The initial decision to take drugs is mostly voluntary. However, when drug misuse takes over, a person's ability to exert self control can become seriously impaired. Brain imaging studies from drug-addicted individuals show physical changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment, decision making, learning and memory, and behavior control. Scientists believe that these changes alter the way the brain works, and may help explain the compulsive and destructive behaviors of addiction.(1) The patient's struggle for recovery is in great part a struggle to overcome the effects of these brain adaptations.(3)
Behavior modification can help recondition the brain and reverse some of the brain changes, medication can sometimes help too, but often it is a combination of both. Not all of the brain adaptations resulting from addiction can be reversed, so patients need to develop strategies to compensate. Cognitive tools may be enough for some patients while others will require a combination of cognitive tools and medication to keep the addictive behavior in remission.(4)
1. NIDA, National Institute on Drug Abuse - Addiction: "Drugs, Brains, and Behavior - The Science of Addiction" 2008
3. Kosten TR, George TP. The neurobiology of opioid dependence: implications for treatment. Science & Practice Perspectives. 2002;1:13-20.
4. NAABT - http://www.naabt.org/education/behavior-modification-and-the-brain.cfm