Wired for addiction
Think about the one thing that brings you immense joy and satisfaction, then imagine it was suddenly removed. How would you feel?
For those of us who think withdrawal is only experienced by those overcoming a form of drug addiction, such as nicotine or alcohol, we should think again.
We are all potentially wired for addiction of some form but luckily most of us find an avenue less physically or mentally damaging than substance misuse.
As a result, we can find space in our lives for other responsibilities, hobbies and people.
True addiction is a progressive narrowing of the things in life that bring us pleasure.
Our ancestors’ brains developed to release the reward chemical dopamine, which became the main driver for movement to seek out the things in life that were necessary for survival such as companionship, shelter and food.
In modern society, most of our daily survival requirements are met so we have turned our spare time and energy to the pursuit of other activities to relieve boredom.
Unfortunately, not all these choices are aiding our health and wellbeing as we invent ways to gain excessive dopamine hits and potentially expose our brain to levels it was not designed for.
Like many physiological systems within the body, the
Rob Graham.
dopamine reward system is designed to self-regulate itself and most of the time we experience a base line, meaning we are not depressed nor euphoric.
A normal baseline means you will feel “OK” and will be able to gain rewarding feelings from the simple things in life including a walk on the coast, the sound of birdsong or catching up with a friend.
When we expose or brains to regular high and rapid releases of dopamine, things can start to change within our brain.
In a desperate bid to reduce excessive dopamine levels, we can end up lower than baseline once the drug of choice is removed.
Until the drug of choice is administered again, we exist in a depressive state, desperate to re-establish the high dopamine state or just get back to normal. This is craving and can lead to addiction.
But it is not all about drugs. Social media, gambling or work can all become addictive and take control over our lives as we chase the dopamine hit associated with “likes,” wins or hitting a deadline.
A mild addiction to healthy behaviours can be beneficial if the desire to carry out your chosen activity or strategy is balanced with life’s other responsibilities.
For example, the need to train three to four times a week or spend time in the garden daily is fine as long as you can fulfil your family and work responsibilities, put food on the table and get enough sleep.
If a drug, activity or food is having a strong influence on your life, the good news is in most cases our brain chemistry can be reset.
A period of complete abstinence of around 30 days from the behaviour of choice is often the best way to reset our dopamine levels.
The first two weeks are going to be really hard but then things should become a little easier. Brain chemistry returns to more normal levels and we begin to experience pleasure again from more ordinary experiences.
For those suffering with chronic addiction who may have experienced multiple relapses, we would always suggest talking to your GP or other health care specialist as a first point of contact.
If that’s not an option at the moment, please talk to someone. Acknowledging there is an issue is the first step to recovery.
▮ For more advice on health and wellbeing, self-refer to Healthy Options Thrive by visiting www.lornhealthyoptions.co.uk.