While it's normal for people to relapse from time to time, this doesn't necessarily mean that therapy doesn’t work. As with all chronic conditions, therapy should be ongoing and should be adjusted based upon how the patient responds. Patients' changing needs should be reflected in treatment plans.
Another encouraging development is the possibility to avoid drug abuse and addiction. Children need to be educated by their parents, teachers, and health professionals, in particular regarding drug use prevention and addiction prevention.
Drug addiction affects the ability of a person to exercise self-control. Also, it interferes with their ability to resist strong urges to consume drugs. Drug addiction is a permanent, recurring condition.
Relapse is when you use drugs again after having stopped trying. Relapse means that there is a need to seek out alternative or further therapy.
Majority of medications work by activating the reward system in the brain using the chemical messenger dopamine. Dopamine reward system surges encourage undesirable but dangerous behaviours, which encourages people to get involved again.
What happens when a person uses drugs to alter their brain?
Biology. Half of the risk for addiction can be attributed to genes. Drug use and addiction can also be increased by factors such as gender, race, or the presence of mental health problems.
Comparison of addiction, abuse, and tolerance: Tolerance refers to the inappropriate use of any type of drug, legal or illegal. You may either use more than the recommended amount of medication, or you substitute a prescription from another person. If you are looking to feel happy, relieve tension, or just ignore reality, you might misuse drugs. However, it is possible to change bad habits or quit completely.
A person who cannot quit is the hallmark of addiction. You should not quit if it is a risk to your health. You should not use drugs if it causes financial, emotional, or other difficulties for you and your loved ones. Even if your goal is to stop using drugs completely, you may find that the urge to obtain and use them takes over every waking hour.
Potentially addictive substances target the brain's reward system. They inundate your brain with the neurotransmitter dopamine. This produces a sensation of tremendous pleasure. You continue to use the substance to pursue the high.
Your brain adapts to the increased dopamine over time. Therefore, you may need to take more of the medicine to have the same effect. And other things you loved, like food and spending out with family, may offer you less pleasure.
Long-term drug use can create alterations in various chemical processes and neural pathways in the brain. They can impair your judgement, decision-making, memory, and learning capacity. Together, these brain alterations might lead you to seek out and consume drugs in ways that are beyond your control.