Legacy Healing Center Blog

Learn why a physical addiction to meth is so powerful with info from Legacy Healing Center.

A physical addiction to meth is one of the hardest things to break, as it is an extremely addictive and powerful drug. The substance becomes crippling to its users and can overtake their life quickly. Originally designed in the early 1900s, it was later used as a substance to keep soldiers awake and focused during WWII.

It soon became used as a diet pill and a stimulant to keep drivers, athletes, and students awake. Soon enough, however, people started to abuse the drug in order to obtain more of its effects.

Because of how easy it is to make the drug, in recent decades drug gangs, have sold this highly addictive drug on the streets for an enormous profit. Because of its mechanism in the brain, physical addiction to meth happens quickly and is the starting point to a downward journey.

Meth Addiction and the Brain

You may be wondering what makes meth so powerful and how can someone so easily succumb to a meth addiction? For starters, when someone introduces meth into the body, it causes the brain to release a tremendous surge of dopamine and adrenaline from the brain.

These chemicals are often called the “feel-good” chemicals and they cause someone to feel an extreme amount of pleasure. Our body can also release these “feel-good” chemicals from things that cause us pleasure such as from food or sex, but in very small amounts as compared to meth. This incredible surge from meth is instantly habit-forming and extremely dangerous.

Once someone who has used meth comes down from this surge of dopamine and adrenaline, they will want to feel it again, however, the more they keep using meth, the more they are destroying the brain’s dopamine receptors.

This means using meth won’t get them high anymore as their brains cannot pump out dopamine like it used to. This is why meth addiction recovery is so important, and the sooner the better, as the longer someone uses the drug (and the more they use) could put them at permanent risk of brain receptor impairment.

Meth Addiction Treatment

It’s no secret that addiction to meth can destroy someone’s life. In addition to affecting the brain’s receptors, the drug also negatively affects the user in many other ways.

Some of the most common physical effects of meth include weight loss (as the drug also shuts down the brain’s hunger signals to the body), severe tooth decay, kidney and liver damage, heart attacks and stroke, increased body temperature, rapid heartbeat, insomnia, hallucinations, mood swings and erratic behavior, seizures and more.

The good news is that meth addiction treatment is available and can help get you or someone you love on the road to recovery. Trying to overcome a physical addiction to meth should never be done on one’s own.

Consider a drug detox program that can help you safely detox from meth and get the chemicals and toxins removed from your body in a safe environment, under proper medical care. Meth withdrawal can typically happen after not using the drug for more than 24 hours and can bring on intense cravings, depression, agitation and mood swings.

In addition, insomnia and extreme fatigue can take place. This is why it is important to be under the care of trained medical professionals who can help you through the withdrawal symptoms.

Your meth addiction recovery plan can continue after detox by entering into an in or outpatient rehabilitation program. Through counseling, education, group sessions, and more, you can become sober and begin to get your life back on track.

Learn more about meth addiction treatment and potential detox and rehab programs at Legacy Healing Center. Our trained drug addiction specialists can tell you about the program and help you get enrolled by calling us today at 888-597-3547.