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20 Aug 2011, 2:54 pm
Interesting new study/analysis by ASAM ( the American Society of Addiction Medecine ) at: http://www.asam.org/DefinitionofAddicti ... rsion.html
Quote:
Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Addiction affects neurotransmission and interactions within reward structures of the brain, including the nucleus accumbens, anterior cingulate cortex, basal forebrain and amygdala, such that motivational hierarchies are altered and addictive behaviors, which may or may not include alcohol and other drug use, supplant healthy, self-care related behaviors. Addiction also affects neurotransmission and interactions between cortical and hippocampal circuits and brain reward structures, such that the memory of previous exposures to rewards (such as food, sex, alcohol and other drugs) leads to a biological and behavioral response to external cues, in turn triggering craving and/or engagement in addictive behaviors.
Quote:
In addiction there is a significant impairment in executive functioning, which manifests in problems with perception, learning, impulse control, compulsivity, and judgment. People with addiction often manifest a lower readiness to change their dysfunctional behaviors despite mounting concerns expressed by significant others in their lives; and display an apparent lack of appreciation of the magnitude of cumulative problems and complications. The still developing frontal lobes of adolescents may both compound these deficits in executive functioning and predispose youngsters to engage in “high risk” behaviors, including engaging in alcohol or other drug use. The profound drive or craving to use substances or engage in apparently rewarding behaviors, which is seen in many patients with addiction, underscores the compulsive or avolitional aspect of this disease. This is the connection with “powerlessness” over addiction and “unmanageability” of life, as is described in Step 1 of 12 Steps programs.
Quote:
Addiction is more than a behavioral disorder. Features of addiction include aspects of a person’s behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and interactions with others, including a person’s ability to relate to members of their family, to members of their community, to their own psychological state, and to things that transcend their daily experience.
Quote:
Behavioral manifestations and complications of addiction, primarily due to impaired control, can include:
Excessive use and/or engagement in addictive behaviors, at higher frequencies and/or quantities than the person intended, often associated with a persistent desire for and unsuccessful attempts at behavioral control;
Excessive time lost in substance use or recovering from the effects of substance use and/or engagement in addictive behaviors, with significant adverse impact on social and occupational functioning (e.g. the development of interpersonal relationship problems or the neglect of responsibilities at home, school or work);
Continued use and/or engagement in addictive behaviors, despite the presence of persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problems which may have been caused or exacerbated by substance use and/or related addictive behaviors;
A narrowing of the behavioral repertoire focusing on rewards that are part of addiction; and
An apparent lack of ability and/or readiness to take consistent, ameliorative action despite recognition of problems.
Cognitive changes in addiction can include:
Preoccupation with substance use;
Altered evaluations of the relative benefits and detriments associated with drugs or rewarding behaviors; and
The inaccurate belief that problems experienced in one’s life are attributable to other causes rather than being a predictable consequence of addiction.
Emotional changes in addiction can include:
Increased anxiety, dysphoria and emotional pain;
Increased sensitivity to stressors associated with the recruitment of brain stress systems, such that “things seem more stressful” as a result; and
Difficulty in identifying feelings, distinguishing between feelings and the bodily sensations of emotional arousal, and describing feelings to other people (sometimes referred to as alexithymia).
Excessive use and/or engagement in addictive behaviors, at higher frequencies and/or quantities than the person intended, often associated with a persistent desire for and unsuccessful attempts at behavioral control;
Excessive time lost in substance use or recovering from the effects of substance use and/or engagement in addictive behaviors, with significant adverse impact on social and occupational functioning (e.g. the development of interpersonal relationship problems or the neglect of responsibilities at home, school or work);
Continued use and/or engagement in addictive behaviors, despite the presence of persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problems which may have been caused or exacerbated by substance use and/or related addictive behaviors;
A narrowing of the behavioral repertoire focusing on rewards that are part of addiction; and
An apparent lack of ability and/or readiness to take consistent, ameliorative action despite recognition of problems.
Cognitive changes in addiction can include:
Preoccupation with substance use;
Altered evaluations of the relative benefits and detriments associated with drugs or rewarding behaviors; and
The inaccurate belief that problems experienced in one’s life are attributable to other causes rather than being a predictable consequence of addiction.
Emotional changes in addiction can include:
Increased anxiety, dysphoria and emotional pain;
Increased sensitivity to stressors associated with the recruitment of brain stress systems, such that “things seem more stressful” as a result; and
Difficulty in identifying feelings, distinguishing between feelings and the bodily sensations of emotional arousal, and describing feelings to other people (sometimes referred to as alexithymia).
I am struck by the number of similarities between this diagnosis/description of "symptoms", and those experienced by a sizeable subgroup of people on the Autism Spectrum.
... Particularly in the light of a study which came out in April 2010 showing that a subgroup, ( about 36%, over a third ) of people on the spectrum have unusually permeable intestinal walls, ( compared to about 5% of the general pop ) which enables the passage of abnormally high quantities of the opioids present in dairy and glutenous grains/cereals like wheat.
[ Gluten is not only an opioid but is also the largest food molecule that we eat, and is usually broken down into smaller inactive components before passing from the intestines into the blood, brain etc, but in people with unusually permeable intestinal walls such large molecules can and do pass through in their fully active state. ]
And of course many/most people in the west eat wheat and dairy from earliest infancy, ... ... ... and this ASAM study suggests that although addiction is partly genetically determined it is also determined by the age at which a person is first exposed to substances like nictotine, alcohol, and opiates, which affect/alter the balance of the brain's reward system.
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Mindslave
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20 Aug 2011, 3:59 pm
20 Aug 2011, 6:28 pm
John_Browning
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20 Aug 2011, 6:50 pm
ouinon wrote:
I am struck by the number of similarities between this diagnosis/description of "symptoms", and those experienced by a sizeable subgroup of people on the Autism Spectrum.
... Particularly in the light of a study which came out in April 2010 showing that a subgroup, ( about 36%, over a third ) of people on the spectrum have unusually permeable intestinal walls, ( compared to about 5% of the general pop ) which enables the passage of abnormally high quantities of the opioids present in dairy and glutenous grains/cereals like wheat.
[ Gluten is not only an opioid but is also the largest food molecule that we eat, and is usually broken down into smaller inactive components before passing from the intestines into the blood, brain etc, but in people with unusually permeable intestinal walls such large molecules can and do pass through in their fully active state. ]
And of course many/most people in the west eat wheat and dairy from earliest infancy, ... ... ... and this ASAM study suggests that although addiction is partly genetically determined it is also determined by the age at which a person is first exposed to substances like nictotine, alcohol, and opiates, which affect/alter the balance of the brain's reward system.
... Particularly in the light of a study which came out in April 2010 showing that a subgroup, ( about 36%, over a third ) of people on the spectrum have unusually permeable intestinal walls, ( compared to about 5% of the general pop ) which enables the passage of abnormally high quantities of the opioids present in dairy and glutenous grains/cereals like wheat.
[ Gluten is not only an opioid but is also the largest food molecule that we eat, and is usually broken down into smaller inactive components before passing from the intestines into the blood, brain etc, but in people with unusually permeable intestinal walls such large molecules can and do pass through in their fully active state. ]
And of course many/most people in the west eat wheat and dairy from earliest infancy, ... ... ... and this ASAM study suggests that although addiction is partly genetically determined it is also determined by the age at which a person is first exposed to substances like nictotine, alcohol, and opiates, which affect/alter the balance of the brain's reward system.
I hope they are not going to try and use this to excuse bad behavior in court because the judges hear it so much that it just pisses them off now. They are still responsible for their actions. Not even AA, NA, or similar support groups will accept that as an excuse. They will be accountable to get help before any addictive behavior before it creates legal problems for them.
Opoids naturally occur in all mammal's milks including humans. It is natural for us to be exposed to them and it is perfectly safe. While wheat is not a natural food for humans, it is safe unless someone has some type of allergy. Studies have shown no link between gluten compounds and behavior problems, and the only people making such claims are people like Jenny McCarthy and lunatic fringe cure groups. If they are so concerned abut opoid antagonists in food, they have overlooked a really big one.
jojobean
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20 Aug 2011, 9:14 pm
20 Aug 2011, 9:16 pm
21 Aug 2011, 10:22 am
John_Browning
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22 Aug 2011, 12:06 am
26 Aug 2011, 6:08 am
Sweetleaf
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26 Aug 2011, 10:46 am
26 Aug 2011, 6:30 pm
27 Aug 2011, 2:05 am
I can say in no uncertain terms that I am an addict. That is, I have an addictive personality.
I don't have it all that often, but I'm positively addicted to sex. The thought of it gives my whole body a rush, and the act of it, even more of a rush.
I'm positively addicted to food. When I eat I don't want to stop. I just want to keep eating and eating until I burst.
On a similar note, I'm addicted to sugar. It gives me almost as much of a high as sex. In fact, when I plan a really "good day" for myself, I make sure to include plenty of high-calorie meals along with sex.
I'm addicted to sleep meds. I do not abuse them, but I crave the stoned feeling they give me that lets me drift off to sleep.
Whatever it is about the brain that makes some people this way and other not, well, I am. 
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