The Addicted Brain

How does the human brain develop an addiction? The extremely high prevalence rates for disorders such as alcohol use disorder or drug use disorder (1 in 3 AUD lifetime prevalence, 1 in 10 DUD lifetime prevalence) suggests that addiction is not simply a disease but is instead a natural brain process that each and every one of us is susceptible to. The fascinating thing that is unraveling in the research is that the brain processes that lead to addiction are not drug or alcohol specific but instead are involved in every form of addiction (gambling, sex, shopping, technology... etc).