This
is your Brain on Drugs
by
Dr. Kathie F. Nunley
The rumor
among adolescents is that some drugs are safe. This is particularly
the perception for one of the most popular teen drugs known
as Ecstasy. Ecstasy as well cocaine, alcohol,crack and even
marijuana can do serious lifelong damage to the brain and
subsequently to one's quality of life.
The lifelong
factor results from the brain's amazing ability to overcompensate
and repair itself. The brain seeks "sameness", a condition
known as homeostasis. When things are in balance,
the status quo is met, and the brain repair system appears
content. But when things get out of balance, the repair department
comes to life and reacts quickly.
Drugs
work in the brain by mimicking natural chemicals, called neurotransmitters.
By imitating these chemicals the drugs can override the system
and keep pleasure centers and other regions active much longer
than normal. But the brain will eventually try to correct
this error. Some brains respond to the imbalance quicker than
others.
The first
line of defense in the brain's repair department is to reduce
the amount of chemical that the brain produces on it's own.
That reduction leads to the drug user's perception of tolerance.
Since the brain has compensated for the increase of artificial
chemical by reducing production of natural chemical the drug
effect is reduced and the user has to increase the amount
used.
The second
line of defense is for the brain to reduce receptor sites,
or locations on nerve cells that chemicals can attach to.
If the chemicals can't attach, they can't work. Sometimes
this
removal can be permanent.
Now come
the "lifelong damage" scenario. Once natural chemical production
is reduced and receptor sites are removed, the user has little
hope for speedy or even successful withdrawal.
The drug user who wants to quit the drug use is left with
a brain that no longer works correctly. There is no restore
program currently available that will set the brain back to
its original condition of chemical levels and receptor sites.
The user has to just wait it out and hope the brain will heal
itself.
Sometimes
it does. Sometimes, it doesn't.
(originally written in 2003, this article may be used
in any non-profit print publication so long as it is used
in its entirety including the bottom author credit paragraph).
Dr Kathie Nunley