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After the addiction is acknowledged, the addict may ultimately be forced to decide to stop using chemicals, thus breaking the cycle of addiction. The cycle of addiction is powerful, usually requiring outside interventions that include alcohol detox or drug detox and substance abuse treatment. The neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine send messages to the brain and the rest of the body.

Synthetic cannabinoids, sometimes referred to as “K2”, “Spice”, or “herbal incense,” somewhat mimic the effects of marijuana but are often much more powerful. Drugs such as MDMA and lysergic acid diethylamide also act on the serotonin neurotransmitter system to produce changes in perception. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid medication that is used for severe pain management and is considerably more potent than heroin. A growing body of substance use research conducted with humans is complementing the work in animals. For example, human studies have benefited greatly from the use of brain-imaging technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography scans.

Why San Antonio Recovery Center?

The cost of addiction throughout the U.S. alone is more than a staggering $740 billion annually. Overcoming an addiction is not a simple process, but it is possible with the right addiction treatment program. People who struggle with addiction need better and more healthy coping mechanisms for everyday life, eg. Tolerating, cycle of addiction managing, and making sense of any negative feelings. Your aim should be to be pòsitive about the negative, and comfortable with the uncomfortable. Regular drug use, and the large surges of dopamine that go with it, actually “teaches” the brain to seek drugs at the expense of other, healthier activities.

Many have become victims of peer pressure, particularly adolescents still trying to find their niche in the crowd. There are young ones who feel the need to fit in and do what everyone else is doing, even if it becomes a problem later on. Many young people are initiated into drug and alcohol use this way, as they are encouraged to try it out so that they could be with the crowd and not looked at as someone who could not be trusted. Giving in to curiosity does not always turn out well for people. In the case of trying out substances for the first time, there are people who try them out and find they don’t like them, and it stops there. In others, their curiosity remains unsatisfied, and this could get the better of them because they will always wonder what it is about substances that make people so addicted.

The Reasons Drug Abuse Can and Must Continue

Life can get tough and can include financial, professional, emotional, relationship, or family issues. These burdens produce stress, anxiety, resentment, anger, and, most importantly, fear. Often, these circumstances and situations prompt feelings that people do not want to feel or handle. Using a substance to numb their emotions may feel like a simple solution for many individuals during these difficult times. As a result, the cycle of addiction often begins when someone wants to feel better and alleviate their suffering.

• By identifying the phases of addiction, it becomes possible to recognize the pattern and work toward a lifestyle that exists beyond the stages of addiction.
• It has been embraced by health care providers seeking to move away from confrontational and pathological approaches toward motivational and person-centered approaches, such asmotivational interviewing.
• During sessions, families can address conflict with the guidance of a professional therapist.
• The longer an addict is engaged in ritual behavior the harder it may be for them to stop the cycle.
• Most live with the misconception that only those with little self-control are prone to substance use.

We’ve outlined this guide to help folks understand the addiction cycle. It’s our goal to educate the public on how addiction works, what it looks like and what we can do to stop it. Take one of our free online quizzes to find out if you need treatment. Individuals go through these stages at a different pace but every addicted person is bound to feel the pain of the cycle of addiction because of their substance abuse. This chapter describes the neurobiological framework underlying substance use and why some people transition from using or misusing alcohol or drugs to a substance use disorder—including its most severe form, addiction.

Relapse Prevention Plan

This is an important stage because the user is starting to put effort into affecting a change in their habit of using substances. The addiction cycle, however, is not the end-all and be-all of the study of substance abuse disorder. Rather, it is a stage-by-stage look at how people falling into addiction behave at the different stages. These can be triggered by normal life events, shame about the addiction, or by the negative consequences of drug abuse. Oftentimes, the “come-down” or “hangover” from the last use is enough to get the cycle going again.