What damage to the brain do drugs cause?

Drugs are psychoactive substances with a high potential to harm us both inside and out.

Its habitual use drags us into a lifestyle in which we lose control of our own lives, and at the same time, the molecules that they contain, capable of entering our brain bypassing the protective cellular barriers that surround it, make our way of thinking, feeling and behaving undergoes a radical change, physically altering our own nervous system Body.

In this article we will focus on this last aspect of drugs: how they interact with our body and cause damage to the brain. Damages that in many cases take a long time to reverse or that never completely disappear, especially without therapeutic support.

• Related article: "What are drugs? Summary of its characteristics and effects "

The main damages that drug use produces in the brain

Each type of drug has its own operating mechanics once it has come into contact with our neurons.. However, in general there are a series of neuropsychological phenomena that almost all substance addictions have in common, and that are reflected in changes in the brain of the user.

These are the different ways in which drug use generates in the brain of those who have developed or are developing an addiction.

1. Higher rate of cell death in the brain

When they are consumed frequently or after large doses and abuse, many drugs make it easier for nerve cells to die in greater numbers than is normal.

This has to do with the changes in the functioning of the nervous system induced by the entry into it of the psychoactive substance (the brain has not evolved to count on the habitual presence of that amount of molecules introduced from the outside) as well as the unhealthy lifestyle that goes parallel to the use of drugs

2. Hyperexcitability in withdrawal syndrome

In people who have already developed a drug addiction, spending many hours in a row without using generates a withdrawal syndrome: physical and psychological discomfort, on the one hand, and a feeling that you need to consume as soon as possible, on the one hand the other. At a neuropsychological level, this implies that the cerebral cortex enters a state of hyperexcitability, since "alarms go off" in the body and the immediate search for consumption is prioritized.

This implies that anxiety and stress appear, and sensitivity to stimuli that in other situations would have gone unnoticed: the person reacts more intensely to any change or potentially relevant signal that they detect in their environment.

On the other hand, in some cases the modifications that the brain has undergone due to drug use are so profound that the simple stopping using this substance suddenly puts you at risk for additional medical problems, or even losing your lifetime. That is why in some treatments for people with drug addiction substitute drugs are used (often methadone) to facilitate the cessation of use is gradually generated gradual.

In any case, these processes must always be supervised by the medical personnel who have studied the patient's problem. The use of the substitute substance is individually prescribed and prescribed, as the latter is also potentially dangerous.

3. Swings in the levels of neurotransmitters available in the brain

In drug addiction, the brain gets used to working "by default" assuming that this psychoactive substance is present in its neuron networks. However, that does not mean that it is well suited to this way of working.

As when consuming there are sudden changes (of a matter of seconds or very few minutes) in the amount and type of molecules that are in the nervous system, the brain undergoes constant fluctuations and it is difficult for it to adapt to that rhythm.

For example, when consuming cocaine, the neurons of our brain are surrounded by dopamine in less than five minutes; however, ten minutes later, the amount of this substance that is available to our nerve cells drops plummeting, and the brain goes from a state of high activation, to a state of nervous inhibition and practically depression. These rapid changes give rise to chain reactions that affect us on many levels: impairing our ability to concentrate, negatively affecting us emotionally, etc.

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4. Structural changes in brain wiring that predispose to habituation

In the medium and long term, drug addiction gives rise to the phenomenon of habituation: the person who started consuming her, many times under the mistaken idea that at all times she was in control of her consumption, you need to consume more and more frequently to experience the same effects and to keep withdrawal symptoms at bay.

This is partly due to the fact that over time, neurons weave interconnections with each other, adapting to a context in which the drug tends to be available in the body, while doing so under the principle that consuming more is the main purpose of everything that happens in the brain.

What to do to avoid these problems?

As you have seen, and with few exceptions in products such as those containing caffeine, the consumption of drugs are always accompanied by very harmful effects for the body and that occur from the first taking.

However, we should not focus only on the changes for the worse that these substances generate in the brain; they also give rise to other very serious problems that are beyond the nervous system. For example, the deterioration of personal relationships, the inability to cope with responsibilities, and even the fact of endangering others. Others: for example, alcohol abuse is even more risky for those around the person with alcoholism than for the latter, according to several research.

Thus, at the first signs of drug addiction, it is necessary to seek professional help as soon as possible. Through psychological and medical treatment, it is possible to intervene both in the dysfunctional dynamics of the brain and in those of the behavior of the addicted person, allowing him to get out of the vicious cycle of consumption and giving him resources to prevent relapses.

Are you looking for therapeutic support against addictions?

If you are seeking addiction treatment, please contact us. On CITA Clinics you will find both an interdisciplinary team of medical and psychotherapy professionals, as well as fully equipped facilities for therapy sessions and for admissions in our residential module, located in a natural environment and full of activities available.

Bibliographic references:

• Kalivas, P.W.; Volkow, N.D. (2005): The neural basis of addiction: a pathology of motivation and choice. The American Journal of Psychiatry. 162 (8): pp. 1403 - 1413.
• Nutt, D.J.; King, L.A.; Phillips, L.D. (2010): Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis. The Lancet, 376 (9752): pp. 1558 - 1565.