- Hello.
You are about to watch a video produced by
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
This presentation is an essential part of treatment
for substance abuse because it will help you
understand the disease and how it is treated.
It is our hope that you will learn
some very important information while viewing this video.
You will learn what happens to the brain
when a person abuses drugs or alcohol
and that it is a disease,
much like any other chronic medical condition,
such as diabetes or hypertension.
You will also learn how people who have this disease
can learn to take care of themselves
and get into recovery.
Whether you are in recovery
or are supporting someone who is in recovery,
this knowledge will be very important for you to have.
Thank you for watching.
"Addiction." "Substance use disorder."
These terms are often used, but not always fully understood.
What is addiction?
What does it mean to have a substance use disorder
or to have cravings?
This presentation explains
some of the science behind these concepts.
The definition of a "substance use disorder"
is the "use of alcohol, drugs, or both,
that is compulsive or dangerous or both."
"Alcoholism," "drug dependence," and "addiction"
are other ways of saying "substance use disorders."
Whatever they're called,
substance use disorders are complex problems.
People with these disorders once were thought to have
a character defect or moral weakness.
Some people mistakenly still believe that;
however, most scientists
consider dependence on alcohol or drugs
to be a long-term illness or disease,
like asthma, high blood pressure, or diabetes.
It's an illness, like any other, and it can affect anyone,
rich or poor--
male or female--
employed or unemployed--
young or old--
any race or ethnicity.
- Well, I don't think I ever believed,
when I was going through it, that it was a disease.
I think I had to come to that understanding over time.
- Like most diseases,
substance use disorders have symptoms.
One of the most important is continued use
of drugs or alcohol, despite serious negative consequences.
That is, bad things keep happening
and the person still uses.
It is common for the person to see the drug as the solution to,
rather than the cause of, problems.
The person cannot connect the drug or alcohol use
with the resulting problems.
If the person does see the connection
after a particularly bad negative consequence,
the person may try to stop using.
Without any information or skills
for stopping the drug use, people often fail.
After repeated failures at stopping,
people can see themselves as weak, stupid, or bad.
In fact, they are none of those things.
They are suffering from the disease we call "addiction."
- Before I came to Matrix, I tried to give up drinking,
you know, pretty much every year,
and I never really lasted very long,
so I definitely felt weak because it never seemed like
I could last much more than a couple of months.
I think that what Matrix made me realize was that
not only did I have a problem with drinking and drug use,
but it was also what it was doing to my brain
and how the tools they gave me, really,
had more to teach me how to use that part of my brain properly
until it started to repair itself.
- And again, the tools that I learned,
the fact that I could change my behaviors
and I wasn't that weak person, I just wasn't using,
I didn't have any techniques to be smart about my disease.
You can always control your disease.
It's like diabetes-- it's something
that you can control for the rest of your life.
- Another symptom is the buildup of tolerance.
"Tolerance" means that a person
"needs increasingly larger amounts of alcohol or drugs
to get high or relieve withdrawal symptoms."
- My using became more frequent, from once a week to twice a week
to, you know, four times a week, to all weekend long,
and progressed into every day-- during school, after school,
before school, skipping school to use.
- That brings us to another symptom--
"loss of control."
It means that people "drink more alcohol
or take more drugs than they meant to,
when they didn't mean to or hadn't planned to."
People sometimes feel they have to be locked up to stop.
They try to quit, but cannot.
Treatment is initially
about learning the skills and techniques to stop using.
- I've always wanted to quit
once I crossed that invisible line,
because it stopped being fun and became hell.
It got to a point where I was using against my will.
I wanted to stop long before I was able to stop,
so powerlessness, at some point, took over my life
and I was powerless to the call
of the disease that I lived with.
But there were often many, many, many times
when I didn't want to steal the money,
I didn't want to commit the crime,
but the addiction dictated what I did.
- I felt like I saw, firsthand, in front of me,
my life going from control to no control.
I thought "I really cannot control this
and I need to do something about it."
- I left the treatment center and I was going to stay clean,
despite them, but we all know how that works, ha ha.
You know, within a couple of weeks, I was using again.
- Craving is a primary symptom.
"Craving" is an "overpowering need or urge
to use alcohol or drugs."
For people who use stimulants,
the craving is as powerful as a primary life drive.
It is as powerful as the need to breathe, sleep, eat,
have sex, or drink water.
The brain believes the person needs the drug to survive
and the person can feel anxious and irritable
without the substance.
- When I started craving it, it was one of
the most powerful cravings I had ever experienced.
I no longer just desired it,
I almost, you know, I wanted it and needed it.
It was an overwhelming obsession that was created in my mind
'til, really, you know, I could taste it,
I could see it, I could visualize it,
I could almost feel the euphoria.
You know, I would experience
kind of pre-euphoria feelings about it.
It was a very, very powerful feeling.
- Another symptom is physical dependence,
which leads to the person having withdrawal symptoms
when he or she stops using drugs or alcohol.
This happens because the body is dependent on the substance
and has a physical need for the substance.
Withdrawal symptoms differ, depending on the drug,
but may include nausea, depression,
sweating, shakiness, and anxiety.
People try to get rid of these symptoms
by taking more of the same drug or a different drug.
Withdrawal from alcohol and some prescription medications
can be life-threatening
and should be medically monitored.
- Today, the first thing in my mind
is that first cup of coffee.
When I was using, the first thing in my mind
was whether to get high, how was I going to get high,
what was I going to have to do to get high,
and then how was I going to avoid, you know,
the consequences of my actions.