Addiction
Anyone who takes opioids is at risk of developing addiction. Your personal history and the length of time you use opioids play a role, but it's impossible to predict who's vulnerable to eventual dependence on and abuse of these drugs. Legal or illegal, stolen and shared, these drugs are responsible for the majority of overdose deaths in the U.S. today.
Opioids are powerful painkillers and are commonly used to manage severe pain. Continuous use, however, may lead to tolerance and dependence. Addiction is a condition in which something that started as pleasurable now feels like something you can't live without. Opioids slow down breathing and overdose can be FATAL.
Heroin and morphine are highly popular among recreational users.
How opioid addiction occurs?
Dopamine is at the basis of the brain reward pathway. Engaging in enjoyable activities causes dopamine release from dopamine-producing neurons into the synaptic space where it binds to and stimulates dopamine-receptors on the receiving neuron. This stimulation is to produces pleasurable feelings or rewarding effects. Continued use of opioids can result in dependence and addiction. As the body gets used to the euphoric effects of the drug, it may become irritated if drug use is reduced or discontinued.
The reaction of the body
Tolerance develops following a typical sequence of events. A drug exerts its effect by increasing or decreasing a certain substance or activity in the brain to an ABNORMALLY high or low level. Repeated exposure maintains this abnormal level for some time. The brain eventually ADAPTS by pulling it BACK to a NORMAL level. This means the drug, at the current dosage, NO longer produces the desirable psychoactive effect; a higher dose is required to do so. This vicious cycle repeats itself and eventually leads to a drug overdose.
Be aware not caught in a vicious circle
