Why can’t addicts just stop using?”

Drug addiction drains your wallet, harms your health, changes your personality and ruins relationships. Quitting seems like a simple solution, right?

It’s not quite as easy as you think. Addicts aren’t blind to the negative impact of substance abuse. Many addicts want to stop but find themselves failing time and again at attempts to get clean.

Once addicted, it’s extremely difficult to remain sober without professional help. In addition to physical withdrawal symptoms, addicts cannot function normally throughout the day without using drugs.

What causes this? A lack of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in addiction.

The video above explains what dopamine does, how substances impact dopamine release and why drugs inhibit its natural production.