Addiction and Stress

By now many of us know that addiction is a chemical response. If you’ve followed any of my articles over the past year you know this, because we’ve discussed the concept that chemical balance not just being important to life and full function, but that it is essential. Addiction is no different (chemically speaking) than sleeping, being happy or being angry. That is, the chemicals produced within the body produce desired responses. But why is it that one person can watch a commercial for deep fried beer battered chili cheese french fries smothered in cheese sauce and have our mouths watering while others watch and feel repulsed to the point of nausea It’s the same commercial, yet there are two completely different outcomes. The difference is perception.

Our experiences in life are what determine our reality, what shapes our personality and what guides our decision making. The emotions we attach to those experiences directly affect the chemical production within our ecosystem (our body). This is why for example, those that find comfort in food will always feel hungry when they perceive a stressful situation. That stressful experience is different in all of us, for some it may be rejection, others may become stressed when faced with multiple tasks, others may be stressed at facing confrontation, etc… The similarity however, is the chemical response.

Within our brain there is a tiny organ called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus produces many many little chemicals called neuropeptides. These neuropeptides are made from small building blocks called amino acids that your body makes to build every cell in your body. These neuropeptides control every response in the human body. From feeling hungry, tired, full, awake, happy, sad, angry, etc… Once these neuropeptides are produced they find their way to their target cells through the blood stream. Each and every cell has receptors shaped for different peptides (think of a peptide as a key and the receptor as the lock). When the appropriate peptide finds its correlating receptor, it combines and provides direction to that cell. Therefore, the cell is the smallest particle in the human body to exhibit consciousness. That is, the peptide receptor combination allows the cell to take appropriate action and it does so as a living independant entity. That cell then communicates back to the brain what actions must be taken (i.e. a stress response triggering a peptide to release, finding its way to the gut, combining with a cell, the cell then tells the brain “we’re hungry” and even if you’re not in need of food, your brain will produce chemicals stimulating hunger). This is how we become addicted. These conscious cells independently tell the brain “we’re hungry, we’re depressed, we’re tired, we’re lustful.” The cells are screaming for their “fix.” When this happens, the brain accesses past experiences triggering the frontal cortex of the brain (the lobe particularly concerned with emotion) creating another imprint and linking that experience with the need for whatever desire the cell is asking for. We then will seek situations where our frontal lobe will be triggered again to produce the chemicals needed facilitate getting “a fix.” This is how addiction manifests. This phenomenon has been further proved in labs animals.

These animals had electrodes attached to the regions of their brain responsible for peptide production. They were then trained to press a button that would stimulate this peptide production. What they found was that when given the choice of food, sex, water, etc… or the peptide release they chose the button for the peptide. In fact they chose this peptide fix to the point of collapse. In other words the animals would rather seek their fix before they would even consider taking care of themselves physically or mentally. This phenomenon is exactly what happens in human beings and how we become addicted to stress. We become so enamered with satisfying the cells, based on the experiences we’ve had that we don’t quit the stressful job we hate, we don’t work out because our needs of satisfaction are too great. In summation stress keeps us from achieving health and success due to our frontal lobe being clouded with an overwhelming need. And since our frontal lobe is concerned with emotion and decision making we’re going to make the wrong choices. So how do we create change if we have this chemical addiction to stress?

The only way to break this chain of addiction is to show the cells they are not dependent on that fix. Simply, we have to break the pattern and create a new experience and perception connection. We must become another person for a brief time, only for long enough to make an impression. This often does not happen in one shot. And what’s a simple way to create this new positive influence? Well how is it you suppose the hypothalamus knows what chemicals to produce? And how do those peptides know which cells to travel to? And how do you suppose those cells communicate with the brain and then brain then influencing the cells and our lives? That’s right, your NERVOUS SYSTEM!!!!! And what profession positively influences the connection of the brain and body via the nervous system? CHIROPRACTIC!!! And what’s fantastic is the fact that there was a great study done showing that when chiropractic was combined with rehab treatment addicts had 100% success in recovery. Nope that’s not a typo, when the communication between the brain and body was restored and allowed to create a postive emotional connection 100% of the people had success. This link will provide some more hilights of the study that was also featured on Discovery Health!

So in this time of year when stress levels are high and our lives become more about getting by rather than being our best don’t forget to look to chiropractic to allow that pattern to be broken. Be at your best as often as possible and stop being addicted to stress.