Opioid Addiction – Why Does It Happen?

The opioid addiction epidemic arose in the 1980s when people began using this type of medication unconditionally. You need to keep in mind that addiction involves both patients and healthcare professionals.

Continuous use may lead to addiction. The main characteristic of this is the strong urge to consume a certain substance. Humans lose the ability to control the use of the substance in question, despite its harmful consequences. Opioid addiction is a chronic disease with frequent relapses. This often leads to a significant increase in your chances of dying from it.

There is always a dilemma around the use of opioids when prescribing a painkiller therapeutic regimen based on them. The dilemma arises when comparing the positive effects of these medications in terms of pain reduction, with the negative ones – including addiction and overdose.

In addition, the risk of suffering from opioid addiction increases sharply when used for recreational purposes and without a prescription from a doctor. It does not matter if a person uses high doses or administers them in other ways than recommended. This risk is exacerbated when you take these drugs with alcoholic beverages.

Interestingly, doctors were more careful when prescribing this type of medication before the 1980s. However, some published articles with little scientific evidence confirming that these substances were apparently safe. It was precisely this that promoted the critical consumption of them.

This is how opioid addiction occurs

Opioid consumption affects the brain’s dopamine system, which is responsible for controlling dopamine concentrations. This is the substance that is involved in many processes throughout the body. Repeated stimulation changes the plasticity of the brain.

Brain plasticity is one of the main properties of the human brain. This feature is exactly what allows it to recover and restructure. It allows nerve cells to regenerate both anatomically and functionally, as well as form new connections.

When something damages the plasticity of the brain, it reduces your self-control regarding the urge you feel to get hold of and consume certain substances. This urge to seek out and consume a drug is what we know as addiction.

Characteristics of an opioid addiction

Opiates trigger both positive and negative effects. The positive ones are due to the euphoria and the brain reward they produce. Similarly, the negative effects are a consequence of pain relief. This applies not only to the physical, but also the emotional type caused by stressful or traumatic events.

It is precisely because of this that people with a mental illness have a stronger reinforcing effect : it makes them more vulnerable. There are studies that confirm these claims.

About 90% of individuals with opioid addiction have another psychiatric disorder, and the ones we see most often are:

• Severe depression
• Alcoholism
• Antisocial personality disorders
• Anxiety disorders

The stimulation that opioids produce in the brain’s reward system is the main reason why some people consume the drug repeatedly. This is especially true in the early stages of addiction. However, the urge to use opioids beyond the pleasure they provide occurs over time. This increased coercion is directly linked to tolerance and dependence.

As we mentioned above, the risk of addiction also increases when you use them for purposes other than those prescribed by your doctor. Be it by taking higher doses or via a more direct route of administration than orally. Another way to abuse opioids is to consume them with other medications or alcohol. This is because all of these drugs can affect each other synergistically, which increases the risk of an overdose.

Conclusion

Opioid dependence is closely linked to repeated activation of the brain’s dopamine system which affects the plasticity of the brain. As a result, your self-control is reduced when you use these drugs.

It is important to educate physicians about the proper use of these medications. In addition, campaigns against intoxication are crucial to prevent such problems.