What is going on in my brain? What is the chemical mechanism? Why cant I just tell my brain to stop craving the substance? Why is the addiction removing all of my inhibitions?
This is hell.
In: Biology
TL;DR the body wants to maintain a constant state (homeostasis). When you get excess dopamine (e.g., from booze), you have fun for the moment. However, the body says, “whoa, that was TOO much fun — imma decrease (downregulate) both dopamine (fun) and GABA (inhibitory) receptors in the brain.
When an addict tries to go sober, they face feelings of boredom/pointlessness/etc (lack of dopamine) and anger/anxiety/etc (lack of GABA). This lasts at least a few weeks.
Moreover, booze causes permanent changes in some people — specifically pathways between the pre-frontal cortex and the VTA.
Quitting ain’t easy. In the case of booze, it’s NORMALIZED AF and ubiquitous. It’s f’king FLAMMABLE. It affects every system in the body. It takes an average of 7.3mo to reverse cortical shrinkage. Other symptoms can last YEARS.
Cut people (including yourself) some slack when they struggle. It’s a helluva fight.
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