Never Enough Buchzusammenfassung - das Wichtigste aus Never Enough

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Zusammenfassung von Never Enough

Name: Never Enough
Rating: 4.3 (213 reviews)
Author: Judith Grisel

Judith Grisel

The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction

4.3 (213 Bewertungen)

23 Min.

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Never Enough
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What’s in it for me? Kick addictive habits by understanding how addiction works.

Most people get their start with addictive substances by experimenting with cigarettes at the school gate or learning what beer tastes like – usually with no grave consequences. But for others, the allure of harder, illegal drugs like cocaine or opiates might prove too much.

The truth is, it doesn’t really matter whether the drugs are illegal or not. They all affect brain chemistry, and if you don’t know how they or you as an individual operate, you might find yourself hopelessly addicted.

In these blinks, we’ll take a deep dive into our brains. We’ll figure out why drugs feel so good but also why they so often lead to addiction and destruction.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why weed makes everything better;
how being mauled by a tiger might leave you feeling pretty mellow; and
why users of tranquilizers always feel the need to “increase the dose.”

Addiction stems from the brain's nucleus accumbens and how it responds to drugs.

The story of our understanding of addiction begins in 1954, when Canadian psychologists James Olds and Peter Milner were conducting experiments on rats to understand how brains respond to stimuli.

They began by anesthetizing a rat and implanting an electrode in its brain. Once the rat regained consciousness, they used a gentle electrical current to stimulate its nucleus accumbens, a region of the brain located near the lower part of the frontal lobe. Now, the pair didn’t switch the electrical current on and off at random; rather, they delivered a small zap when the rat was in a particular corner of its cage. Before long, the rat began persistently returning to this corner, in need of its hit of electric stimulation.

The conclusion was obvious: the nucleus accumbens must be the brain’s reward center. The experiment sounds simple enough, but what Olds and Milner discovered unlocked a deeper understanding of drugs and addiction.

Developing the research further, their experiments ultimately demonstrated that drugs do to human brains what those zaps did to the brains of rats. They stimulate the nucleus accumbens. This, in turn, triggers the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that creates pleasurable feelings. The result is that humans, like those lab rats, keep coming back for more.

But the brain’s hardwiring is only part of why drugs are so addictive. As the drug consumer gradually gets hooked, another process is at work; it’s called habituation, and it’s what makes life seriously tough for addicts.

The brain doesn’t only release dopamine in response to drug consumption; it also produces hormones or neurotransmitters whose effect is the exact opposite of that induced by the drug. This is the body’s attempt to balance its internal systems and maintain equilibrium. If you’re a morning coffee drinker, then you’re probably familiar with habituation. The day’s first cup will fire up your brain activity, but this initial burst is soon followed by a decrease in that activity.

So, if you drink coffee regularly, the baseline activity in your brain is reduced, making it harder to wake yourself up unless you’ve had your daily cup.

Habituation is a major element in addiction: once the body’s used to a particular drug, it becomes very difficult to go without it.

In the grand scheme of things, coffee’s not so potent, so let’s take a look at some other drugs that are.

THC stimulates the whole brain and makes us feel that everything is a little special.

Each one of us is unique. Not in a wishy-washy, we’re-all-special sort of way. No, every human is literally chemically unique, which means every human will have a different chemical response to a given drug. This is why some people love alcohol while others abhor the stuff.

As for the author, her favorite drug is marijuana. If she were stranded on a desert island and only had access to one stimulant, it would be that.

Opiates function like the body’s own painkillers, but consuming them can be seriously dangerous.

Think of tragedy and the first thing to come to mind might be Romeo and Juliet or Oedipus Rex. But in the real world, tragedy is all around us – and opiates are among the drugs with the most tragic effects.

Opiates are brutal. They make you feel secure and loved, but then they wear off, leaving you feeling as though you’ve been abandoned on the moon with no oxygen supply. How?

Some people are at greater risk of developing alcoholism than others.

The drug in common use around you is likely perfectly legal – alcohol. Drinking is so normalized in many societies that, for most people, socializing and a glass or two of something strong go hand in hand.

It’s easy to overlook the fact that it’s exactly these sorts of drinkers who are at risk of succumbing to alcoholism.

Cocaine affects neural communications in an interesting way, but it’s highly addictive.

It’s been years since the author had a drink or even a smoke. But she still longs for the feeling of relaxation associated with these social drugs. In contrast, when she stopped using cocaine, it may have been hard, but it was worth it. She was filled with a feeling of relief akin to leaving an abusive partner.

You don’t need to hear the author’s experience to know that cocaine is a devastating drug, but what makes it so destructive? Let’s look at how cocaine works.

Tranquilizers calm users by affecting specific cell receptors, but they, too, are highly addictive.

Marilyn Monroe, Jimi Hendrix and Michael Jackson all died from overdoses. Although their deaths were tragic and widely covered in the press, they weren’t seen as scandalous. That’s because they happened to be using tranquilizers: drugs such as Nembutal, Vesparax or Propofol.

Tranquilizers, which are also known as sedatives, have had a certain respectability attached to them. But they’re in need of a closer look. Tranquilizers slow and relax the nervous system by imitating the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid – or GABA, for short.

There is a genetic component to addiction, and epigenetics might also play a part.

Falling into the trap of substance abuse is not fun. No wonder, then, that many people ask why they were the unlucky ones. It’s tempting to think that it’s a matter of character, that people who are stronger can avoid addiction. But that’s not exactly true.

Some people are simply more at risk of becoming addicts because of who they are. That’s to say, there’s a genetic element to addiction.

Early exposure to drugs is dangerous, and adolescents are particularly at risk.

So far, we’ve seen that both inherited genetic and epigenetic characteristics account for addictive behaviors. But that’s not all that’s going on.

When it comes to drugs, it’s important to consider upbringing and environment, which can also put children and teenagers at heightened risk of drug abuse.

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Worum geht es in Never Enough?

Never Enough (2019) is about drugs and addiction. The author explores the science behind drugs ranging from alcohol to cocaine and explains why certain people are more prone to addiction than others.

Bestes Zitat aus Never Enough

An addict doesnt drink coffee because she is tired; she is tired because she drinks coffee.

—Judith Grisel

Wer Never Enough lesen sollte

Drug addicts, including alcoholics and smokers
Psychologists and health professionals
Relatives and friends of addicts

Über den Autor

Judith Grisel is a neuroscientist and psychologist based at the University of Bucknell in Pennsylvania. Before her successful academic career, Grisel was a drug addict. Her personal experience with addiction and overcoming it has informed her professional approach and her writing.

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