The word addiction comes from the Latin word for "enslaved by".
And rightly so, millions of people are enslaved by their fix, whether it be controlled substances,
food, alcohol or even the internet.
We all have that one thing that we just can't live without.
But why do we become addicted, and what can you do to cure it?
Addiction is a serious global concern, and in some countries addiction rates, especially
to illicit drugs are a serious and growing concern.
In the United States for example, substance abuse is one of the leading causes of death,
with a substantial 10% of the American population addicted to illicit drugs.
However, Iran has the world's highest drug addiction rate, there's a huge heroin epidemic
in the country.
Whereas the United Kingdom is the world's largest abuser of alcohol and France is the
country most addicted to prescription drugs.
For a long time scientists believed that only alcohol and powerful drugs could cause addiction.
But using advanced Neuroimaging techniques it has recently become apparent that a whole
array of pleasurable activities, such as gambling, shopping, sex, video games, the internet and
many others, can also trigger strong addictions.
Also, in the 1930s when research on Addiction first began.
It was believed that addiction was caused by a lack of willpower and it only affected
weak minded or morally flawed individuals.
So instead of helping addicts to overcome their addiction they would often punish them
instead, unsurprisingly this didn't work.
Recently the scientific consensus has changed.
Today addiction is recognised as a chronic disease, that actual changes the structure
and function of the brain.
The more we exercise our addiction and take pleasure from it the more it takes over our
brain and changes it, so that we crave that thing even more in the future.
Addiction really is a vicious cycle.
Different addictions show different symptoms, for example a tobacco addiction has slightly
different symptoms to a gambling addiction.
Someone addicted to tobacco or any other substance, will usually experience strong physiological
symptoms such as headaches, nausea and fatigue.
Whereas people addicted to activities such as gambling will experience more mental symptoms,
such as being overly secretive, lying to their friends and family, and continuing to gamble
even when they can't afford to.
However, despite the difference in symptoms, what actually causes these addictions is thought
to be extremely similar.
The brain registers all pleasures in the same way, no matter what causes it, whether it
be substances, drink, food or activities.
The set of chemical processes in the brain that make you feel that pleasure, are the
same.
In all cases, it is caused by the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, a cluster
of nerve cells underneath the cerebral cortex.
This area of the brain is so closely linked to pleasure that neuroscientists call it the
brain's pleasure centre.
The likelihood of us getting addicted to a particular thing all depends on how fast it
increases the dopamine levels in our brain.
For example, drinking coffee releases causes our nucleus accumbens to release dopamine
slowly and steadily, so it's highly unlikely to cause addiction, although not impossible.
Whereas drugs such as nicotine, meth, cocaine and heroin, all cause a powerful and very
rapid release of dopamine in our brain.
When this happens another part of our brain called the hippocampus, which is responsible
for forming memories, creates new memories of the rapid sense of satisfaction, creating
an eternal link in our brains between the drug and a feeling of intense pleasure.
Since our body likes to feel pleasure, another part of our brain, the amygdala.
Creates a permanent positive response to certain stimuli related to our addiction.
Such as the smell of cigarette smoke.
So when the addict smells this they will crave a cigarette.
This is why regular smokers find the smell of cigarette smoke intensely pleasurable,
whereas non-smokers find it unpleasant.
But by far the most dangerous part of addiction is how our brains builds up a tolerance.
In nature dopamine is hard to come by and requires a significant effort to achieve.
Whereas drugs and other addictions provide us with a shortcut.
Drugs can provide our brain with up to 10 times as much dopamine as anything that can
be found in nature.
Our brain hasn't yet developed to withstand such an overload of dopamine release.
So to protect the our brain receptors from becoming overloaded, over time our brain turns
down the volume on our brain receptors, making them significantly less receptive to future
dopamine releases.
This has a devastating affect, because the addict will now have to increase their dosage
to feel the same amount of pleasure they did the previous time.
And so, every time an addict indulges their fix, their next dosage will have to be increased
to achieve the same high.
This is a vicious cycle that gets exponentially worse, until the body can't take the dosage
anymore and it breaks down.
So what can you do to overcome addiction?
Firstly you need to acknowledge that you have an addiction.
Many people are in denial about their addiction or simply don't realise that they actually
have one.
There's three simple questions you can ask yourself to test for an addiction, if you
answer yes to any of the three questions you may be addicted.
Question 1: Do you use a substance or do something that brings you pleasure a lot more often
that you did in the past?
Question 2: Do you experience withdrawal symptoms when you haven't used the substance or engaged
in the activity for a while?
Question 3: Have you ever lied to someone about your use of the substance or the extent
of your behaviour?
Okay, so you've established you have an addiction, what do you do next?
Next you establish why you want to quit.
Write down a list of all the reasons why you should quit and look at it every day.
For example, if you're addicted to smoking, you could write, "I will have healthier lungs".
You now have a set of goals to work towards.
Next set a date that you will quit for good, you can set it in 2 weeks or 2 months time,
but whatever you do, don't set it at tomorrow and tell yourself, "tomorrow I quit forever,
I'm going cold turkey."
Because it's been scientifically proven, going cold turkey doesn't work, at least not for
the majority.
Hoards of research over the years has demonstrated that only 3% of people who go cold turkey
actually quit, the other 97% relapse pretty quickly.
You should instead, wean your body off your addiction slowly.
Now you have a goal and a set time to do it in.
Next you need to identify your triggers.
A trigger is anything that makes you think of your addiction and might cause you to relapse.
For example, if you're addiction is alcohol, passing a certain bar may be a trigger for
you.
Once you've identified your triggers you need to eliminate them from your life, avoid them
at all costs to stop any unwanted temptation.
And finally, and possibly the most important step, you need to find something to replace
your addiction.
Your addiction has been a big part of your life up to now, so once it's gone from your
life you may find it difficult to fill the time, and that's dangerous, because when you're
bored, you're at the most risk of relapsing.
So you need to find something to fill that void, try to start a project, take up outdoor
sports, or simply go for a walk.
The more you get involved with a new, positive activity the more you will forget about the
thing that you used to be addicted to.