How Casual Drug Abuse Leads to Drug Addiction

No matter what the story or end result, every addict’s story starts with a single use of an illicit substance. In most cases, that use was voluntary and experimental and enjoyable enough to lead to a second use, and a third and a fourth until chronic abuse was the order of the day. When the drug user decides that it’s time to quit, he or she is surprised to find that they experience withdrawal symptoms and cravings for the drug – often too overwhelming to ignore. When they end up using again to fend off these symptoms, the cycle continues; addiction is a serious problem and one that requires rehab.

How does that process occur? How does someone interested in nothing more than experimenting with drugs or alcohol ultimately develop a debilitating addiction that requires treatment.

Experimental Drug Use

Experimental use may be occasional but use any addictive substance too often, or in too large of an amount, and something can flip in the brain, changing how you think and view drugs. Some patients even report that they were instantly psychologically dependent the first time that they abused a certain drug, especially if they used needles to ingest it. Unfortunately, there’s nothing experimental about emotional or mental dependence upon a substance.

But it’s not just a mental attachment in most cases; dependence can be physical as well. For example, physical dependence can happen in as few as three days when you abuse heroin or prescription painkillers regularly. For other substances, it can take a few weeks or longer for physical dependence to develop, and when it happens alongside psychological dependence, addiction is an issue.

Addiction Is a Brain Disease

When addiction becomes a problem, it changes the wiring in the brain. Chemicals are released differently and the pleasure pathway is triggered, causing a specific response. Your brain adjusts to those changes and ceases to create certain chemicals without the impetus of your drug of choice. Should you stop using the drug, your brain does not adapt immediately and you experience withdrawal symptoms as a result – symptoms that are both physical and psychological in nature.

Treatment Is the Only Way to Safely Beat Addiction

Due to the withdrawal symptoms and changes in the brain, it is important that you seek medical help when you try to stop using. At a reputable drug rehab, you will receive the detox and addiction treatment you need to stop abusing your drug of choice and start living a life of sobriety. Contact us today for more information.