6/13/2018. Behaviors. 3. Participants will learn specific do s and don ts to reduce stigma when they are educating people about addiction

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1 Making Understanding Sense of Addictive Addiction Behavior Behaviors Larry Tyler, M.Ed., LADC, LADC, CCS CCS LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 1.Participants will be able to describe how natural brain functioning can lead people into addiction and relapse 2.Participants will recognize and address underlying concerns family members have about addictive behavior 3. Participants will learn specific do s and don ts to reduce stigma when they are educating people about addiction Parents worrying about the possibility of their children using drugs Parents reacting to their children s drug-influenced behaviors Parents using drugs 1

2 Why do addicts do what they do? Can t they see how they re destroying themselves and others around them? Don t they care about their kids? Don t they ever feel guilty? Everyone knows how dangerous drugs are; why do people get started on them in the first place? Why is it only somepeople get addicted to drugs? How can people even think about going back to drugs after they ve gone through withdrawal? What makes us tick: The limbic system flags outside stimuli, labels emotions and stores memories What makes us tick: The limbic system flags outside stimuli, labels emotions and stores memories The brain releases neurotransmitters (epinephrine, dopamine, endorphins, etc.) to flag events 2

3 What makes us tick: The limbic system flags outside stimuli, labels emotions and stores memories The brain releases neurotransmitters (epinephrine, dopamine, endorphins, etc.) to flag events The prefrontal cortex generates conscious thought; planning, arranging, contemplating, deciding What makes us tick: The limbic system recognizes outside stimuli before the prefrontal cortex does Why is that important? TRAUMATIC EVENT Traumatic Event: High Arousal (sympathetic nervous system) Is followed by Low Arousal (parasympathetic nervous system) 3

4 TRAUMATIC EVENT Traumatic Event: High Arousal (sympathetic nervous system) Is followed by Low Arousal (parasympathetic nervous system) We react quickly and calm down slowly DRUG INTOICATION Traumatic Event: High Arousal (sympathetic nervous system) Is followed by Low Arousal (parasympathetic nervous system) Pleasant effects of drugs are briefer than recovery What is pleasure? The brain s basic function is maintaining homeostasis, not generating happiness Dopamine is our reward, flagging things the brain thinks we should do again Pleasure is meant to be brief but we all try to extend pleasure 4

5 THE HEDONIC SET POINT (The level at which we are aware of pleasure) Normal Level of Dopamine Release 5

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8 What Goes Up Must Come Down It s The Law!! The Brain Flags Pleasurable Experiences So We Will Remember Them And Return To Them But It Doesn t Intend Pleasure To Be Permanent 8

9 Habituation Diminished response to a stimulus after repeated exposure No longer having the desired effect Needing something more or different Tolerance A shift upward in the hedonic set point The Challenges of Recovery Everything you know and do has to change The speed of positive results is going to slow waydown The road back to everything that is familiar and comfortable (i.e., relapse) is quick and easy. Treatment attempts to reverse everything the brain learned in addiction: Reactive the prefrontal cortex Learn/re-learn coping skills Become a social animal Try new things Hope 9

10 Why do addicts do what they do? Can t they see how they re destroying themselves and others around them? Don t they care about their kids? Don t they ever feel guilty? Everyone knows how dangerous drugs are; why do people get started on them in the first place? Why is it only somepeople get addicted to drugs? How can people even think about going back to drugs after they ve gone through withdrawal? The Challenge of Effectively Providing Information and the danger of seizing the teachable moment Precontemplation Don t teach Don t use analogies Develop discrepancy (Talk about yourself) Contemplation Help the person understand Let the person wrestle with doubts Encourage ambivalence Emphasize hope for understanding over hope for recovery 10