Nicotine Addiction and the Brain Chemical Process
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What is Addiction?
Substance addiction
Substance addiction is where you use a substance over and over again until you become addicted, such thing that fall into this category are nicotine, chocolate, alcohol, caffine as well as other well known drugs and substances.
Process addiction
This is a simple explanation of what addiction is and how it can overpower you. There are two types of addiction, they are substance addiction and process addiction.Both substance and process addictions have something in common; they will involve chemical reactions within the brain to drive the addictive behaviour.
Process addiction is when you take part in a process or behaviour without any substance involved such as gambling, sex, internet and chat rooms etc.
The three aspects of addiction
There are three aspects that can be involved in addiction. Physical aspect (addiction) What would you think if I said smoking doesn’t help you relax and it maybe your body’s natural chemicals that were responsible for the craving and the stress release after you smoked?, and it is the chemical changes smoking causes this vicious circle.
It has been known for a time in the field of allergies and intolerances that foods or substances you crave are usually the ones your body has a sensitivity or intolerance to. When you smoked your first cigarette you or your body didn’t enjoy it, and why should you considering nicotine and all the other poisons in a cigarette. When your body is intolerant to something your body identifies it as a poison, your body thinking it is under attack by a foreign invader goes into a condition of distress. Your body’s way of dealing with this distress is to release your natural opiates (endorphins). When these endorphins are released into your system they give you a feeling of relief and you will feel physically and mentally fulfilled. After a period of time this endorphin high wears off and leaves you with a depleted supply and this can in itself lead you to seek out what gave you that initial high and relief. (Nicotine/cigarette).
Because the act of smoking is a repeated process the body holds back its natural supply of chemicals, waiting for the next nicotine invasion. Because these natural chemicals are depleted and not naturally in supply to deal with stress, the only way to release them into the system and satisfy the stress related craving is to intake the thing that started the process in the first place. (Nicotine/cigarette). Any chemical that causes mood changes can be addictive, with repeated exposure altering brain chemistry to the point that more of the chemical is required in order to feel normal, and so cravings occur. “I need more”. This is the part of Quit for Health that is addressed with Auriculotherapy.
Psychological aspect (habit)
This is the habitual side of the addiction, when behaviour is repeated like smoking for instance. The process becomes unconscious and an association trigger response is created, with a smoker this can be cup of coffee means cigarette, get in car means cigarette, finish a meal means cigarette.
These are just the common associations of many that can become established as well as the common hand to mouth movement performed many times throughout the day by a smoker.
Emotional aspect (driver)
Usually peer pressure was the original emotional driver for most smokers, but when you mature and no longer bow down to peer pressure it’s too late, you’re already hooked.
Of course there can be with modern day living many other stressors that can come into play where you look to cigarettes to calm you down, through that trick of the chemical reaction in your brain.
The quit for health address all three of these parts as well as teaching you quick and easy techniques for you to overcome stress in a new more resourceful way.