Mindfulness can erase brain patterns that lock addicts into a cycle of abuse

brain

If addictive behaviors rewire the brain, the challenge is to erase these patterns of behavior.

Addictive substances are known to rewire the brain, but addictive behaviors do as well, according to a new article published in the journal Neuroscience and Behavioral Reviews. It’s not just what is consumed, but what is experienced that can make the brain crave the experience in the same manner it can be taught to crave a drug.

 

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Doctors Ask Patients to Sign ‘Pain Contracts’ to Get Painkillers

pain contracts

Many highly effective, these drugs are dangerous and addictive.

Chronic pain — the kind that lasts for months or recurs regularly – afflicts more than a quarter of adult Americans. Treating pain can be extremely challenging, however, in part because it can’t be measured with instruments. It’s in the eye — or neck or joint — of the beholder.

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Popular Anxiety Drugs Addictive In The Same Way As Heroin

social-anxiety-google

Benzodiazepine drugs can be effective at reducing anxiety but they can also prove addictive.

A popular form of anxiety drugs use the same potentially addictive ‘reward pathways’ in the brain as heroin and cannabis, scientists have warned.  Researchers from Switzerland and the U.S found benzodiazepine drugs such as Valium and Xanax exert a calming effect by boosting the action of a neurotransmitter.

 

Continue reading… “Popular Anxiety Drugs Addictive In The Same Way As Heroin”