Making a bad thing worse: adverse effects of stress on drug addiction (2008)

[Jatelka]

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Journal of Clinical Investigation 2008 Feb;118(2):454-61

Cleck JN, Blendy JA.

Sustained exposure to various psychological stressors can exacerbate neuropsychiatric disorders, including drug addiction. Addiction is a chronic brain disease in which individuals cannot control their need for drugs, despite negative health and social consequences. The brains of addicted individuals are altered and respond very differently to stress than those of individuals who are not addicted. In this Review, we highlight some of the common effects of stress and drugs of abuse throughout the addiction cycle. We also discuss both animal and human studies that suggest treating the stress-related aspects of drug addiction is likely to be an important contributing factor to a long-lasting recovery from this disorder.

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[cyndi]

I totally agree. One of my biggest triggers for relapse is stress. When one is faced with a stressful situation, instead of dealing with it the brain tells us to use since that has been our coping mechanism for so long. Addiction is not logical by any means. In my opinion all logic just goes out the window since I know I have used and thought what was the sense of that? I have to recognize it for what it is and being educated on stress as a trigger will prepare me for the next speedbump down the road. However, with that said, it can blindside me and I have been known to say screw it and relapse. Good article on this subject.

[ai]

stress is a big one. i think that's why exercise should be a big part of any one's recovery. if I did not exercise the way I do I have no doubt I would have relaspsed by now. there were times I'd be so stressed out, and just get on the bike and by the time I am done I feel great about myself again. I can't imagine just stewwing in problem after problem without using eventually