It’s common knowledge that drugs alter the way we think and behave. Why exactly is this however and just how bad is it for our brains?
Drugs are chemicals that tap into the brain’s communication system and disrupt the way that nerve cells send, receive and process information. There are two ways that they do this:
- By imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers
- By overstimulating the ‘reward circuit’ of the brain
Some drugs, such as marijuana and heroin have a similar structure to chemical messengers (also called neurotransmitters) which are naturally produced by the brain. Because of this, they have the ability to ‘fool’ the brain’s receptors and activate nerve cells that send abnormal messages.
Other drugs, such as cocaine or methamphetamine can cause nerve cells to release abnormally large amounts of or prevent the normal recycling of natural neurotransmitters. This is the very thing that’s needed in order to shut off the signal between neurons and as a result, the disruption can produce a greatly amplified message that ultimately disrupts normal communication patterns.
The side effects of taking drugs on the brain
There are a number of effects that taking drugs can have on the brain including:
- Smoking or ingesting marijuana can make it hard to remember what you just said or did.
- Areas of the brain which are involved with decision making, learning, memory, sleep, emotion and self-control are all affected and damaged by drugs. This rewiring/damage has been linked to lower IQs in both teens and adults.
- Abusing cocaine, methamphetamine, steroids and/or prescription stimulants can cause anxiety, hostility and paranoia.
- Drugs, including marijuana and alcohol, can affect one’s coordination and impair their ability to carry out everyday activities such as driving. An intoxicated person risks losing control of themselves, which can lead to self-harm or causing harm to others.
Which parts of the brain are affected when you take drugs?
There are three primary areas of the brain which drug use affects:
- Cerebral cortex – this controls thought, planning, problem-solving and decision-making. The cerebral cortex doesn’t fully develop until the age of 25 which makes drug abuse amongst youths all the more devastating.
- Brain stem – this controls basic functions such as breathing, heart rate, circulation and digestion. All of these are affected when we take drugs.
- Limbic system – controls pleasure and rewards. As drugs produce euphoric effects, this programs our brains to crave the substances.
Why do we end up craving or becoming dependent on drugs?
Nearly all drugs target the brain’s reward system by flooding it with dopamine. This is what controls movement, emotion, motivation and feelings of pleasure. The overstimulation of this system produces euphoric effects which ‘teach’ people to repeat the behavior of abusing drugs.
Normally, dopamine travels between brain cells to trigger good feelings and it’s then reabsorbed back into the neuron. Some drugs, such as cocaine however, alter this process by blocking reabsorption. This allows dopamine to build up and continually stimulate the receptors.
As a result of this, you might feel really good for about 10 minutes but soon after, dopamine levels in the brain plummet and cause extremely low feelings of depression. This is why many drug users end up consuming increasingly larger and more frequent amounts of drugs as they aim to reach that first high. People are unlikely to be able to overcome this destructive pattern without drug addiction treatment.
One of the most obvious effects that drugs have on the brain is that they can lead to addiction. Drug addiction is a brain disease. Drugs change the chemical make-up of the brain and how it works. Because of this, drug addicts may not be able to stop using, even when they really want to.
If you think that you or someone you know could have a drug addiction, please feel free to contact Toronto Trauma & Addiction Counselling in the strictest of confidence and we will be more than happy to advise about our drug addiction recovery programs.
