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Interviewer - Can you begin by explaining exactly what an addiction is?
Doctor Stork - I think we often think of addiction as being something like an illegal drug, but the truth is you can be addicted to a lot of things - wine, fatty, sugary foods, it could be drugs, but it could be a whole host of other things. What's happening in your brain's pleasure centres, is that whenever you do this thing, it rewards you, you get a flood of dopamine in your brain's pleasure centres. And over time you start having more and more dopamine. Well, the brain responds to
that in an interesting way. All this dopamine in your brain, just like with the radio when it's turned up too loud, your brain turns down the volume. So if you've been drinking too much, eating too much, your brain actually turns down the volume, so you have to drink even more or eat even more just to get back to your normal state.
Interviewer - So what does that mean for someone who's addicted to something and wants to give it up?
Doctor Stork - Well, have you ever noticed how people, when they quit a substance, or a behaviour, they're angry, they're depressed, they're unhappy. The reason is because their brains rely on the 'drug' to make them not only feel good, but to stop them from feeling bad. So this is all a matter of reward centres in the brain, and when you become addicted to a behaviour you are just trying to get that pleasurable feeling, to not feel so bad any more. And that's why it's so difficult to give up, because once you're addicted it's so hard to stop.
Interviewer - If someone wants to give up an addiction, would you recommend that they went cold turkey?
Doctor Stork - Well, it depends on what they 're addicted to, and it also depends on the person. If you're a true alcoholic, to the point where when you stop taking in alcohol you develop severe withdrawal symptoms like seizures or something called delirium tremens, that is a life-threatening condition, so in the hospital we will give people medicines to almost mimic alcohol in the body and slowly wean them off it. They couldn't go cold turkey without it being a serious risk. But food
addiction, you know, if you're addicted to fatty and sugary foods, you ca n't stop eating food, but you can quit that kind of food cold turkey. There's not going to be any problem in your body from doing that. And for some people, stopping smoking cold turkey is the best way to do it, but other people may be dependent on nicotine patches or gum for awhile, or some other substitute.
Interviewer -  I see. What other kind of treatment do addicts need?
Doctor Stork - The best treatment options are multi-pronged, so you may need counselling, and sometimes you may need medication, and it's also vital if you can get support from your family, because these addictive personalities, they tend to push the limits, and they need all the help they can get not to have a relapse, fall back into their bad habits.
Interviewer - Dr Stork, thank you very much.]]> 2018-07-25 02:09:19 UTC https://padlet.com/cet_professionalpathways/GE_C1_M1_W2_V2/wish/271043561