NEUROSCIENCE

Addiction is a mental disease and most mental diseases have its origins on a biochemical disbalance of the brain. Addiction develops when the brain stops producing dopamine under natural circumstances and creates a conditioning response towards drug effects. This lack of dopamine generates feelings of dissatisfaction, demotivation and emptiness that can be confused with depression states. Craving is related to the lack of dopamine and can also generate irritability and anxiety, this is the reason why people suffering from addiction think they have depression or an anxiety disorder, when the true origin relies on the dopaminergic neurotransmission deficiency. Addiction has a different therapeutic approach than anxiety and depression, in addiction the subject perceives reality in a negative way due to the cognitive coherence produced by his physical and emotional pain. He perceives every day situations as problems and generates discomfort towards his environment. The first goal is to restore the dopaminergic neurotransmission, this has to be done by totally stopping the use of the substance and the timeframe con differ from three months to two years. The second goal of recovery is to restructure all the behavioral patterns based on wrong ideas, beliefs or thoughts created and established to justify the use of the substance, these are the traps that an addict falls to minimize and justify the addictive behavior. The third goal is to develop capacities to manage the stimuli linked to drug use. It’s very difficult to recover If you keep on doing the same things, as your brain has the use of drugs and alcohol on autopilot as for survival relevance. This is a hard to manage subconscious process, therefore the best approach is to completely avoid stimuli. The last process is about recover the rational areas of the brain, where the will and decision making capacities are produced. The goal is to stop working on impulsive and emotional behaviours and instead operate in a rational goal base manner.