Drugs and the Brain: Addiction vs Dependence

 

The brain is one of the most important organs in the human body because it helps us facilitate daily activities. Understanding the brain structure and its complexity allows us to interpret environmental and physical cues on a daily basis. Each hemisphere and lobe of the brain plays a vital role in how the body functions as a whole. The key aspect is to understand that these work together in interpreting language, perception, memory and reasoning. Human’s reaction to stimuli is mainly responsible for perception and it can come in many forms and the heart also comes into play. “A person's sensitivity to external stimuli depends not only on the state of their nervous system, but also on their cardiac cycle” (Esra et al 2020). There are many factors that may cause the brain to be injured, vulnerable or in the worst-case scenario lose some of its key functions. One of the main things is drug addiction. There are times when addiction is confused with drug dependence

Although both are viewed in negative aspects, they are different. These two terms are important to understand because in terms of personal experience, I have a relative who depends on drugs to survive but I would not refer to them as an addict. Drugs have both good and bad effects on people's bodies and brains. They usually work because they resemble something that is produced naturally in the body.  Although the Funk and Wagnall’s encyclopedia defines drug dependency as the “non-medical use of a drug that interferes with a healthy and productive life”, it also goes on to explain that some people use prescription drugs once in a while because they are in need not because they prefer to. Drug dependency may have positive or negative effects. The family member that drinks painkillers twice a day to help with pain they are feeling with arthritis, I feel cannot be compared to someone who takes prescription drugs for feelings of euphoria.

Physical dependence would describe a person who has been taking drugs which may be prescription for a long time that it causes the brain to adapt to that drug taking being the “norm”. It can then cause cells in the body to start functioning differently because the drug becomes part of the body. This goes together with psychological dependence which can be explained when people start thinking that they cannot get better without taking medication on a daily basis. I feel that psychological dependence can be triggered also by mental disorders which were discussed in the journal readings. Drug dependence may be seen as a mental disorder because some may argue that, these people do not really need the drugs for survival but their brains “trick” them into thinking that medication is a requirement. These people do not usually have severe withdrawal symptoms and can go for some time without certain drugs. Furthermore, “characteristic behavioral and other responses include a compulsion to take the drug on a continuous or periodic basis to experience its psychic effects or to avoid the discomfort of its absence” (Venes 2013). Relating it back to personal experience, I have only seen the relative experience minor pain but not completely stop functioning because they did not take 1 pill of Tramacet.

Drug addiction according to Mayo Clinic, is a “disease that affects a person’s brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of the drug”. Some drugs have short term effects while some have long term effects. The body metabolizes drugs by absorbing them in the bloodstream. Drugs like marijuana have short term effects and people do not usually get addicted to that, although some do. That is why many countries are now legalizing the use of marijuana for recreational and medical purposes. Other drugs like methamphetamine or “crystal meth” cause negative effects such as hallucination, rapid heartbeat and disorientation. Some may believe that taking such a drug once or just experimenting does not affect anything. This is wrong because the body can become dependent on the euphoria feeling and that is how a person becomes addicted. 

Illegal drugs triggers the brain to feel pleasure and the long term effect may destroy the brain hemispheres. This may affect a person’s ability to comprehend things, learning and even memory. Once the brain is affected, many effects can be seen in the body such as weight loss, fatigue and reoccurring illnesses. There is a drug that teenagers in South Africa take called “Nyaope”. Once a person experiments with it, then they do not ever get back to normal.  It is mixed with rat poison and that is how illegal drugs take over the world. Most teenagers taking these drugs start having hallucinations and they can sometimes be mistaken for mental disorders.  The body environment gets messed up by drugs and we can see how that is evident even in Utah with the opioid crisis.  

In terms of Ayurveda, drugs can disturb the body's internal environment and cause a person's health to be affected in some way as seen in drug dependent people. According to Patwardhan et al, natural products are more beneficial to use when treating diseases (2004). Sometimes, I feel that, traditional medicines or drugs are usually not considered when treating certain diseases because for the most part, they have not been scientifically tested but those using them claim that they work well. This is why Ayurveda must be approached holistically because most drugs that are sold legally are usually synthesized and modified from things found in nature. Its flu season and I did some research to find out if there are alternatives to treat colds and flu with drugs made from natural products instead of getting things like flu shots. An example is influenza, a virus that attacks the respiratory system. It is characterized mostly by a runny nose, headache or fever etc.  An article I found titled “Aloe Polysaccharides Inhibit Influenza a Virus Infection—A Promising Natural Anti-flu Drug” explained how scientists concluded that these polysaccharides offer internal therapy while attacking the influenza virus. This indirectly relates to the article that was assigned with this reading such that it indicates that the aloe has been modified and customized to fit treatment of certain viruses. This does not limit the plant to treating influenza only but other uses of aloe can also be seen in the market although some are not scientifically recognized yet.  This same reasoning can be used for drug dependency or addiction. 

Aryuveda can be also used in people experiencing drug dependence. Natural herbs that are incorporated into medications that these people take, can be left in their natural state to treat certain diseases. There is no harm in trying them.  Since the brain is triggered by certain elements of the drug, natural methods can also get the brain out of the regular cycle of dependency. I doubt that this method would work with drug addiction especially with illegal drugs because they have so many ingredients that are not even natural. The brain would take a long time to stop being dependent on the illegal drugs. 

 

Works Cited

Buxhoeveden, S.(2015, April 3) Thriving in the Face of Adversity. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuLOT6GsAxw

 

Bhushan Patwardhan, et al. “Ayurveda and Natural Products Drug Discovery.” Current Science, vol. 86, no. 6, 2004, p. 789. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.24109136&site=eds-live.

Drug Dependence.” Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, Jan. 2018, p. 1; EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=funk&AN=dr087700&site=eds-live.

 

Esra Al et al, Heart–brain interactions shape somatosensory perception and evoked potentials, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2020). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1915629117

 

Gabbard, Glen O. “Mind, Brain, and Personality Disorders.” American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 162, no. 4, Apr. 2005, pp. 648–655. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.162.4.648

Venes D, editor. “Drug Dependence.” Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary, 22nd Ed, 2013. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nup&AN=t0hD11-264400&site=eds-live.

Understanding the Effects of Illegal Drugs on the Body.” Instablogs.Com, 2018. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsggo&AN=edsgcl.553295996&site=eds-live.