The Biological Nature of Addiction

Perhaps one of the greatest myths about addiction is that addicts simply lack the willpower to stop using; as decades of research have shown, biology (including genetics) plays a significant role in how addictions develop, progress, and respond to treatment. To understand the biological nature of addiction you must first understand the concepts of tolerance (when the body adjusts to a certain dose and needs a higher dose to produce the same effect) and dependence (when the body learns to function with the substance and can no longer function normally without it).  When a person becomes dependent on a substance, physical and/or psychological withdrawal symptoms (the body’s way of indicating that it needs the substance to keep operating properly) will begin within a certain period after the person stops using the substance.  Withdrawal symptoms can range from mild (for example, nausea and headaches) to dangerous and severe (for example, stroke, heart attack, coma, seizures, and death); clearly, an addict needs more than willpower to safely end an addiction.

From an evolutionary perspective, we have been programmed to seek out foods and behaviors that can ensure our survival as individuals and as a species (for example, high-calorie foods or sex, respectively). To ensure that we don't forget how great these things are, our body sends signals to our brain that "this is good."   Some people become addicted to the good feeling that this internal communication produces.  In this way, the neurotransmitter dopamine adds another level to the biological facets of addiction.  Learn more through the links that have been provided below.