Addiction

Addiction is one of the most misunderstood areas of mental and physical health. The moral framework that dominated public conversation for decades has given way to a neurobiological understanding, addiction is a disorder of the reward system, and it responds to interventions that target the biology directly. This chapter is about what recovery actually involves at the nervous system level.

6 takeaways from this chapter.

• The neurobiology of addiction, dopamine pathways, reward prediction, and why willpower alone rarely works
• Why different substances and behaviours create different neurological profiles of dependence
• The role of sleep, exercise, nutrition, and social connection in recovery outcomes
• Evidence-based pharmacological and behavioural interventions, and how they're actually used
• Nutritional deficiencies common in active and recovering addiction that worsen the process
• Where regulatory and nootropic peptides fit into nervous system rebuilding during recovery

Anyone in early or long-term recovery wanting to understand what's happening in their brain biologically. Family members and partners of people in recovery. Anyone recognising early patterns of dependence, alcohol, substances, behaviours, and wanting to understand the biology before crisis forces the conversation.

Part of The Body Blueprint, 41 chapters across every system that matters. £6 per chapter, or £29 for the full bundle (save £217).