What is Addiction?

Addictive Substances

ADDICTION- From Here to There

• I’m having fun with my friends

• I’ll try it just once• What’s the big deal• I’m just experimenting• I had a tough week, so

need to relax• I can handle it

• I steal from my family and friends

• I lie• My life has no

direction• I hurt myself• I hurt others• This affects every

relationship• I can’t seem to stop

Regions of the Brain

• Each region of the brain is responsible for activities vital to living

• Brain stem – heart rate, breathing, eating, sleeping (basics to sustain life)

• Cerebellum – movements, balance, and posture

• Cerebral Hemisphere – the “thinking center”/process language, math, strategies

Cerebral Cortex

• Divided into the right and left hemispheres and is 2/3 the mass of the brain

• Most highly developed part of the brain

• Responsible for thinking, perceiving, and producing and understanding language

• Each area has a specific function

(The Prefrontal cerebral cortex area is the)

“CONTROL CENTER” for LOGIC/JUDGMENT=

A BIG PROBLEM FOR TEENS

because that part of your brain

MATURES LATER - early twenties

KEY POINT > Why is that SO important?

ENTER >Drugs

• They are SO powerful because they act directly on this center and override the cerebral cortex. •They eliminate the most human part of our brain from its role in “controlling” our behavior.

• Hippocampus – memory

• Thalamus – sensory perception and regulation of motor functions

• Hypothalamus – regulates appetite, body temperature, pituitary and adrenal gland function.

•Limbic System – (known as the “Reward Center” is located deep within the cerebral cortex.

Made up of complex structures such as the following:

• MATURES EARLIER

• Major Role in emotional responses

Key points for teens

IMPACT FOR TEENS

-make impulsive, emotional decisions rather than, carefully considered, logical choices

Nerve Cells and NeurotransmissionHow we communicate messages!

• Brain is made up of billions of nerve cells called neurons

– Cell body – directs all activities of the neuron

– Dendrites – fibers that receive messages from other neurons and relay them to the cell body

– Axon – long single fiber that transmits messages from cell body to dendrites of other neurons = Neurotransmission

• Axon Terminals – the ends of the axon

Neurotransmission: Synapse

• Communication between brain nerve cells does NOT occur through direct contact.

• As the message comes down the axon, there is a release of chemical substances (neurotransmitters) into the NON-CONTACT space between the axon terminals and dendrites of another neuron

SYNAPSE

Neurotransmitters: Key and Lock

• There are specific receptors on the ends of dendrites (Locks) that have a very specific matching neurotransmitters (keys) that can bind to it.

• When this happens, the message carried by the neurotransmitter is received and processed by the dendrite of the receiving neuron

• This message is then relayed to the cell body and then to the axon, and so forth.

3 Types of Neurotransmitters

Serotonin

Dopamine

Epinephrine

Drugs can change how messages are sent in these 3 ways

• They can act like neurotransmitters (faker)• They can change the amount of neurotransmitters in synapses

(thief)• They can block neurotransmitters

Key point >drugs affect the way we

perceive and respond to the world around us.

http://foundation.methproject.org/Our-Work/brain-and-behavior.php

Examples of drugs doing this …• All drugs that change the way the brain works

affect neurotransmission.

Ex: depression =low levels of serotonin >Medication (prescribed drug) = tells the body to increase serotonin

Other examples:1.LSD, Ecstasy (fakers) act like the natural

neurotransmitter the body makes (similar size and shape, so they fit the key/lock and send the message)

2.PCP (a “road block”) blocks receptors and

prevents messages from getting through

PCP

and3. Methamphetamine, Heroin

flip the switch faster!! (thief) causing large amounts of neurotransmitters to be released at once into the synapse (like a pump). This causes an OVER-STIMULATION OF THE BRAIN SYNAPSE with NO RECOVERY TIME. (BRAIN DISTRESS)

4. Cocaine, marijuana, nicotine

interfere with the transporters responsible for sending the neurotransmitters back into the neurons that released them – therefore, they stay in the synapse (unnatural flooding of neurotransmitters)(creates depression later in life from low natural levels)

= Brain can’t function normally

Drugs of Abuse

• If taken over long periods of time, drugs can change feelings and behavior in the user.

• All drugs that are addicting can activate the brain’s “reward/pleasure center” causing ‘feel good” messages to travel from neuron to neuron

The Brain’s Reward SystemA.K.A. The Limbic System

• Used to reinforce healthy behaviors– Examples: eating when hungry, drinking when thirsty

• To encourage the body to reinforce healthy behaviors, the neurons release a neurotransmitter called

• Drugs that turn on the brain’s reward system trick the mind into believing that the drug is good for the body.

• All drugs of abuse affect the brain’s reward system by the system with dopamine.

DOPAMINE

FLOODING

http://video.about.com/alcoholism/Drug-Addiction.htm

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

To Review: What Happens if Someone Keeps Using Drugs???

• With drug use, the brain starts changing immediately as a result of the unnatural flooding of neurotransmitters. The drug changes the way the brain actually works.

How? 1 by reducing the number of dopamine

receptors 2 stopping the production of dopamine all-

together3 actually killing some of the neurons

Permanent brain changes• The result = low dopamine levels in the drug

abuser’s brain when not on the drug. • • Without drugs, the abuser feels flat, lifeless,

depressed, and unhappy.

• Brain says “ I NEED”

• Drugs are needed just to bring dopamine levels back up to normal.

Permanent brain changes

The abuser is now:

DEPENDENT = the user needs the drug just to function normally AND

He/she becomes a compulsive user.

ADDICTED =The user can no longer control his or her drug use because the brain has changed.

I AM AN ADDICT

• I steal from my family and friends• I lie• My life has no direction• I hurt myself• I hurt others• This affects every relationship• I can’t seem to stop

ADDICTION IS…• A condition in which a person no

longer controls his/her behavior.

• He/she desires to continue despite

the negative consequences

ADDICTION IS…

A chronic,

yet treatable

brain Dis-Ease.

Types of Dependence

• Body craving

– Physiological Dependence

• Mind Craving– Psychological Dependence

Addictive process

the path to addictionExperimental

Situational

Habitual

Addiction/Dependence

Rock Bottom

Recovery

Relapse - why? List 3 possible reasons

WHAT IS THIS? Group discussion

Fill In

• Get a partner and try to fill in section 6 using the word bank. You have 2 minutes.

countdown

• online-stopwatch

Some Facts about Recovering from Addiction

6a. Rock bottom

will now seek treatment

Different for everyone

Some Facts about Recovering from Addiction

6.

b. Intervention-

attempt to interrupt the addiction continuum before one hits Rock Bottom.

Some Facts about Recovering from Addiction

6.

c. Abstinence

refraining from use of a substance/behavior.

Some Facts about Recovering from Addiction

6.

d.Detoxification

the process of removing the substance from the body.

(abstinence, possibly aided by medication)

Some Facts about Recovering from Addiction

6. e. Relapse

during recovery, a user often returns to the use of a substance (either the original one or a substitute). This would especially be true if not receiving treatment for the causes of addiction.

Such as ????

Some Facts about Recovering from Addiction

6.

f. Addicts in the last stages will not recover without treatment.

Some Treatment Options

A. Counseling –

talk with a trusted individual, preferably one knowledgeable about addiction.

psychiatrist, psychologist

Some Treatment OptionsB. Support Groups –a group of people who share a common

problem and work together to help one another & themselves cope with and recover from that problem. AA, psychiatrist, psychologist

also included in the following treatment centers

C. Alcohol & Drug Treatment Centers

Examples: Irene Stacy GMHC,Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Addiction Center,Butler Regional Recovery Program

Detox Unit Inpatient/Residential Center Outpatient Center Halfway House Continuing Programs

Recovery

>THE PROCESS OF MAKING CHANGES in Choices ,Thoughts, AND Behaviors geared TO WELLNESS.

(a truck that has different sources of air in all of its tires)

Unknown source of advice

• Fools do not learn from their mistakes and experiences.

• Smart people learn from their mistakes and experiences.

• Wise people learn from the mistakes and experiences of others.

For More InformationFor More InformationNIDA Public Information Office: NIDA Public Information Office:

301-443-1124301-443-1124OrOr

National Clearinghouse on Alcohol National Clearinghouse on Alcohol and and

Drug Information (NCADI): Drug Information (NCADI): 1-800-729-66861-800-729-6686

www.scholastic.com/headsupwww.scholastic.com/headsup

www.drugabuse.gov

www.nida.nih.govwww.drugabuse.gov