HOW THE BRAIN GETS ADDICTED: IMPLICATIONS FOR RECOVERY

About 3 in 10 adults drink at levels that elevate their risk of developing alcoholism, with accompanying liver disease and an array of other physical, mental, and social problems.

For adults who exceed the low risk level of seven drinks a week, one in four will become an alcoholic. The level of risk increases if the individual is a polysubstance user (combines alcohol with other substances such opioids, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, tobacco).

If individuals drink too quickly, or if they have certain medical problems, or are older, they are predisposed to become addicted.

Chronic alcohol and other substance abuse contribute to increased level of stress, anxiety, depression, and most importantly, interfere with sleep behavior, causing insomnia, loss of deep sleep, and recuperative REM (rapid eye movement) sleep that are needed for a restful night’s sleep.

This sleep deprivation has an impact on the addictive person’s cognitive capacities such as memory and attention processing, decision making and fine motor coordination, and can contribute to cardiovascular and metabolic disorders.

Alcohol acts like a “neurological sledgehammer”, by acting throughout the brain to influence a multitude of brain circuits. Alcohol affects virtually all neural functioning including the shutdown of the brain’s monitoring system resulting in the loss of inhibitions and the reduction of the normal constraints in the emotional region.

Substance abuse also contributes to what is called “alcohol myopia”, a kind of “near-sightedness”, or “tunnel vision”. Substances like alcohol narrows the user’s perceptual field resulting in a failure to consider alternatives; a failure to think through the negative and detrimental consequences of one’s use; a failure to perspective-take and consider the impact of such usage on others, and on oneself.

Have you ever seen a horse pull a wagon wearing a set of blinders that limit its ability to look around and see alternative paths? Substance abuse, in its various different forms, can act in a similar manner, focusing an individual’s attention on the immediate cravings, urges, emotional pain, and the like. Substance use acts like a “channel selector” on a television set.

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