Why Do We Get Addicted?

Are there ever times when you just can’t seem to put down or even be away from your phone or other electronics? Do you have times when you just can’t thinking about your device when it isn’t with you? Maybe you can’t stop thinking about watching YouTube, playing video games, or going on social media. Or maybe you can’t stop eating a certain food like chocolate? If so, you’re clearly addicted.

Addiction is when you have the great urge to do something repeatedly to the point where it becomes a habit. This means when you’re not allowed or you can’t use or do the thing you’re addicted to, you get really unfocused, only thinking about the thing you want to do or use. But why does this happen? How do we get addicted and why is it so hard to stop or withdraw from it?

When we do something that makes us feel pleasure or happy, like playing video games, dopamine, the “feel-good” chemical in your brain aka a neurotransmitter that is in charge of happiness, is released into the nucleus accumbens, which is a part of your brain. Dopamine is not bad for you but if there is too much dopamine, that’s when you started getting addicted or “hooked”.

Of course, when you start off, you’re not going to be immediately addicted. But addiction can come very quickly. Because a lot of dopamine is released, its levels in the brain are very high. The brain has to account for this great amount by making less dopamine. Therefore, you’re going to have to do the particular activity you’re addicted to in order to “bring dopamine levels back to ‘normal’”. This is what we call a positive feedback loop, where having less dopamine constantly causes you to get more and more addicted,

Addiction also starts when the brain starts adapting and makes the person learn that if they are ever stressed, doing the pleasurable activity will get rid of that stress. Without the activity, they will start feeling emotions like depression, distress, anxiety etc. Basically, the brain causes the person to rely on that activity for de-stressing and happiness. Soon enough, you’re not going to be doing it for pleasure but you’re going to be doing it because it’s become a habit and your body needs it. As Dr. Nora Volkow—who is currently doing research on understanding the brain of people who are addicted—stated, “...the brain learns that withdrawal is very stressful, and if you do the activity you're addicted to, the stress will go away”. It’s never good to become addicted to anything, no matter if that thing is good or bad.

Different types of addiction that can occur

Picture Source: helpmestop.org