I am Addicted; Part 02

Now that you are aware of the dopamine scale, what happens when you are addicted to things or activities that give you pleasure? What kind of effect does addiction have on the brain, making you perform the same actions repeatedly? When you consume psychoactive substances like alcohol, Marijuana, Heroin, or watch porn, these behavior is crucial as they push us past that 100 nanograms per deciliter threshold. Studies show that alcohol and substances such as methamphetamine push the dopamine level to close to 1000 more than 10x times the dopamine our brain is supposed to be making. Due to the high-level effect of dopamine manufactured in the brain after consuming these substances or repeating the behavior (watching porn repeatedly), our brain’s dopamine receptor gets hacked/malfunction. The receptor is responsible for managing the dopamine sensitivity in our brain by controlling the dopamine reward system motivating us to finish more tasks. Now that the dopamine receptor is hacked due to the extra manufacturing of the dopamine consuming behavior, our brain starts reasoning the amount of dopamine you would get after performing a task versus the amount of dopamine you would get by just consuming the substances or repeating the behavior. According to the number above, it’s not even a competition; thus, our brains automatically rely on consuming the substances or repeating a behavior more to feel happy rather than doing anything else.

Studies show that people who consume the substances or repeatedly perform the behavior which flows their brain with dopamine, over a period of time, the amount of dopamine produced earlier performing the same activities gradually decreases, giving less and less happiness and excitement in achieving the same behavior or consuming the same substances in the same amount. Eventually, our dopamine levels drop, it drops to the extent that even to feel normal or to have an average day of 80 to 95 nanograms per deciliter, we tend to rely on the substances or the specific behavior (Porn). Simultaneously, to have the best day, our brain inclines us to have the substances in more quantity to feel the same level of joy that we felt earlier.

Let say we found this person and get them into treatment, and we remove that drug. Now we have someone who’s dopamine level goes all the way down to as low as ten nanograms per deciliter and on their best day ever its only 20 nanograms per deciliter. These numbers matter, because when you have ten nanograms per deciliter, you can’t get out of the bed, you can’t get up to put your clothes on and go to a job interview or even take care of yourself or family. When we lack dopamine, the body craves it, and when we crave dopamine, we get into survival mode, leading to primal action. The primal act is the behavior that we see or hear, how can someone steal money to buy alcohol or drugs, kill their wife/husband for not allowing to drink, pawn/sell their stuff to buy substances or steal a credit card, etc.

In this situation, during this behavior, their brain tells them they are not going to survive if they don’t get dopamine and things that give them dopamine as far as they know are those substances/drugs of choice or that behavior ( watching porn). I know what you are thinking right now is dopamine a good thing or a bad thing? Are these substances that we abuse, which fundamentally becomes the reason for our addiction, is that bad? Is there a way that we could control it? Is there a way we can get control of ourselves? Yes!

Part three of this article will explain how new research destroys our previous understanding of addiction and steps to overcome an addiction.

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