Introduction

Opioid Addiction

Oxycodone, a type of pain killer, was commonly used by physicians to help their patients mitigate pain. However, oxycodone is extremely addictive and patients began to build a tolerance to the drug, which required them to need higher doses to manage their symptoms.

In addition to oxycodone, other more deadly opioid drugs like fentanyl gained popularity. As of 2023, 3 million Americans are addicted to opioids.

A misconception about people with an opioid addiction is that it is a behavioral problem, but realistically, people with addictions have experienced biochemical changes related to how their brain creates and regulates molecules, like dopamine. Although dopamine is not an opioid, its levels increase when our brain processes opioid molecules, whether they are natural opioids that our body produces or synthetic pharmaceutical ones.

Dopamine’s Role in Addiction

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is part of our motivational system, and is commonly referred to as the “feel good molecule”. Specifically, dopamine helps to heighten positive feelings and motivate us toward certain behavioral outcomes. The feelings that you experience when you just have to eat some ice cream or have to buy a certain item, those feelings are generated by the neurons that secrete dopamine. When the desired action is completed, a pulse of dopamine is released by the axons of specific neurons. Those released dopamine molecules travel to the dendrites of neighboring neurons and send messages of their own, which tends to cause a subsequent sequence of firing neurons in your brain. This event results in a feeling of relief and satisfaction.

Since dopamine is part of our motivational system, it also plays a role in mitigating pain. Unusually high levels of dopamine leads to feelings of euphoria, while unusually low levels of dopamine leads to feelings of dysphoria. When an individual takes synthetic pharmaceutical opioids over a long period of time, it changes the amount of dopamine that is needed for normal pain relief and neurobiological reward responses. Therefore, an individual becomes unable to produce an adequate amount of dopamine needed for regular functioning. This individual then is at risk of becoming dopamine deficient at levels of dopamine that they are able to naturally produce. If the dopamine deficiency is related to the constant consumption of opioids that helps to maintain a certain dopamine level, the removal of this external supply of dopamine can have a negative impact. An individual can experience intense withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, shakiness, muscle pains, and anxiety. For individuals with an opioid addiction, it can take years for the brain to recover.