A Guide to Overcome Alcohol Addiction

Addiction is the brain’s reliance on an external source to create dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical that sends our brains and bodies happy signals. Typically, the brain produces its own dopamine, and the more it produces the happier we feel. Certain external factors can speed up the brain’s dopamine production or even bring in outside dopamine of its own (in the case of drugs and alcohol). When this happens, the brain becomes reliant on that external factor to give it dopamine, and it stops creating dopamine on its own. That is when addiction begins- it is our brain craving dopamine (the feel-good signal) from an outside source. But dopamine not only contributes to pleasure, but also plays a key role in learning and memory as the interaction between dopamine and glutamate creates the motivation to seek out the source of pleasure. This results in a learned behaviour that would be difficult to change.