Addictions

When I was in high school, I wanted to be a psychiatrist. One of the reasons were addictions, I thought it was fascinating that a substance or object could have such an impact in someone's behaviour that people end up losing friends, loved ones, and life over said addiction.

To understand addictions we need to remember something we all seek: joy. We want to be happy, we want to feel joy. And in order to do so, our brain releases certain hormones into our nervous system. The most well-known "happy" hormones are endorphin and serotonin. What it's interesting is that these hormones don't care about the "source" of happiness. So sex, being in love, doing sports, eating chocolate, listening to music we like, dancing, and addictions are all equal in chemical therms. Our brain knows they come from different sources, but once it's happy (full of endorphins) it doesn't care. Because being happy is great and it's a good thing that we seek happiness, right?

That's why addictions are harmful. Our brain likes endorphins, and it will start to demand its daily dose of them, and the addiction is an easy, safe, proven way of getting them. Why would someone spend time and effort with loved ones or doing sports if a substance gives him/her an instant result?

The line between being passionate about something and being addict might be blurry sometimes, and that complicates the issue. We're not machines, we're humans. We have will, we have the ability to choose. That's one of the reasons I wanted to study addictions when I was younger: it's an incredible balanse between science and power of will.