Drugs of abuse can change our mood by altering our natural brain chemistry.  Each person has a unique biological response to every drug they take. (Scientists call this biological individuality). In other words, the same drug can and probably makes two different people experience two different feelings.  This is because the same drug taken in the same dose can affect different people in different ways.

Although some drugs are more addictive than others, drug abuse and addiction do not “live in” the mood altering substance. Abuse and addiction result from a complex interaction between the drug and the brain chemistry of the person taking the drug.

Addiction results from a complex interaction
 between the drug and the brain chemistry 
of the person taking the drug.

Some people are biologically predisposed to have powerful and pleasant responses to one or more drugs, others are not.  Those who have powerful and pleasant responses to mind altering drugs are more likely to use them more frequently.

These powerful and pleasant feelings occur because the drug of abuse causes a rapid release of pleasure chemicals in the brain.  This surge of pleasure chemicals creates intense pleasure, which is called euphoria.

When you take a substance and feel euphoric, you are drunk or stoned. The high levels of pleasure chemicals make you feel exceptionally good, very powerful, capable, and essentially fearless. As a result, there is a good reason to want to use more. This euphoric feeling is so good that most people want to feel it repeatedly, and as often as possible.

Most people experiment with different kinds of alcoholic beverages and different kinds of drugs.  They find that some drugs make them feel better than others.  In other words, they find a drug of choice.  They find one specific drug that they prefer to use because it causes a rapid, powerful, and pleasurable mood altering response.  Some people have one drug of choice, and some have many.

The brains of some people will not produce a deluge of pleasure chemicals in their brain no matter what drug they use.  As a result, they never find a drug of choice.  Their brains resist the mood altering effects of most drugs.  When they use them, they experience one of two things: either nothing much happens or they start to feel bad.  Because these people usually find using alcohol or drugs to be a neutral or unpleasant experience, they do not look forward to using alcohol or other drugs and when they do use,  they use very little because they either don’t feel good or they quickly start to feel bad.  If they use at all, they do so infrequently and tend to use very small quantities to avoid the unpleasant effects.  For obvious reasons, people who are biologically unable to develop a drug of choice are at low risk for abuse and addiction.

The opposite is also true. For people who experience an intense release of pleasure chemicals when they use a drug, they want to keep using it and as a result are at a high risk of using the drug regularly, heavily.  They are also at higher risk of abusing the drug and getting addicted.  In the next Gorski Blog I’ll explain the difference between an addictive brain response and a normal brain response.

In this blog we are going to take a hard look at mind and brain altering drugs that are capable of turning people in addicts.  I am often amazed by how many people who regularly use these substances know so little about what they do to the brain and the mind to produce the desired effect.

The bran and mind-altering substances that can activate abuse or addiction include alcohol, certain prescription drugs, illegal drugs, and certain over-the-counter drugs that alter mood and behavior.  First let’s look at what causes people to want to experiment with brain and mind altering drugs in the first place.

Relief from Stress or Pain: Most of us use alcohol and other drugs to get relief from pain and stress, to fit in socially, and to have unique feelings and experiences that we can’t get without the drugs.  The most abused drugs provide a thing call instant gratification;

People who like to use alcohol and other drugs are usually looking for a quick fix.  They want something that will change their mood quickly and dramatically.  They want to use drugs that work fast and pack a big punch.  They want to feel better – NOW!

This need to feel better now is called instant gratification.  One recovering person put it this way:  “The problem with instant gratification is that it’s not fast enough.”  This need for a quick fix means that the most frequently abused drugs will produce an intense mood altering effect in a short period of time.   These fast acting substances are called drugs of abuse.  People like them so much that they can easily abuse them or get addicted to them.

There are different types of brain and mind altering drugs that create different subjective effects.  Most people like some of the drug effects and not others.  We will discuss this in a future blog entitled drug of choice.  Before we can go any farther, however, we must come up with an easy to understand working definition of addictive drugs and a simple classification system based upon how they tend to make people feel.  That will be the subject of the next Gorski Blog.

Recovery from chemical dependency requires accurate information about the disease of addiction, recovery, relapse prevention, and recovery resources.  These are four vital areas of information that recovering people and their families need to know to maximize their chances of staying sober.  Let’s briefly review these three areas.

1.    Chemical Dependency as a Biopsychosocial Disease
Chemically dependent people suffer from the after-effects of chronic alcohol and drug poisoning to the brain.  As a result, brain function becomes impaired and people cannot think clearly, manage their feelings and emotions effectively, or remember things well.  This short-term brain dysfunction causes personality disorganization and changes value systems.  This leads to a disruption in social systems such as work, friendships, family, and intimate functioning.  Understanding the physical, psychological, and social symptoms of chemical dependency is the first  step of recognizing and accepting that you are chemically dependent.

2.    Understanding the Recovery Process
Once chemically dependent people recognize that they are addicted and make a decision to recover, they need to understand recovery as an ongoing developmental process.  There are six stages in the recovery process.  In the transition stage, people recognize they are chemically dependent and make a commitment to abstinence.  In the stabilization stage, people recover from the physical, psychological, and social crisis that follow them into recovery.  In the early recovery stage, people change addictive thoughts, feelings , and actions.  In the middle recovery stage, they balance out their lifestyle and repair lifestyle damage that was caused by the addition.  In the late recovery stage, a person resolves family of origin problems that lower the quality of recovery.  In the maintenance stage, people continue a program of personal growth and development.  Understanding these progressive stages, the  tasks associated with each, and the common relapse warning signs are essential to keep moving ahead in a efficient recovery process.  (A latter blog will cover these stages in greater detail).

The first three stages of recovery can be summarized as Stage I Recovery.  Here people learn the basic skills of understanding, recognizing, and accepting their addiction, and learn the basic principles of recovery planning.

The second three stages of recovery can be summarized as Stage II Recovery.  They encompass the middle, late, and maintenance stages of recovery.  It is here that people need to deal with learning how to develop a meaningful and satisfying lifestyle.  They need to set goals and objectives for themselves, and need to deal with personal problems that interfere with their ability to be happy.

3.    Understanding Relapse Prevention
Each stage of recovery carries with it specific warning signs that the person is in trouble.  It is important to understand the generalized warning signs that lead from stable recovery back to chemical use, and then to look at each stage of recovery to understand the stage-specific warning signs that can act as     clues or triggers that a person’s recovery is in jeopardy.

Once people understand their relapse warning signs, they can learn how to develop a relapse prevention plan that allows them to identify and manage those warning signs before they return to alcohol or drug use.  Should they return to chemical use, they can develop a relapse early intervention plan which trains friends, relatives, and fellow members of the recovery program in how toeffectively and efficiently intervene and help them to stop drinking and drugging and get back into recovery.

A thorough understanding of these three areas of recovery will give people a road map for sobriety.  It will help chemically dependent people todevelop a checklist and answer the question, “What do I need to do to stay clean and sober and to have a healthy and happy lifestyle?”

4.    Recovery Resources
The final critical information that people need to avoid relapse is to know what resources are available in their communities that that can help us to stay clean and sober.  Nearly every community has Twelve Step Meeting including Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Alanon.  There are also a number of treatment centers that provide medical detoxification, primary rehabilitation, extended treatment, and sober living. Most of these resources are listed in the telephone book or can be obtained by calling the local AA or NA.  the internet can also give vital information about recovery services available in your community.

Over the past thirty years, one thing has stood out to me more than anything else.  You must have accurate information to recover from substance abuse and addiction.  The more you know about addiction, recovery, and relapse prevention – the better chance you have of making a full recovery.

You must have accurate information 
to recover from addiction.

Whether you know it or not, accurate information is your most important recovery tool. You cannot recover from something you do not understand.  Therefore, my primary goal is to help you understand what addiction is, how to recognize it when you see it, and what you can do about it when you do see it.

I want to make this material easy to understand.  As a result, I have chosen to use a style of writing that speaks directly to recovering people and their families.  In this way, professionals, as they read this material, can benefit and pass it on to their clients to speed up the addiction education process.

Reading these blogs will give you a solid understanding of substance abuse and addiction.  Unfortunately, understanding alone is not enough. To recover you will need to take ownership of the material.  You will need to apply the information to yourself and put what you have learned into action.

Information alone is not enough. 
You need to apply what you have learned to yourself and put the new knowledge into action.

In learning about addiction, recovery, and relapse prevention it is critical to apply the information to yourself and those that you love.  If you just read the material as some abstract information that doesn’t apply to you, it won’t help you or those you love to strengthen your recovery program.

A formula guides many people in their recovery: This formula is: accurate information plus effective action equals the ability to recover. To recover you will need to apply what you have learned about addiction to yourself.

Accurate Information + Effective Action = The Ability To Recover

To learn you must become actively involved in what you’re reading.  This means reviewing the information with an open mind and seeing if the information fits your own experiences. Some of the information in these blogs may challenge the way you currently think about yourself and your understanding of substance use, abuse, and addiction. I promise you this – these blogs will contain the most recent science-based information that clearly shows that addiction is a progressive Biopsychosocial disease and presents effective tools that can help people to recover and avoid relapse.

The problem of addiction progresses because of a complex interaction among four things.
Addictive Brain Responses :The unique way the brain of addict responds to a drug);
Addictive Psychodynamics: The unique way the mind of an addict responds to a drug,
Addictive Behavior:   The habits that addicted people develop that constantly put them around people, places, and things and things where alcohol and other drugs are readily available.

Addictive Social Systems:. The way addicted people structure their lives to make heavy, abusive, and addictive alcohol and drug use possible.

You must address all four of these areas simultaneously to increase the chances of recovery.  This means that you need to take ownership of this information.  Taking ownership means finding what applies to you and then using it to make sense out of what is happening in your life.  As you read these blogs I want you to see that accepting the truth about your addiction help you. It will make it easier for you to think about and talk about your problems with alcohol and other drugs. It will make it easier for you to determine if alcohol and drugs are causing problems in your life.  If they are, itwill make it easier for you to seek the help you need to recover.

There was once a man named Al who had severe diabetes.  Al did not want to believe that he was sick.  Whenever his doctors tried to explain what diabetes was and how to manage it, Al would get upset.  He would tell his doctors that he was not sick.  He would refuse to listen to or follow their advice.  He would not regulate his diet or manage his stress. He would not take his insulin. According to Al, his doctors were crazy. They did not know what they were talking about.

Even though Al kept getting sicker, he would not believe that he had diabetes. His diabetes got so bad that he had to have his legs amputated, but even this did not change Al’s mind.

Right up until his death Al insisted that he did not have diabetes.  Al did not care about the facts because his mind was made up.  He was right and everyone else was wrong. He went to his death insisting that his doctors were wrong — insisting that they did not know what they were talking about.

The real tragedy is that Al’s diabetes was treatable.  If Al had been willing to learn about his illness and apply that information to himself, he could have lived longer and had a higher quality life. His doctors constantly put accurate information before him, but Al refused to listen.  The price he paid was a horrible and painful death.

As you start learning about substance abuse and addiction, you are facing an important decision.  Will you listen with an open mind, or like Al, will you close your mind to the information that could save your life?

Relapse! It’s a frightening word for many addicted people and those who love them. It is especially terrifying for people who have established what they believed to be a stable recovery and the suddenly, for reasons they don’t understand, start using alcohol or other drugs again.

My name is Terry Gorski and I work at Challenges in Fort Lauderdale as the Director of Relapse Prevention Services.  We see people in this dilemma every day.  The recovering person thinks everything is going well, then things just start going bad.  Old problems come back and the harder they try to fix them the worse they seem to get. The pain and problems become so bad that nothing seems to help.  This sets the stage for the addictive thinking and craving.  “Alcohol and other drugs can fix my problems and make me feel better.  I want5 relief real bad and to get relief I need my drug of choice.  The craving grows until it seems unbearable.  Then the person gets into a high risk situation where alcohol and other drugs are available, people will support their use and there is no one around to support their sobriety.  So, in a moment of weakness, they give up and start drinking and drugging.

I have been working in the substance abuse field for almost forty years.  During that time, I have seen many people recover from addiction.  Tragically I have also seen many people relapse. Some of these people who relapsed died as a direct result of returning to their addiction.

These deaths affected me deeply. It seemed to me, as a young man and a new counselor that more could have been done.  The problem was, we didn’t know what to do.  As a result, early in my life, I made it my primary mission to help suffering addicts, their families, and their communities.  I was determined to find more effectively ways manage addiction and its related problems.  I committed myself to develop new and more effective systems for promoting recovery and preventing relapse.  In this series of blogs I want to share with you some of the key aspects of what I learned.

In the next blog I’ll continue sharing with you what I’ve learned.