Emily McDonald

Because I'm like, oh, I liked it.

But also I had all these other maladaptive behaviors of partying and drinking and doing all those things.

Right.

It's kind of seeking out something outside of you to make you feel better.

Because that's what all drugs of abuse boost dopamine in the reward centers of the brain.

All of them.

But what's so interesting about drugs, especially addictive drugs, is that it's only in the beginning that they make you feel good.

And then over time, your dopamine system actually shifts to where you don't even necessarily get that pleasure from doing it anymore.

You're actually just doing it to avoid discomfort.

And that's when addiction really sets in is over time, it's not I'm hitting the vape because it feels good and I'm getting dopamine.

It's I'm hitting it because I'm anxious if I don't.

And that sort of starts to happen right when our brain becomes dependent and our neurochemistry actually adapts to using this drug because that's what it does.

It adapts.

Over time, your receptors sort of learn this new behavior.

It's like, okay, if we're always getting dopamine from this, let me downregulate dopamine receptors.

And

That way we're less sensitive to it.

And now it's like you literally need the drug to get that pleasurable experience.

And then you start to, yeah, so your brain literally becomes dependent on that thing in order to maintain a baseline homeostatic state.

And then that's where withdrawal happens when you don't have it.