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.