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Posts Tagged ‘pebe sebert’

Ke$ ha's mother checks into same rehab facility as daughter
Ke$ ha's mother Pebe Sebert has checked into the same rehab facility as her daughter. Ke$ ha is currently seeking treatment for an eating disorder at Timberline Knolls near Chicago, after entering the center on January 3. Ke$ ha at the American Music … Read more on Digital Spy

Dr. Patricia Pitts Elaborates on Good Morning America Expert Feature
Eating disorder expert Dr. Patricia Pitts, Ph.D., CEO & Clinical Director of The Bella Vita, was featured on ABC's Good Morning America's January 5, 2014 segment, “Kesha Battles Eating Disorder, Checks Into Rehab.” Dr. Pitts' brief sound bite, “In her … Read more on PR Web (press release)

Question by *TiGeR MoTh*: when someone is addicted to something does it have a chemical mechanism?
Like when some one is addicted to drugs, does it have a chemical mechanism, or is it because that person mind got use to that??

Best answer:

Answer by GattacaAmbition
The short answer is yes. Most literature on the subject now differentiates between physical and psychological addiction. Both in a way involve chemical signaling.

With a physical addiction, chronic use of the substance in question causes physical withdrawal signs in the absence of the drug. The body tries to keep certain parameters roughly stable (e.g. blood pressure, brain activity, hormone levels) and many drugs depress or elevate these processes. Thus if you suddenly stop, the body has already adjusted to having the drug. The severity of these effects varies with the drug used.

For example in a heavy drinker, alcohol chemically depresses the brain and body, the body adapts by producing more of some stimulatory chemicals, such as epinephrine/adrenaline & NMDA (increases brain activity), and less of some depressive chemicals, such as GABA (decreases brain and muscle activity). Thus if this person stops drinking suddenly the body has way too much stimulatory chemicals and way too few inhibitory ones. This explains why this person would become anxious, confused, and jumpy. This person could have a raised heart rate and blood pressure, difficulty sleeping, and develop a fever. These rebound effects could cause the person to experience hallucinations, seizures, or even die (from seizures or heart failure).

Besides alcohol, some drugs that cause physical dependence are: barbiturates, benzodiazepines (e.g. valium), nicotine, quaaludes, and steroids.

However, many drugs have a psychological addiction mechanism which is also chemically based. It’s important to realize that these may not cause measurable physical signs of withdrawal (i.e. a doctor wouldn’t be able to measure a difference in your vital signs) or cause death from quitting, but the effect on the individual is still profound. Many drugs act by hijacking the “reward center” of the brain. Normally the brain releases dopamine when you are doing something enjoyable or fun and to help cope with physical pain. Similar to physical addiction, the addicted brain will adjust to this and release less and less dopamine in response to normal “fun” stimuli and require more of the drug to release dopamine. Thus an addicted person would have to take more and more to achieve the same level of dopamine release. When withdrawing the person could experience varying (depending on drug and level of addiction) depression and body pain. Drugs that operate via this mechanism include cocaine & marijuana (to an extent).

Some drugs operate both ways like opioids (e.g. heroine and pain killers) & methamphetamine.

Some drugs don’t really have a clear cut addictive chemical mechanism (that we know of) and may simply be based on the user liking the way they feel on the drug. Many of these are hallucinogens like LSD. Marijuana also is proposed by many to be in this category as it’s effect on dopamine is mild.

So I guess this turned into a long answer, but essentially yes there is a direct chemical mechanism explaining addiction for most of the drugs we think of as addictive.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

Ke$ ha's mom slams alcoholism rumors: Kesha has bulimia, not alcohol addiction
Ke$ ha's mom is furious with rumors that her daughter went to rehab for alcoholism, insisting Ke$ ha is suffering from bulimia — not alcohol or drug addiction. “That's a total lie,” said Pebe Sebert told Celebuzz. “The place she's at is an eating … Read more on Examiner.com

Febfast registration free for an alcohol free February
"Your participation in fundraising for febfast is an important commitment to the prevention of, and response to, alcohol and drug addiction in New Zealand." This year community leaders who have a positive influence on the people around them with be … Read more on Voxy

Ke$ ha doesn't abuse alcohol – mom
The Timber hitmaker's mother, Pebe Sebert, hit back at rumours the star, who checked into a treatment facility near Chicago for 30 days last Friday (3 January), is seeking help for an addiction to alcohol in addition to an eating disorder. Singer … Read more on iAfrica.com

CDC warns doctors to look out for 38 million heavy drinking Americans
America may have an alcohol problem, according to a new government report that calls on doctors to talk to their patients more about heavy drinking. “Drinking too much alcohol has many more health risks than most people realize,” CDC Director Dr. Tom … Read more on CBS News

Drug and alcohol abuse high among Yukon miners
The rate of drug and alcohol abuse among mine workers is high. A recent hospital-needs … “Employers are asking for help with it, the labor organizations are asking for help with it, the workers themselves are asking for help.” Related: AK Beat … Read more on Alaska Dispatch

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