Psychological Factors That Make Someone Become a Drug User

Based on the latest data from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), the number of drug addicts in Indonesia currently reaches approximately six million people. With so many people using drugs, you may wonder “Why do they do it?”. Everyone can actually be addicted to something. Whether it’s food addiction, work, playing video games, alcohol, sex, shopping, even drugs.

Before knowing the reasons that might make someone become a drug addict, it’s a good idea to first understand how addiction can occur, visit cloud9 cannabisme.

Addiction Is Different From Habits

Addiction is a condition that makes a person lose control over what he does, uses or consumes something that they are addicted to. This loss of control can be caused by various things and occurs for a long time.

Addiction is different from habit that is done repeatedly. When you are used to doing something, for example taking a shower twice a day, you can stop it at any time according to the situation and conditions at the time, as well as following personal desires both consciously and unconsciously — feeling lazy, cold, caught up in other activities, and so on.

But not with addiction. Addiction makes you so completely out of control that it is difficult and/or unable to stop the behavior, despite all efforts made to stop it. This loss of control makes an addict tend to do various ways to be able to complete the desire for addiction, regardless of the consequences and risks.

Addiction that a person has over time can have a negative impact on his health, especially psychological health. It is not impossible that addiction causes changes in personality, characteristics, behavior, habits, and even brain function.

What Causes Addiction?

Addiction is a complicated process. However, one thing that can cause addiction is a disruption in the production of the hormone dopamine. Dopamine is a happy-making hormone that is released by the brain in large quantities when you find or experience something that makes you happy and satisfied, whether it’s good food, sex, gambling wins, to drugs, substances that cause addictive effects such as alcohol and cigarettes.

If the dopamine levels produced by the brain are still within normal limits, then this will not cause addiction. But when you are addicted, the object you are addicted to stimulates the brain to produce excess dopamine.

Drugs manipulate the work of the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that is responsible for regulating the emotions and moods of the owner of the body. Drugs make their users feel very happy, excited, confident, to the point of being ‘high’. This is the result of the amount of dopamine the brain releases beyond its tolerance limit. This happy effect will make the body automatically crave, thus requiring repeated use of drugs and in even higher doses to satisfy this need for extreme happiness. Prolonged drug and substance abuse will damage the brain’s motivational and reward receptor systems and circuits, causing addiction.