How Does Heroin Addiction Start?

Heroin addiction often follows a similar trajectory, so it doesn’t matter whether one begins drug abuse with marijuana or prescription pills. Heroin stimulates opioid receptors in the brain, which often increases the amount of dopamine that is released. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a critical role in the brain’s reward and decision-making processes.

Dopamine’s job is to make people want to keep doing fun things by making them feel good when they do them. Dopamine levels increase when people have consensual sex, compete in sports, or achieve personal goals.

Heroin’s pleasurable effects stem partly from its ability to trigger dopamine release in the brain. When heroin is taken repeatedly, the body and brain rapidly adjust to its impact and become less aroused.

In the end, you will find that you need to take more significant quantities to get the same feel-good effects. This might go on forever, but there’s a real risk of overdosing if you keep up this dosing rate.

With increasing tolerance also comes an increased risk of developing a physical dependency. Heroin tolerance is the process through which the body becomes so used to the drug’s effects that it starts to experience withdrawal symptoms when no longer receiving the drug.