Addictions Versus Endorphins: Your Choice

Many young people experiment with drugs or alcohol: substance abuse. I would wager to say, no one stick up their hand and waves their arm around like an eager kid in class, ready to answer a question and say "Wow, pick me, pick me, I can hardly wait to become an alcoholic or cocaine user or free base addict." Like anything to an extreme, characteristically the body gets used to something (as much as it can) and becomes tolerant of the substance. If we get a little bit "high" and had a great time, or are intrigued with the high, it is easy to use the substance again. Included within this there are a myriad of reasons that go into the equation of why someone starts down the road of substance abuse. Summarizing, one can say, the abuse just started to catch up with them and what started as an experiment perhaps took on other disguises to the unsuspecting individual. The person becomes couched in "Let's cover something up/ I want to feel to the depths/ I don't want to feel anything at all/ I just want to numb out and forget." With the overuse of any substance, the body's neurochemical dopamine gets released a lot. Classically, dopamine carries the weight of producing positive mood levels.

DOPAMINE:

With extensive drug or alcohol use the dopamine stores get used up.

Dopamine stores are depleted under chronic stress, intense trauma and anxiety, substance abuse.

Dopamine functions as a regulator for behavior, motivation and reward, waking and sleep cycles. It IS the bodies reward system.

Dopamine and serotonin (also a mood leveler); both of these are directly related one to the other and under good circumstances they both are increased and under draining circumstances they are decreased.

With too much usage, the dopamine can no longer balance the body's own mood leveler of serotonin either.

The body's feeling of euphoria becomes dependent on the drug because the drug or alcohol usage eventually sends a signal to the body to stop producing dopamine.

Serotonin levels become prohibited as well.

The body truly develops "a dependency" on the drug and the body says to the brain, "I want more of the drug, because the body has a hard time producing dopamine and that "feel good" feeling has to come from somewhere.

Therefore the true nature of chemical dependency is created because the body no longer classically can produce enough dopamine.

In spite of having good intentions to quit, the person enters a "withdrawal" and reaches out again for the drug of choice.

To quit substance abuse, professional help should be sought. If really badly addicted one may have to take Oxycontin or another medication to help go through the detox stage. For example to stop drinking cold turkey could cause seizures or heart problems.

Get help and hopefully, you've chosen the positive road from the beginning.

ENDORPHINS:

Endorphins are the body's natural way of dealing with pain; ie. The body's own pain killer, a morphine like substance found inside the body. We can choose to do the things that embellish our body's own natural high through the release of this enzyme.

Negatively speaking, we get an endorphin rush through the exhilaration brought by experiencing stress, pain, danger.

Endorphins can control persistent pain.

Control craving for addictive substances

Regulate growth and sex hormones.

Can help charge the immune system.

How are these endorphins created naturally in the body so that we have that feeling of euphoria naturally instead of artificially through dangerous mood-altering substances? We experience endorphins through the following:

Exercise
Laughter and friends
Orgasm- that delicious feeling in the afterglow of love making is endorphins.
Massage to some degree and touching in general.
Acupuncture- In 1999 they did some scientific studies where they found higher levels of endorphins in cerebral spinal fluid after acupuncture. Probably the Chinese knew this 4,000 years ago, but just did not give it a name.

Therefore, emphasis on healthy life choices saves us a lot of anguish down the road. Making a choice for life itself is the ticket and having an understanding of what truly rewards our heart and mind and body is a necessary part of the mix.

PS Dopamine loves almonds, bananas, avocados, dairy, lima beans, 2 1/2 cups of vegetables a day and reduce caffeine.

PPS Endorphins love dark chocolate, spicy foods and hot peppers.

PPPS I'll take the dark chocolate any day over a boiler maker!