BOOM!! A DILEMMA.

Don't be too bothered, addiction is not something you cannot overcome. As soon as you realize you're addicted to something, it is best to take steps to overcome them as soon as possible. Stay tuned to our pages, LAUTECH Drug Free Club, as we will be dropping weekly articles on substance abuse and addiction. Thank you for reading!😊