Introduction
Drug addiction is one of the critical problems of the modern age. Nowadays, the number of people who consume drugs remains high. At the same time, the attempts to control the problem often fail. One of the factors explaining the extreme sophistication and difficulty of the problem is the potent influence opioids have on the body. They affect specific receptors in the brain, called opioid receptors, and alter how a person feels and behaves. As a result, an individual acquires an irresistible desire to repeat the experience, while physiological dependence is also formed. For this reason, understanding the role receptors play in the formation of addiction might help to select effective measures to struggle against it.
Types of Opioid Receptors
Currently, the science outlines three groups of opioid receptors. These include mu (linked to morphine), kappa (after ketocyclazocine, the agent affecting it), and delta (after the tissue where it was first found) (Advokat et al., 2019). They are distributed across the central nervous system and perform specific functions (Advokat et al., 2019). They are responsible for pain modulation, physiological activities, immune function, and emotional response to various activities (Wang, 2019). In the standard situation, the correct functioning of these receptors is essential for the individual’s health and ability to respond adequately to specific environmental triggers and changes.
The Role of Opioid Receptors in Drug Addiction
However, the use of drugs and addiction to them impacts the person’s behavior due to the potent effects mu, kappa, and delta receptors have on the brain. The constant intake of opiates triggers euphoria because of the release of increased functioning of various brain parts, such as the nucleus accumbent and basolateral amygdala (Wang, 2019). The pleasant emotions associated with these feelings lead to addiction and the development of mental disorders. The absence of opioids depresses the nervous system as it requires time to restore the everyday work of opioid receptors. During this process, a person acquires anxiety, change in moods, and other symptoms of a severe mental illness or undesired condition.
The Importance of the Understanding of Opioid Receptors
In such a way, the understanding of the functioning of receptors leads to a better view of how mental health disorders among addicted people evolve. The constant intake of drugs impacts the central nervous system, and it remains excited. Individuals feel euphoria and which requires new doses of opioids (Wang, 2019). At the same time, because of the physiological changes in the brain, the absence of the drug leads to the development of complex and painful withdrawal systems, such as bone pain, diarrhea, anxiety, and depression. In many cases, the social dysfunction evolves due to the use of addictive substances (Wang, 2019).
The change in the reward and pleasure system is another result of using opioids which is linked to the mental health domain (Wang, 2019). As a result, a person suffers from the absence of positive emotions usually acquired in traditional ways. Additionally, the change in hormone levels is linked to the receptors’ work and correlates with depressive moods and even suicidal inclinations (Wang, 2019). Thus, the peculiarities of mu, kappa, and delta receptors’ work show why dependence evolves and how the mental health of a person suffers.
Conclusion
Nevertheless, the advances in studying the brain help to select new methods of drug addiction treatment. For instance, currently, there is an approach implying using other substances that might replace opiates but have similar impacts on these receptors (Wang, 2019). As a result, a client with the condition has significantly milder withdrawal effects.
Additionally, their effects on receptors are less powerful, which helps to reduce the dosage and avoid using addictive substances at all. That is why the enhanced understanding of how mu, kappa, and delta receptors respond is the key to determining the main mechanisms of addiction formation and why specific psychological changes occur. At the same time, this information is used to create effective treatments to help people rehabilitate.
References
Advokat, C., Comaty, J., & Julien, R. (2019). Julien’s primer of drug action: A comprehensive guide to the Actions, uses, and side effects of psychoactive drugs (14th ed.). Worth Publishers.
Wang, S. (2019). Historical review: Opiate addiction and opioid receptors. Cell Transplantation, 28(3), 233-238. Web.