The extent to which the brain is damaged by addiction is difficult to assess. Seeing the full picture of brain damage from addiction is only half the story as there’s not just the harm done to think about but recovery as well.
Of course, if you’ve been using drugs for a long time, the idea of healing might seem too little too late. Is it even possible for the brain to bounce back? In this piece, we’ll explore addiction brain damage from both sides.
How Does Drug Use Damage the Brain?
Drug use damages the brain through overstimulation of the brain’s pleasure circuits. It also interferes with your capacity to choose, making you prioritize the drug over other forms of pleasure. This results in extreme desires and uncontrollable drug abuse. Once you have a dependence on drugs, your brain has developed pathways that cause you to seek them out.
Short-term pleasure has long-term consequences.
But are all addictive substances equally addictive? Drugs like cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine cause different degrees of dependence in the brain. However, when you’re addicted, you’re addicted.
Drugs affect the brain’s pathways in such a way that you start prioritizing the drug over anything else. This is obviously detrimental to your health as it results in more risk-taking behavior. In short, short-term pleasure has long-term consequences.
As further illustrated by a recent study conducted in West Virginia, drug abuse has an intense effect on one’s health. Distressingly, cravings can follow you for years after going sober.
It’s easy to look at all this data and feel discouraged, but there are many paths to sobriety.
Can Addiction Brain Damage be Healed?
As the brain is highly resilient, much of the damage caused by addiction is naturally corrected over time. But not all of it. For example, most people who develop addictions will experience cravings, at one level or another, for the rest of their lives. But treatments like behavioral therapy target behaviors caused by addictive substances and offer mechanisms for mitigating those cravings.
Behavioral therapies are commonly applied in addiction treatment programs to enhance the effectiveness of other therapeutic techniques.
And new therapies are being developed every day. For example, antibody therapy is still in development as a way to reduce the rush, euphoria, and distribution of a drug to the brain. While studies into this sort of treatment are ongoing, there are still plenty of options for treating the damage of addiction with more to become available in the future.
Clear Your Mind with Purpose
The consequences of addiction for the brain can last for a long time, even after you’ve managed to go sober. But it’s not a journey you have to make on your own.
If you are suffering from substance abuse disorder, Purposes Recovery is here to help you take the first steps toward lasting sobriety. Our luxurious Los Angeles-based medical detox program allows clients to heal from the physiological aspects of addiction. To learn about the next steps, or if you’re simply looking for help with a loved one, contact Purposes Recovery today.