What is Addiction?

Addiction is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as a complex condition, a chronic brain disease that causes compulsive substance use despite harmful consequences.

Addiction treatment

Research on the brain indicates that addiction is about powerful memories, and recovery is a slow process in which the influence of those memories is diminished.   Certain drugs or behaviors trigger the release of the brain chemical dopamine, which in turn creates a reward circuit in the brain. This circuit registers that intense experience as “important” and creates lasting memories of it as a pleasurable experience.  Dopamine changes the brain on a cellular level, commanding the brain to “do it again,” which heightens the possibility of relapse even long after the behavior (or drug) has stopped.

This research on Dopamine explains how someone can become addicted to something even though it is destructive and detrimental in their lives and the lives of those they love. Battling addiction is not simply a matter of will-power, but also is about transforming an individual’s body, mind, and life and creating a new set of experiences for the brain to register as important and pleasurable.

Drug addiction treatment can include medications, behavioral therapies, or their combination.  Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is a revolutionary approach to treating addiction in conjunction with behvioral therapies and medications.

TMS for Addiction

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) is being heralded as the treatment modality of the future to treat many neurological and psychological conditions.

Multiple studies suggest that repeated sessions of high frequency rTMS over the Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) may be most effective in reducing the level of smoking and alcohol consumption.  This review indicates that rTMS is a promising modality for treating drug addiction.

National Institute of Drug Abuse provides a detailed overview of Addiction science and the molecular and cellular changes occurring in the brain of someone suffering from addiction.