Genes
The percentage that alcoholism or other drug addiction may pass onto the next generation
How much is 50%?
One of the primary chemicals involved with reward or pleasure
"What is Dopamine?"
The primary neurochemical involved with memory
"What is Glutamate?"
3 things can cause relapse: drugs, drug cues, and "blank"
"Stress" or "CRF"
Relapse is a process under way long before the "blank" is ever aware of it.
"Addict"
The capacity for "blank" can also be passed down genetically
What is "Recovery?"
Dopamine tells the brain when a reward is... "blank"
"What is Better Than Expected?"
Glutamate can lay down memories of natural rewards like "blank"
Food, Madeleine Cookies
Stress acts as a "blank"-reward system.
"Anti"
(counteracts dopamine levels when they get too high to keep use right-sized)
Dopamine (Reward) is important in the early stages of addiction, but the final common pathway in addiction is "blank" (Memory)
"Glutamate"
A genetic "low-responder" compared to a "high-responder" means that one is much more likely to cross that line of non-addict and into "blank"
"What is an Addict?"
These cause higher spikes of Dopamine in the brain, higher than the brain was ever meant to handle
"What are Drugs?"
Memories of drugs can be locked together and associated with "blank..."
resulting in involuntary craving or drug-wanting...
People, Places, and Things
Similar to homeostasis, our dopamine levels are balanced by CRF thanks to the "blank."
"Hedonic Set Point"
Long before the brain can even process "choice," these other 4 variables affect choice at an unconscious level:
Genes, Reward, Memory, Stress
When it comes to environmental challenges, some people have "blank" genes
"What is Resilient?"
The "Dopamine Hypothesis" states that if a person has a problem with one drug...
"They are likely to have a problem with all drugs."
Extra Credit: Cross-Addiction with Behaviors
Drugs and other addictive behaviors can lock into your memory as having a "blank" survival value, even though it doesn't deserve that survival value.
"Higher"
"The process of regaining stability through change."
What is "Allostasis?"
Hypofrontality (imbalance between survival brain and logical brain) gives a powerful tool to addiction to protect itself, and that is called "blank."
"Craving"
Hard rock (resilient genetics) vs. soft rock (non-resilient) formations, which is better?
Neither! (Rock shaped by water = beauty/change)
Prolonged substance abuse or other ways of spiking dopamine levels results in this
"Inability to experience pleasure from normally pleasurable things"
"What is Anhedonia"
A pathological over-learning of the drug is no longer just a memory, it is a "blank"-memory
"Hyper"
Can be permanent, leaving the addict vulnerable to relapse even years after getting sober
Allostasis resets the brain's hedonic set point which is good, but at a cost, such as the TEMPORARY loss of pleasure from normally pleasurable things known as "blank."
What is "Anhedonia?"
Is addiction a disease or a choice?
It is a "Disease of Choice."