Psychoactive Drug Addiction
A narrow definition of the term addiction refers to habitual psychological and physiological dependence on a substance beyond one 's voluntary control. Terms such as "workaholic," "sex addict," and "computer junkie" arose to describe behaviors that have features in common with alcoholism and other substance addictions. Substance addiction is a multi-pronged system in which lifestyle has a role but the biology of a person 's body is a major factor. These substances, which are called psychoactive drugs, are what people become addicted to and are described as chemicals that affect mental processes and behavior by temporarily changing perception and awareness. There are many different theories about what addiction is and why it happens but none have been proven. When a person uses psychoactive drugs they are releasing chemicals into their brain which causes a disturbance in the way the brain communicates. This usually causes powerful sensations such as hallucinations, euphoric highs, loss of feelings (such as feelings of pain), and depressed motoring abilities. The scientific impact that drugs have on the brain is quite complext and each drug effects it differently. When we take a drug our body has to extract the chemicals and run them through our blood stream to the brain. Once the chemicals enter the brain they attach themselves to synaptic receptors on neurons. By doing this, depending on what kind of drug has been taken, the chemicals either stimulate or block the signals sent from the presynaptic cell membrane to the receptor site on the postsynaptic cell membrane. The brain signals, which in this case are being blocked or stimulated by chemicals, are called neurotransmitters. There are 3 types of neurotransmitters which, when tampered with by drugs, produce the side effects desired by drug users. The first of the neurotransmitters to cause the effects described above is Dopamine. Though it is one of the most important neurotransmitters, dopamine is not
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