Addiction Hijacks The Brain – How To Overcome The Mental Health Issues

The word addiction is derived from a Latin word meaning ‘bound to’. Drug usage is increasing rapidly across the globe. Around 74% of American adults suffer from substance addiction disease.  Whereas the global figure is much more worsen than The Mental Health Issues.

Every drug creates a distinct effect on the human mind and body, but addiction is common among all. The drug hijacks the brain and reduces its responsiveness and cognitive thinking. Let’s discuss brain hijacking by drug addiction and remedies to overcome it. 

Invade Pleasure Center- The Mental Health Issues

The brain has a pleasure center that responds to elements creating the utmost level of satisfaction. It links your mental health and intimacy or pleasurable feelings; whether the reason is sexual satisfaction or a favorite dinner, it works similarly. The neurotransmitter release dopamine in the nucleus regulating the feeling of pleasure in the body. 

The drug creates an artificial and shortcut for releasing dopamine in the body. The amount of dopamine release is directly proportional to the intensity of addiction. 

Alters Learning Process- The Mental Health Issues

Drugs create a direct impact on the learning and memory process responsible for transit from liking to addiction. The excessive release of dopamine interacts with glutamate and takes over the brain reward system. The effect on glutamate disrupts basic human survival activities such as; eating and sex. The drug overloads these neurotransmitters and enforces individual to be addictive. 

The repeated exposure creates an impact on the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for planning and communicating. Therefore, drug addicts lose focus and face difficulty in decision making. 

Manipulate Tolerance and Urge

The human body becomes tolerant to the irregular release of hormones in the body. Drug usage emits ten times more dopamine in contrary to the natural release of dopamine. 

This is why; natural release does not affect the human mind and makes them tolerant. The higher level of dopamine required to regulate pleasure makes addicts disinterested in pleasurable activities.  

How to overcome it

Mental health issues and problems are similar to physical health issues, and each individual can suffer from them and may need proper treatment. Good mental health can be the ability to think, behave, and react in an acceptable manner that is needed at the moment. Here are some tips to overcome your mental issues; 

• Pursue Proper Treatment

The first step in overcoming deteriorating mental health is to get treatment for the condition. For instance, if you broke your leg, you’ll visit a doctor. Similarly, if you are having difficulty behaving normally, visit a doctor; there is no shame in it. It is most vital in reducing symptoms that may hurdle normal life functionality.

If someone spokes to you about their mental condition, be nice to them. It requires a lot of courage to trust and spoke someone about it. Try to grasp the picture from their perspective and facilitate them.   

• Attend a Support Group

Burial of problems and thoughts will create a negative impact on your mental and physical health. If you don’t discuss your mental problem with anyone, no one can help them. If you are afraid of losing a friend or mistrusting a family member by discussing your health with them, join a support group. 

There are numerous local and international support groups working on the ground basis to facilitate people. There are online group also supporting and educating individuals. Research indicates that, different addictions can affect a human’s brain in different ways.  The blood line absorbs the substance of used chemical compounds and once it enters the brain it causes the human being to lose the mind control. This cause the slow response of brain system as the substances like nicotine and other sedatives make the brain to asleep. To some people it is easy to recover from such conditions, but for some individuals it is difficult the quite the addictive behavior.

For the social cause, some societal individual has started group discussions, which studies noticed as a greater source to recover from the habitual use of drugs and allow them freedom of speech. In such groups every individual is allowed to speak and engage themselves in discussion. Different people from different ethnic groups argue on how to overcome the addictive nature. The group discussion and time minutes by the group are already mentioned. The psychologists suggests this process as a good rehab tactic for the beginner’s level. 

• Educate Yourself

Education is the key to success. Increase your knowledge through credible resources. Do not simply believe every piece of information available on search engine. Being informed of the severity of the illness, symptoms, and possible effects is the first milestone. 

If someone reaches you for help, inform them with relevant knowledge. Try to differentiate between facts and myths of mental illness and eliminate any potential rumor that can increase the illness’s intensity. You can also join family therapy sessions if your family members support you.

• Speak It Out

Be confident with your illness; do not let yourself being stigmatized. Speak out loud about your disease and try to spread awareness about it. Promote change for others what you desire for yourself. Remember that people won’t make fun of any individual suffering from heart disease or cancer, so it should be with mental illness.

Initiate speaking from home, inform them about the disease. Gradually move towards your educational institutes or workplace. Especially answer to that one individual trying to bully you. If they bully on your writing capabilities, use an essay editing service UK and show them that you can do any task featurelessly.  

• Don’t Equate Your Condition

Don’t attach any societal stigma about mental health to yourself. It is suggested not to compare your situation with any other individual. Every person is fortunate and crucified differently; try to love yourself rather than anyone else.

Choose your words carefully and try to use more positive sentences. Instead of saying ‘I am Bipolar’, use ‘I was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder’. It will support you in building self-confidence. Sometimes if there is no one to support or talk with you, then the mirror is the best reflection of personality. 

• Isolation is Not an Option

Isolation is not a solution to mental health. The majority of patients consider themselves different from normal people and curtails socializing. 

Social isolation will only increase in your illness. Instead of isolation, try helping a friend or making similar friends like you. Many people out there suffer from similar disease talk and befriend them. 

Bottom Line

Mental illness is characterized by unpredictable and anomaly behavior. It is a normal health condition like any other physical disease. Many stigmas are attached to mentally ill people, making it difficult for them to survive in society. 

The majority of mental illness is caused by drug addiction, as it creates numbness in the brain. Awareness and education regarding drug addiction and mental illness are required to be spread among the population. 

I hope the treatment options that I have mentioned above will support you in resolving your issues. 

Author’ Bio

Claudia Jeffrey is currently working as a Blogger at Crowd Writer. You can ask her to do my assignment for me anytime, as she is willing to support any individual in need of professional assistance. Her passion for helping people and writing is visible from her blogs.