PSYCHOLOGY: how addiction affects our brain

 

INTRODUCTION

Friends, do you know that the notification system of Instagram is designed in such a way that if you share any picture on Instagram and your friends like it, then Instagram will not show those likes at once. Means for a long time you will be shown 0 likes in it. But when a little more likes will come on those photos. Then Instagram will send us notification.

This will happen after initially posting the photo, we must be thinking that no one has liked it so far, was it such a bad photo. Now it will happen that the feeling of a negative outcome will be triggered in our mind. And after that when the notification of Instagram will come that 50 likes have come on your photo, then we will have extreme positive feelings. And there will be a lot of dopamine release in our brain. And because of this extreme negative and positive feelings, very soon our habit will be formed, and we will go on getting addicted to Instagram.

Friends, the algorithm of all these social media platforms has been designed in such a way that the dopamine reward system of our brain becomes active. And we become addicted to it.

Many neuroscientists claim that social media addiction can be compared to any drug addiction.

And in today's article we are going to discuss that what is that thing which makes us addicted to anything.

Hello friends my name is Abhishek and welcome to study edit.

Friends, if we want to know the reality of addiction, then we must first understand the reward system of our brain. We have to understand how our brain handles pain and pleasure.

THE GAME OF NEUROTRANSMITTER:

Many types of neurotransmitters are present in our brain.

The work of any neurotransmitter is to deliver massage from one place to another in our brain. For example, oxytocin which is called love hormone. And it is released when you are in a relationship with someone.

Serotonin is also called mood stabilizer and its job is to keep your mind stable.

Similarly, Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is present in your brain, and it gives you a feeling of pleasure. And it is released when our brain is expecting some reward.

Earlier scientists used to think that it is just a pleasure chemical. That is, when we are happy, Dopamine is responsible for that. But this is not true. According to the latest research, the happiness we get is actually not due to dopamine but due to endorphins.

Dopamine is actually responsible for motivation and reward. When our brain is expecting some reward.

Let me explain it through example.

Like a tasty pizza is kept in front of you. You haven't even eaten that pizza yet; you just smelled it. That's all enough and dopamine release will start happening in your brain.

Our dopamine brain starts releasing when anything unexpected is happening with us. But when you start getting exposure to the same thing again and again, your brain stops releasing dopamine. And your excitement level goes down.

For example, you like some chocolate, and you get to eat only chocolate every morning and evening for 1 week, then there is a complete guarantee that you will start hating chocolate. Now you will not get the excitement before chocolate. And a chronic dopamine deficit will start to be created in your brain. Where the Dopamine level will start decreasing constantly. Now you have to do something else if you want the same level of excitement.

Now friends, a very good question would have arisen here, whether we have any kind of addiction, be it drug addiction, alcohol addiction or social media addiction. The neurological process that is starting to happen behind all this is all the same, then why don't we get addicted to any productive work like studies or earning money, why get addicted only to things like drugs, cigarettes, alcohol or social media become.

The reason for this is very simple.

HOW ADDICTION HAPPENS:

To create any addiction, it is very important to have these two conditions.

1. Ease of access.

2. Speedy rewards.

If you fulfil these two conditions. So, your brain will start releasing so much dopamine that you will get addicted to that thing.

You can become addicted to earning money only when you have ease of access. There must be an easy way to earn money. And you are getting speedy reward. That is, if you get a lot of money quickly.

And the same thing happens with gamblers who go to the casino and loot money. Because they are getting speedy reward there. But

It is difficult to earn money from your job or business. For that you have to work hard and there you do not get any reward so soon. That's why you cannot become a job addict by yourself.

For example, you want to read a book. You will not get any reward until you read some pages. We need patience to read the book. And maybe that's why we can't get addicted to books or books.

Anna Lembke who is a Psychiatrist at Harvard University. From his research, we come to know that the intelligence of our brain always tries to balance pain & pleasure. And when this balance breaks then only our addiction the story begins. That's why when we participate in any pleasurable activities, it disturbs the balance of pain and pleasure, and our brain goes into addictive mode.

Now as I said that our body always wants to keep things balanced. That's why the more pleasure you feel, the more you will have to feel pain. You have to pay the price of Pleasure with pain.

Anna Lembke says that there is only one way to avoid addiction and that is that we have to accept our pain. Whenever you are getting bored, instead of checking your phone, face that boredom. The good news is that this neurological process of ours can be reset. If we stay away from addictive substances for a long time, then slowly our brain will start getting reset and we will start getting happiness even in small things. So, friends, next time whenever you feel boredom, pain, or loneliness, then face it. Sit there comfortably and do nothing. You cannot reset the rhythm of pain & pleasure of your mind until you learn to be bored. When you feel boredom then only you will be able to listen to yourself, understand and discover something new.

I hope you have liked the article.

thank you very much.