Question

Why do some people crave drugs more than others?

Answer 1

It is true that some people crave for drug more than others. Actually most of the people are using drugs, but not everyone have a crave to drugs. At the same time others compulsively 'want' this drugs. It may be because of many reasons.

1. Wanting:

Wanting is an excessive desire, that is something more than liking. Wanting occurs because of a hormone in our body, known as dopamine. Dopamine is actually a neurotransmitter too. Dopamine makes a surge while using drugs and it make a pleasure feeling in person who use the drug. Later due to dopamine surge the drug become a 'want' for them.

2. Addiction:

Excessive wanting leads to addiction, where the person compulsively take drugs irrespective of its side effects.

3. Involuntary addiction:

For instance a man is taking analgesics for headache routinely for a long period of time. As time passes he may get tolerance or some times his headache is fade off. But irrespective of those things he continue his medication.

There are many studies found that the addiction occurs in some people because of a combination of factors like environment, genetics etc. According to public health adviser at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Maureen Boyle, “Addiction is a combination of your genetics, neurobiology, and how that interacts with psychosocial and social factors.”

According to National Institutes of Health there are some common risk factors that make some more prone to addiction than others.

- children of parents with alcoholism or drug addiction

- people with mental illness. For instance, bipolar disorder, depression etc.

- People who are more sensitive to stimulus