Let’s talk a little about the role that brain chemistry plays in substance use disorders.
can make people feel “high” by altering the chemical systems in the brain.
can then send messages that cause the person to crave the substance.
may even influence a person to arrange their lives around the substance. Someone may spend all of their time trying to find ways to obtain a substance, use the substance and recover from using the substance, only to start the cycle again.
may continue to attempt to avoid actual pain rather than to obtain a “high.”
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director, Dr. Nora Volkow explains this well.