I have a question I couldn’t find in the search. I’m not sure if I am wrong with this question, but I thought using methadone in our time awake, it would change us into addiction. If that’s true, why does using it in general aesthesia in a surgery, not do the same thing? When they wake up, why does that not make people into addicts?
Thank you.
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Addiction is a complex thing, and is usually a combination of a bunch of things.
Here are some simplified reasons why you might receive opioids in a medical setting and not become addicted:
1. You’re unconscious. It’s hard to get addicted to something you don’t even remember taking. Even if you experienced withdrawals, your brain wouldn’t connect them to the drug you were administered, so there’s no risk of forming a habit.
2. Opioids don’t usually produce physical withdrawal symptoms immediately and it usually takes prolonged use for them to start to appear. Mental addiction can occur, but again, you would need to be conscious.
3. Addiction has a lot to do with control of administration. Simplified: If *you* take a drug, then your brain knows *you* can take that drug whenever *you* want and so it rewires itself to make you do it. If you have no control over the administration of the drug, then it’s a lot less likely you’ll form a habit.
Real reason though: The brain is really complicated and we’re still just at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding and treating addiction.
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