Understanding Addiction

Addiction is a complex disease that impacts people from all walks of life. While its causes are multifactorial, understanding addiction starts with recognizing how it hijacks the brain’s reward system. The brain’s natural “pleasure principle” motivates us to repeat behaviors linked to survival, such as eating and sex. When we engage in these acts, the brain releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that produces feelings of pleasure.

Over time, repeated exposure to addictive substances can overwhelm this system, leading the brain to associate their use with reward in a maladaptive way. As alcohol or drug addiction takes hold, it rewires the brain’s pathways in a manner that compels repetitive behaviors despite adverse consequences. The addictive “high” becomes prioritized over other sources of fulfillment in a process that strips away an individual’s self-control. This biological component is why addiction is now recognized as a chronic disease rather than a moral failing or lack of willpower.

What Causes Addiction?

While anyone can develop an alcohol or drug addiction, certain factors may increase one’s risk. For example, research has shown that genes play a role in increasing vulnerability due to heritable traits that can lower one’s resistance to substance abuse disorder. This makes individuals with family members struggling with addiction more susceptible due to biological factors outside their control.

Peer influence also raises risk because social pressure or modeling drug-using friends normalizes risky behavior, as does access to substances in one’s environment. These two can make substance abuse disorder more likely through casual experimentation that escalates.

In addition, traumatic experiences or periods of intense stress are strongly correlated to self-medicating through substance misuse. For many, alcohol or drug addiction starts with experimental or casual use in social circles. But then it evolves into a compulsive pattern over time as the brain adapts to the substances through tolerance, requiring more to achieve the same effects.

Chronic drug use can hijack the brain’s reward system and decision-making in a way that fuels compulsions. People struggling with addiction often face stigma in the form of harmful stereotypes that portray them as morally weak or defined solely by their disease. This stigma prevents many from asking for the help they need due to shame.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that 94% of individuals aged 12 or older with a substance use disorder do not receive treatment. This highlights the importance of increasing access to patient care and reducing the barriers that prevent many from getting the assistance they need. Understanding the root cause of addiction can help stop social judgment.

Help for Addiction

Kolbe Health Services provides a comprehensive range of evidence-based addiction recovery treatments to help people throughout Alabama overcome alcohol or drug addiction and regain control of their lives. Their services include:

• Medication-assisted treatments for opioid addiction using suboxone, Vivitrol, Sublocade, and Naltrexone to ease withdrawal symptoms and cravings while teaching coping skills to maintain abstinence.
• Inpatient detox programs for alcohol, opioids, benzodiazepines, and other substances. Medically supervised withdrawal management typically lasts 3–5  days to safely extract substances from the body before continuing with therapy and relapse prevention.
• Outpatient counseling and psychiatric services to identify co-occurring mental disorders that may be driving addiction or complicating recovery. The Kolbe Health Services team works with patients and their families to develop coping mechanisms that support healthy long-term abstinence.

Note: Kolbe Health Services has multiple locations in Alabama cities like Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Jasper, Chelsea, and Navarre. We also accept most major insurance plans, and referrals can be made 24/7 by calling our intake line; no patient will be turned away from care.

Help for Those Who Need It

Breaking the cycle of alcohol or drug addiction is no easy feat, yet recovery is possible with the proper support to help you break free from destructive habits and stay sober. If you or a loved one are in the throes of substance abuse disorder, don’t hesitate to contact the compassionate team at Kolbe Health Services in Alabama. You are not alone; together, we can end the stigma around addiction and create a more compassionate and understanding society.

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