• Question: why do we get addicted to alchahol

    Asked by cammyhappy to Amy, Sarah, Will on 21 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by niamhcarr.
    • Photo: Sarah Martin

      Sarah Martin answered on 21 Jun 2012:

      Hi cammyhappy,

      Our brain contains a reward mechanism of good feelings to reward us for good behaviour that helps us survive – it drives our feelings of motivation, reward and behavior. Its job is to make us feel good or “reward” us when we do things necessary for survival, such as eating and drinking water, so we repeat these behaviours regularly.
      It does the reward bit by releasing a chemical called dopamine. All drugs, including alcohol, stimulate dopamine – and make you feel happy and like you’ve done something really important. This makes sure you repeat taking the drug or drinking the alcohol again and again and again, and feel miserable if you don’t. That’s an addiction.

      Hope this helps!

      Sarah

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