Many of these functional problems of the nervous system respond extremely well to a good nutritional program that feeds the nervous system. We will discuss this later in another section of this lesson. There appears to be biological as well as social and psychological reasons for addiction. Unfortunately many drugs can bypass the normal methods of stimulating these areas of the brain and addiction can be the consequence. Addicted laboratory rats have been observed to starve themselves to death, preferring their addictive substance to food and water.
Humans can behave the same way to powerfully addictive drugs.
We have long known that some people, alcoholics for example, are more likely to get addicted to drugs than others. Scientists have discovered that some people seem to have a genetic predisposition to becoming addicted. Although the mechanism is not clearly understood, it appears that individuals prone to addiction tend to have problems related to the neurotransmitters in their brain. Perhaps certain neurotransmitters are not produced in sufficient quantities, or there are abnormalities in their reuptake. Certain nutritional substances can positively effect the body's production and utilization of neurotransmitters helping some people overcome their addictions.