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Secrets of a Formerly Miserable Wife
Author Diane England, Ph.D. has the credentials you expect, plus she has 
empathy and speaks from the heart because she has been there, too.

 “Is this How You View Alcoholism?”

Do you view alcoholism and other addictions as a brain disorder? If you don’t, perhaps you should consider doing so. Increasingly, research suggests that genes shape the way an individual experiences alcohol, or genes determine how intoxicating, pleasant, or sedating it is. These things then influence the person’s susceptibility to developing alcohol use disorders.

Neuroscience research is also beginning to reveal how different brain regions contribute to the complex process of addiction. To better understand how this works, it’s important to know that the brain is subdivided into many specialized regions. There are connections between regions called circuits. These circuits, in turn, interact with other circuits to form networks that integrate the functions of the brain.

The pleasurable effects of alcohol, and other drugs to which people become addicted, are mediated by reward circuits of the brain. Following short–term exposure to alcohol, these circuits can return to their normal level of function. With repeated exposure to alcohol, however, the responsiveness of these circuits changes. Research suggests the function of neurotransmitters involved in reward may be reduced during withdrawal from alcohol. Meanwhile, stress–related systems are activated.  

Does the discomfort and distress resulting from persistent changes in brain reward and stress circuits underlie the compelling motivation to drink in those who’ve become alcohol dependent? This appears to be so.

Many researchers believe people are prompted to drink because of alcohol’s stress relieving effect. But while alcohol use may temporarily relieve the symptoms of stress, chronic drinking can lead to problems associated with the abuse of alcohol. For example, heavy alcohol users frequently experience stress related to occupational, social, legal, and financial problems. But sustained alcohol abuse may also exacerbate the adverse effects of stress. It appears it might leave the brain in a state of permanent physiological stress.

This effect may help explain why alcoholics are likely to relapse during stressful life events, even after years of abstinence.

Through basic neuroscience research, scientists are gaining a better understanding of how a process called neuroadaptation sets the stage for alcohol addiction, and how stress can influence both dependence and relapse. Effective new medications for alcoholism will requires a strategy that takes into account different possible interactions of alcohol with the brain, as well as the genetically determined variability among individuals.

 Let’s now look at how the process of neuroadaptation works.

        Here’s How Chronic Alcohol Use Interferes           with Brain Cell Communication

Networks of brain cells perform the brain’s essential functions which include storing information, regulating basic body functions, and directing behavior. These brain networks require communication from cell to cell by means of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are released into narrow gaps, or synapses, between cells. Next, these neurotransmitters cross the synapse and activate proteins called receptors. Receptor activation, in turn, leads to a series of molecular interactions within the receiving cell.

Some of the molecular interactions are short–term. They remain localized to the area of the cell containing the receptors. But other interactions result in lasting changes. Furthermore, such changes can occur at multiple locations throughout the cell. Such changes are exhibited through protein expression, structure, and composition.

The short–term acute effects of alcohol, including intoxication, are caused primarily by temporary and reversible changes in specific receptors and the associated molecules. But again, with repeated or chronic alcohol exposure, long–lasting changes actually occur in receptors and the series of chemical interactions they signal.

Neuroscientists have discovered that these changes in receptors are only one example of many permanent changes in the brain caused by alcohol. They suspect there are changes at many different levels. These would include the genetically directed production of critical proteins as well as physical changes in the structure of the cells on both sides of the synapse. In other words, there are changes in both the signaling and the receiving cell.

Scientists refer to all such changes as neuroadaptation. Furthermore, they now believe that  neuroadaptation is associated with the development o alcohol tolerance in the individual, or the need to drink more alcohol to achieve the same level of intoxication that once was achieved with much less alcohol intake. But they also link neuroadaptation with both the symptoms of withdrawal and the persistent sense of discomfort the alcoholic experiences— the cravings-- that can lead to relapse even after long periods of abstinence.

What Treatments Might Neuroscience Suggest?

Scientists are developing medications that potentially could target both the acute responses to alcohol and the neuroadaptations that can accompany chronic drinking. Medications may help by targeting specific receptor types, impacting the series of chemical reactions set off by receptor activation, or through the production of critical protein enzymes which are involved in these processes within cells. Of course, not everyone will respond to these drugs in the same way. Different subtypes of alcoholics have different genetically determined traits shaping their response to alcohol—as well as underlying their vulnerability to alcohol problems.

A variety of drugs might be needed. Then, it might be possible to target treatment according to a person’s individual biology.

Disclaimer: This how-to and self-help relationship advice and information for women about narcissism, addictions and abuse should be considered educational or inspirational—a guide or directory to things to consider and inform questions to ask a professional you contact for sound advice. It is not a substitute for marriage counseling, individual therapy, or legal advice. Women coping with domestic violence such as emotional abuse, verbal abuse, and/or sexual abuse—even where no physical abuse is present—are encouraged to seek professional help for treatment of depression, anxiety, self esteem, and other likely associated issues.

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