Dopamine

Dopamine

So I’ve just completed a 2 day course at recovery about substance abuse which tied in with a previous course I’ve done on harm reduction.  Of all the things that were spoke about the one thing that sticks out is dopamine. Dopamine is a compound present in the body as a neurotransmitter and a precursor of other substances including adrenaline.  Put in simple terms dopamine is what the brain releases into the body as a reward. So for example when you have sex or eat something amazing or win at something that amazing feeling you get is a blast of dopamine.  Dopamine is also released when you take your first drink or first hit of drugs whatever it is you are using or maybe for gambling addicts its that feeling when you win your bet, it feels incredible you get a rush woo hoo! Imagine your body and dopamine is a bucket full of fluff, now the bucket is the brain and the fluff is dopamine.  The bucket is full that is a normal and level state.  You eat a nice dinner it releases a little bit of fluff nice woop, you maybe do some excerise it releases a little bit more lovely its empited the bucket slightly but its still OK still dopamine’s left to use in good moderation, lovely. When you have a good drink however or maybe have some drugs it empties the bucket hence why you feel incredible because say for example if a normal release through maybe eating a bit of chocolate or laughter is 5/10% of the bucket using in comparison uses nearly all of the fluff/dopamine hence woooooooo we are high incredible what a feeling.  Herein lies the problem though that bucket/the brain has dopamine in it to keep you level and sane and once emptied takes time to refill. So imagine In my example I have that first pint wow incredible I feel amazing I want more of this because my buckets emptied all at once wow dopamine galore I’m being rewarded for having this pint, so then OK I want more, lets get another pint but there’s no dopamine left! But I want that feeling so off we go chasing that feeling again drink after drink, joint after joint, line after line, bet after bet etc.

Imagine a dog, you teach him to sit, he does you give him a treat he likes it and will do it again all is good and well.  Now you train him to jump, he does but this time you give him a whole bag of treats…shit he goes mental and from now on he will want a whole bag of treats every time, this is the same theory.

I am going to further study dopamine at some point but baring the above information in mind surely theory would dictate that a huge way of beating addiction is to find other ways of releasing dopamine rather then using? Maybe going to gym, taking up hobbies or simply being round people who make you laugh?