The Psychology of Drug Abuse

The abuse of drugs is considered the self-administration of a substance in a manner contrary to medical protocol or societal norms. There are a considerable number of reasons why someone chooses to take and abuse drugs: genetic propensity, physiological motives, coping mechanisms for emotional or physical pain, social acceptance, etc. Exploring some of these reasons will reveal some of the subjective psychodynamics of drug abuse.

Positive Pleasure

• Narcotic drugs create good feelings. There is the initial euphoric sensation that comes with taking the drug, and then there is the secondary effect associated with the type of drug used. If it is a stimulant (methamphetamine, cocaine), the initial euphoria is followed by inflated feelings of self-confidence and abundant energy; if it is a depressant (opiate drugs, heroin), then the initial euphoria is followed by satisfaction and relaxation. These euphoric properties and physiological effects are collectively known as the "rush."

Reward Center

• The rush derived from the abuse of psychotropic drugs is neurochemically due to the drugs' stimulation of the brain's pleasure reward pathway (PRP), which consists of the ventral tegmental area, the nucleus accumbens and the prefrontal cortex. At the center of this pathway is the neurotransmitter dopamine, which aids in the production and regulation of pleasure. Although each psychotropic substance has a different effect on the PRP, they all act to stimulate it; and when the PRP is stimulated, the release of dopamine is spontaneously increased. The result of this increased dopamine concentration is an instantaneous, though unearned, psychological reward manifested in that rushing sensation of self-gratification, indulgence and inflated ego. Consequently, once the psychological reward is experienced, the brain is wired in such a way that it wants to pursue that reward again.

Protection

• The use of drugs is associated with a psychological need for protection against some sort of personal issue deemed unmanageable. As demonstrated in the National Institute of Drug Abuse's Publication on Theories on Drug Abuse, the use of drugs as a protective system can draw correlations between types of drugs and protective needs. Narcotic and hypnotic drugs are typically used to manage anger, rage, jealousy and shameful feelings, as well as the anxiety that develops alongside these emotions. Stimulants are typically deployed to counter feelings of weakness, inadequacy and depression. Psychedelics (hallucinogens) are used to fight boredom, disenchantment and disillusionment. Alcohol is deployed against loneliness, guilt and self-reproach.

Anxieties

• Anxiety is a generalized psychological and physiological condition characterized by unpleasant feelings of fear, worry and uneasiness. Anxiety is not triggered by a single threatening encounter; it is not a fight/flight reaction to present dangers. Instead, anxiety develops as a result of perceived dangers or conflicts, those that are inevitable or uncontrollable. Anxiety is experienced universally, but the degree to which it is experienced and the perceptions on which it is based are different for everyone. For those individuals who interpret their anxieties to be unrelenting, unalterable and irrepressible, or feel they are powerless to decrease or eliminate their sources of anxiety, drug abuse offers a psychological release--a cognitive distortion of reality that gives the user the means of reducing the experience of anxiety.

Compulsion

• Compulsive drug use, a defining condition of drug addiction, is that which is characterized by a substantial subjective psychological imperative to rely on and abuse psychotropic substances despite the consequences (physical, legal, etc.) that such abuse can have. Compulsive drug use is effortless, bound to stimuli, difficult to control and seemingly regulated outside if the user's awareness. This behavior, according to research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology (1998), has been stereotyped as being driven by a psychological craving for the substance. The research suggests, alternatively, that the psychological impetus behind compulsive drug abuse could be explained as a manifestation of automaticity: an automated performance of motor skills and cognitive abilities that develops as a result of repeated practice.