Stress has been shown to be a major cause of continued drug dependence
Stress is a major cause of continued drug dependence. It increases opiate craving and use, enhances the reward efficacy of drugs, and provokes relapse to drug seeking and drug taking. “Exposure to stress is the most powerful and reliable experimental manipulation used to induce reinstatement of alcohol or drug use” one team of researchers reports. “Stressful experiences increase the vulnerability of the individual to either develop drug self-administration or relapse” another research group points out. Stress also diminishes the activity of dopamine receptors in the nucleus accumbens, driving up cravings because the quantity of dopamine receptors in the nucleus accumbens neurons determines the magnitude of reward.
The research literature has identified three factors that universally lead to stress for human beings: uncertainty, lack of information, and loss of control. To these we may add conflict that the organism is unable to handle isolation from emotionally supportive relationships because a stressful childhood can result in an overactive stress response in later life. Animal studies have demonstrated that isolation leads to changes in brain receptors and increased propensity for drug use in infant animals, and in adults isolation reduces the activity of dopamine-dependent neurons. Unlike rats reared in isolation, rats housed together in stable social groupings resisted cocaine self-administration.
References
- Mate, Gabor. (2010). In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts Chapter 18. Trauma, Stress, and the Biology of Addiction (p. 253). Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Biology / Neuroscience Status:☀️