How Addiction Starts & Risk Factors

u003colu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/resources/videos/what-is-addiction/u0022u003eWhat is Addiction?u003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/resources/videos/how-addiction-starts/u0022u003eHow Addiction Startsu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/resources/videos/deciding-to-change/u0022u003eDeciding It’s Time to Changeu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/resources/videos/triggers-urges/u0022u003eHow Triggers u0026amp; Cravings Impact Addictionu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/resources/videos/how-thoughts-become-relapse/u0022u003eHow a Thought Becomes a Relapseu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/resources/videos/thought-challenging/u0022u003eHow to Challenge Your Thinking About Substance Useu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/resources/videos/how-cravings-become-relapse/u0022u003eHow to Handle Cravings u0026amp; Triggers to Avoid Relapseu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/resources/videos/helpful-recovery-tips/u0022u003eTips for Your Recoveryu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ernu003c/olu003e

u003ch5u003eAccompanying Worksheets:u003c/h5u003ernu003culu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/What-is-Addiction-Worksheets.pdfu0022u003eWhat is Addiction Lesson Reviewsu003c/au003e (Lesson 2)u003c/liu003ernu003c/ulu003ernu003ch5u003eu003cstrongu003eMedically-reviewed articles:u003c/strongu003eu003c/h5u003ernu003culu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/drug-addiction/stages-of-addiction/u0022u003eStages Of Addictionu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/drug-addiction/signs-drug-addiction/u0022u003eSigns of Drug Abuse and Addictionu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/drug-addiction/help-someone-drug-addiction/u0022u003eHow to Help Someone Struggling With Drug Addiction?u003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/family-friend-portal/tips-help-cope/u0022u003e10 Tips to Help Family Members of Addicts Copeu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ernu003c/ulu003ernu003ch5u003eu003cstrongu003eProfessional webinars:u003c/strongu003eu003c/h5u003ernu003culu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/professionals/webinars/relapse-prevention-changing-world/u0022u003eRelapse Prevention: “Doing” Recovery in this Changing Worldu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/professionals/webinars/advanced-recovery-systems-recovery-panel/u0022u003eOur Staff’s Stories of Recoveryu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ernu003c/ulu003e

u003ch3u003eHow Addiction Happens?u003c/h3u003ernu003cemu003eHi, everyone and welcome to this lesson on ‘How Addiction Happens’.u003c/emu003ernrnSo how come some people can use drugs or alcohol in a recreational manner and some cannot? And how come some people are more vulnerable to addiction than others?rnrnIt has to do with the risk factors that we have. Some people have more risk factors that increase the likelihood of them becoming addicted.rnrnu003cbu003eSome of the risk factors are:u003c/bu003ernu003culu003ern tu003cliu003eYou have at least one family member who suffers from addiction.u003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eYou’ve had depression, anxiety, PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder or other psychological problems.u003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eYour parents or other role models used alcohol or drugs excessively around you when you were growing up or your parents or other role models engaged in criminal behavior consistently when you were growing up.u003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eYou had friends and acquaintances who were using drugs and alcohol when you were in your teens.u003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eYou had trouble as a child in school. Maybe you had a learning disability or you had poor grades.u003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eYou had difficulty making or keeping friends or feeling like you fit in with your peers when you were growing up or there was a lot of chaos and conflict in your home when you were growing up. For example, if you had a lot of fighting between the adults in your home.u003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eYou were physically or sexually abused.u003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eYou started experimenting with alcohol or drugs as a child or in early teen years.u003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eYou smoked or injected drugs.u003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eYou had some traumatic experiences in your life prior to starting the use of drugs or alcohol excessively.u003c/liu003ernu003c/ulu003ernu003cemu003eSo how many of these were true for you?u003c/emu003ernrnThe more risk factors you have, the more vulnerable to addiction you are.rnrnGenetics also plays an important role. If you have one parent who is addictive, you have a 40 to 60 percent chance of becoming addicted yourself. If both of your parents are addicted, that increases to 80 percent. So if you have a genetic predisposition and then you add in one or several of these other risk factors, then you are someone who becomes more vulnerable to the disease of addiction. So this is why some people can use recreationally and some people aren’t able to.rnrnNow, addiction is a disease of the brain.rnrnSo using alcohol and drugs excessively over time alters how the brain functions.rnrnLuckily, addiction is a very treatable disease. It’s no longer thought of as a moral failure or a voluntary choice, or at least it shouldn’t be. Most of us have the knowledge now to know that it’s actually a compulsion, which means your actions related to drug and alcohol use becomes dominated by your impulses.rnrnOur brains have a pleasure center, a reward center. And when we use alcohol or drugs. This pleasure center is activated to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the person.rnrnSo any time any human does something that’s pleasurable, whether that’s eating food that you like, drinking, listening to certain music, taking drugs, going shopping, spending money, gambling….Our reward system releases chemicals called neurotransmitters. And they act as messengers between nerve cells. These messages between the nerve cells release the pleasure chemical dopamine. And when we release more dopamine we feel great and we want to repeat the behavior. So for some of us, drugs and alcohol release higher amounts of dopamine, leading to a euphoric feeling. And this leads to even more intense desire to repeat the experience, which is what can lead people to addiction.rnrnThis can happen with drugs, alcohol, relationships, sex, spending, gambling. Everybody’s different and different people have different experiences to these behaviors. Eventually, repeatedly chasing that euphoric feeling leads to destructive use.rnrnFor some people, when we use too often, we overuse our dopamine supply. And this behavior ends up no longer leading to good feelings, which is what happens after you’ve been addicted for some time. And then that leads to depression, hopelessness, a lack of interest in things that we used to enjoy. And this leads to needing more of the substance to experience joy.rnrnSo hearing this. What do you think? Do you believe you have a drug addiction? Do you feel that you’re an alcoholic? Or you might be an alcoholic?  If this is true for you, there is help and there are things that can be done.rnrnThank you for choosing u003ca href=u0022https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/locations/u0022u003eThe Recovery Villageu003c/au003e.  If you or a loved one are struggling with mental health or substance abuse and would like to find out more about the programs we offer, please reach out to us directly at u003ca href=u0022tel:855-387-3291u0022u003e855-387-3291u003c/au003e.