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Addiction: It retrains the brain, is tougher on women
While driving to work yesterday, I between a DJ and a psychologist about the untimely death of singer Whitney Houston. DJ Matt Siegel (aka Matty in the Morning) wanted to understand this about the pop star: 鈥淲hy the resistance to getting better when you see this brilliant career is completely gone and you鈥檙e a mess. Why the resistance to help when it鈥檚 available?鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what addiction is,鈥� answered Seattle-based psychologist and addiction expert Gregg Jantz. He hit the nail on the head.
The word 鈥渁ddiction鈥� comes from a Latin term meaning 鈥渆nslaved by鈥� or 鈥渂ound to.鈥� Anyone with an addiction understands this; those without have a hard time comprehending it. Blame this enslavement on the brain, its love of pleasure, and how it learns.
Anything pleasing鈥攆rom a touch or a delicious food to a drug-induced high or a gambling win鈥攃auses a release of a chemical called dopamine in part of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens. Drugs of abuse and other addictions trigger particularly powerful surges of dopamine. Here鈥檚 where the brain鈥檚 learning pathways come into play.
Repeated exposure to an addictive substance or behavior causes nerve cells in the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex (the area of the brain involved in planning and executing tasks) to communicate in a way that couples liking something with wanting it. This process motivates someone to seek out the source of pleasure. (You can read more about how addiction hijacks the brain in this article from the Harvard Mental Health Letter.)
Although men are more likely than women to become addicted to drugs or harmful behaviors, women who have an addiction face tougher challenges. They tend to progress more quickly from using an addictive substance to dependence. They tend to find it harder to break an addiction than men, are more susceptible to relapse, and develop medical or social consequences of their addiction faster. (You can read more about addiction in women in this article from the Harvard Mental Health Letter.)
About the Author
Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, 天博体育 Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, 天博体育 Publishing
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