Prevention Australia – June – July 2017

JUNE/JULY 2017 PREVENTION 87

HEALTH

YOUR BRAIN

ON DRUGS OR

ALCOHOL

When you down

chardonnay or pop pills

with codeine on a daily

basis, a complex chain

reaction is occurring in

your brain:

1 Your brain reward

circuits light up.

2 In a part of the brain

called the basal ganglia,

the natural chemical

dopamine is released,

creating a sensation of

pleasure.

3 Through repeated

exposure, your brain

circuits change and

adapt by becoming less

sensitive to the drug or

alcohol. Now you need

a bigger dose to get the

same dopamine high.

4 Loss of sensitivity

in your brain’s reward

centres mean you get far

less enjoyment from

other activities that used

to cause pleasure, such

as soaking up the sun or

time with friends.

5. Compared to your
   dopamine highs, the
   rest of your life feels
   dull and unenjoyable.
   You spend more time
   thinking about the
   substance and craving
   your next dopamine hit.
   You have developed
   dependence.

Sources for more

information include:

❯The Alcohol and Drug

Foundation, adf.org.au

❯Drinkwise, drinkwise.org.au

“[Dependence

develops] not

because the women who

take these drugs have poor

willpower, it is because

these drugs cause brain

and body changes that

lead to dependence.”