9.3.16 | Studio 3: Addiction...
My group have decided to base our studio project around mental illness and how to bring this issue to light in a world where people struggle in silence due the stigma that mental illness carries.
After some thought, we realised it would be best to narrow down our focus and touch on one mental illness.
Addiction seems to be the favourite at the moment.Â
According Psychology Today (n.d.),
âAddiction is a condition that results when a person ingests a substance (e.g., alcohol,cocaine, nicotine) or engages in an activity (e.g., gambling, sex, shopping) that can be pleasurable but the continued use/act of which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life responsibilities, such as work, relationships, or health. Users may not be aware that their behavior is out of control and causing problems for themselves and others.
The word addiction is used in several different ways. One definition describes physical addiction. This is a biological state in which the body adapts to the presence of a drug so that drug no longer has the same effect, otherwise known as a tolerance. Another form of physical addiction is the phenomenon of overreaction by the brain to drugs (or to cues associated with the drugs). An alcoholic walking into a bar, for instance, will feel an extra pull to have a drink because of these cues.
However, most addictive behavior is not related to either physical tolerance or exposure to cues. People compulsively use drugs, gamble, or shop nearly always in reaction to being emotionally stressed, whether or not they have a physical addiction. Since these psychologically based addictions are not based on drug or brain effects, they can account for why people frequently switch addictive actions from one drug to a completely different kind of drug, or even to a non-drug behavior. The focus of the addiction isn't what matters; it's the need to take action under certain kinds of stress. Treating this kind of addiction requires an understanding of how it works psychologically.
When referring to any kind of addiction, it is important to recognize that its cause is not simply a search for pleasure and that addiction has nothing to do with one's morality or strength of character. Experts debate whether addiction is a "disease" or a true mental illness, whether drug dependence and addiction mean the same thing, and many other aspects of addiction. Such debates are not likely to be resolved soon. But the lack of resolution does not preclude effective treatment.
The thing about addiction is that most people donât know that it is actually classified as a mental illness, and that so many people around us struggle with a multitude of hidden ailments that they are too ashamed to confront or be open about, or are in complete denial due to the stigma that having such an illness carries.
What is little known to most what causes addiction - what are the physical and mental pulls of the use of drugs, sugar, coffee, shopping, pornography, sex, social media, gambling etc, that takes a hold of some but not others.
How can we create more awareness and compassion, and change societies opinions and behaviours towards those with addiction, and any other mental illness?
One thing I must remember is to let the problem and the research lead to the solution or artefact.Â
Harvard Health Guide (n.d.) gives further insight into addiction:
Nobody starts out intending to develop an addiction, but many people get caught in its snare. Consider the latest government statistics:
Nearly 23 million Americansâalmost one in 10âare addicted to alcohol or other drugs.
More than two-thirds of people with addiction abuse alcohol.
The top three drugs causing addiction are marijuana, opioid (narcotic) pain relievers, and cocaine.
In the 1930s, when researchers first began to investigate what caused addictive behavior, they believed that people who developed addictions were somehow morally flawed or lacking in willpower. Overcoming addiction, they thought, involved punishing miscreants or, alternately, encouraging them to muster the will to break a habit.
The scientific consensus has changed since then. Today we recognize addiction as a chronic disease that changes both brain structure and function. Just as cardiovascular disease damages the heart and diabetes impairs the pancreas, addiction hijacks the brain. This happens as the brain goes through a series of changes, beginning with recognition of pleasure and ending with a drive toward compulsive behavior.
The brain registers all pleasures in the same way, whether they originate with a psychoactive drug, a monetary reward, a sexual encounter, or a satisfying meal. In the brain, pleasure has a distinct signature: the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, a cluster of nerve cells lying underneath the cerebral cortex (see illustration). Dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens is so consistently tied with pleasure that neuroscientists refer to the region as the brainâs pleasure center.
All drugs of abuse, from nicotine to heroin, cause a particularly powerful surge of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens. The likelihood that the use of a drug or participation in a rewarding activity will lead to addiction is directly linked to the speed with which it promotes dopamine release, the intensity of that release, and the reliability of that release.
Even taking the same drug through different methods of administration can influence how likely it is to lead to addiction. Smoking a drug or injecting it intravenously, as opposed to swallowing it as a pill, for example, generally produces a faster, stronger dopamine signal and is more likely to lead to drug misuse.
Addictive drugs provide a shortcut to the brainâs reward system by flooding the nucleus accumbens with dopamine. The hippocampus lays down memories of this rapid sense of satisfaction, and the amygdala creates a conditioned response to certain stimuli.
Scientists once believed that the experience of pleasure alone was enough to prompt people to continue seeking an addictive substance or activity. But more recent research suggests that the situation is more complicated. Dopamine not only contributes to the experience of pleasure, but also plays a role in learning and memoryâtwo key elements in the transition from liking something to becoming addicted to it.
According to the current theory about addiction, dopamine interacts with another neurotransmitter, glutamate, to take over the brainâs system of reward-related learning. This system has an important role in sustaining life because it links activities needed for human survival (such as eating and sex) with pleasure and reward.
The reward circuit in the brain includes areas involved with motivation and memory as well as with pleasure. Addictive substances and behaviors stimulate the same circuitâand then overload it.
Repeated exposure to an addictive substance or behavior causes nerve cells in the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex (the area of the brain involved in planning and executing tasks) to communicate in a way that couples liking something with wanting it, in turn driving us to go after it. That is, this process motivates us to take action to seek out the source of pleasure.
Determining whether you have addiction isnât completely straightforward. And admitting it isnât easy, largely because of the stigma and shame associated with addiction. But acknowledging the problem is the first step toward recovery.
A âyesâ answer to any of the following three questions suggests you might have a problem with addiction and shouldâat the very leastâconsult a health care provider for further evaluation and guidance.
Do you use more of the substance or engage in the behavior more often than in the past?
Do you have withdrawal symptoms when you donât have the substance or engage in the behavior?
Have you ever lied to anyone about your use of the substance or extent of your behavior?
Over time, the brain adapts in a way that actually makes the sought-after substance or activity less pleasurable.
In nature, rewards usually come only with time and effort. Addictive drugs and behaviors provide a shortcut, flooding the brain with dopamine and other neurotransmitters. Our brains do not have an easy way to withstand the onslaught.
Addictive drugs, for example, 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 receptorsâan adaptation similar to turning the volume down on a loudspeaker when noise becomes too loud.
As a result of these adaptations, dopamine has less impact on the brainâs reward center. People who develop an addiction typically find that, in time, the desired substance no longer gives them as much pleasure. They have to take more of it to obtain the same dopamine âhighâ because their brains have adaptedâan effect known as tolerance.
At this point, compulsion takes over. The pleasure associated with an addictive drug or behavior subsidesâand yet the memory of the desired effect and the need to recreate it (the wanting) persists. Itâs as though the normal machinery of motivation is no longer functioning.
The learning process mentioned earlier also comes into play. The hippocampus and the amygdala store information about environmental cues associated with the desired substance, so that it can be located again. These memories help create a conditioned responseâintense cravingâwhenever the person encounters those environmental cues.
Cravings contribute not only to addiction but to relapse after a hard-won sobriety. A person addicted to heroin may be in danger of relapse when he sees a hypodermic needle, for example, while another person might start to drink again after seeing a bottle of whiskey. Conditioned learning helps explain why people who develop an addiction risk relapse even after years of abstinence.
It is not enough to âjust say noââas the 1980s slogan suggested. Instead, you can protect (and heal) yourself from addiction by saying âyesâ to other things. Cultivate diverse interests that provide meaning to your life. Understand that your problems usually are transient, and perhaps most importantly, acknowledge that life is not always supposed to be pleasurable.
This last part rings completely true for me. As a recovering addict myself, I know the terrible effects of addiction and the psychology of why one gets addicted, and why traditional methods of shaming and criminalisation do not act as a deterrent.
germansingergirl
gummygunk
andulkaphoto
kaledo-art
turnnoffyourmind
baratheonpilled
dailybridgerton