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This is a vicious cycle that needs more than a single sentence for its causes to be answered. It’s the craving all right; while the causes behind physical cravings are easy to understand, psychological craving may have the roots of the causes spread beyond the feel-good myth. Recent works on patients of depression have thrown some important light.

Depression roots upon the deficiency of certain chemicals in the brain, which can be triggered either by specific life events or by chemicals. Substance abuse aside, depression gives rise to destructive behaviours like drinking, overeating and overspending. It’s the adrenalin rush that wards off the depression temporarily, spanning over a few hours to few days. Those who choose drugs (or alcohol) need using it in order to feel normal. These substances imitate the neuro-chemicals to lift the spirits. Those who lose their sleep because of depression, use the drugs as an easy way to sleep. But the paradox is, often these chemicals make a person oversleep and enter a depressive state far worse than what was experienced initially.

Most of the rehabs fall short when it comes to diagnose a patient psychologically; thus, they cannot eliminate the chances for a relapse completely. Treating the physical manifestations of depression alone is not enough; the problem might just get worse. Anti-depressives or anti-anxiety medications that support maintaining the chemical balance are just the replacements for the drugs; it is always suggested that coordinating and managing a depressed individual should start alongside. An addict must be brought back to the daily routine he was used to after the first few days of regular medication; by tapering the dosages (lowering the medicine and increasing the tasks) over a specific time has been found to give spectacular results.

Rambling parties, irrespective of whether inside a million-dollar mansion or in a humble basement, thrive upon the spirit. Alcohol is an eternally popular, feel-good drug with a mass acceptance while the slightly pungent smelling marijuana (or hashish) shares the same status discreetly. However, the connoisseurs of tripping consider both to be recreational drugs; something helping to unwind and reduce stress. Those who have graduated to cocaine claim the drug to override weariness from disrupted circadian rhythms, broken sleep and provide energy. However, the latter two have been labeled contraband; but not the small pill mimicking similar effects. The secret is the compound modafinil, which, though imitating the amphetamines, do not jitter the cardiac rhythm. It is now on the leading edge of a trend that’s big and growing.

Modafinil influences dopamine and norepinephrine (the neurotransmitters) enabling the mind to focus and the memory to store. The drug causes the neurons to reabsorb the neurotransmitters and prolong their action in the areas responsible for taking decisions, speculations and reasoning and analysis. In short, modafinil exploits the brain to perform better on tasks and may open the doors to better cognitive enhancers, which in turn, may bring forth an enhanced memory. Among the most promising are the ampakines (compounds that open glutamate receptors for longer), which also is expected to treat ADHD. Our only concern is: If Dr. Einstein or Salvador Dalí or Sir Winston Churchill had taken ADHD drugs, would the world find them? ADHD has been found to polish the potential and drive in certain people, so we must also think about how not to bring the future Einstein-s and Churchill-s under the influence of the new ADHD drugs.

There have been recorded weird instances of people being detected as heroin or morphine addicts through urine sample tests whereas in reality, they haven’t had even touched something even as mild as marijuana in their entire life. It was indeed shocking for all of them; the only addiction they had was bagels! Or, to be more precise, poppy seed bagels, the ingredients for which imitate heroin. But we need to know what opiates are before we proceed any further.

Opiates are drugs derived from the opium plant and come under five main categories: Morphine, Codeine, Heroin, Thebaine and Papaverine. Among these, Morphine and Heroin share a similar chemical structure and morphine, many-a-times an active ingredient in prescription drugs, gives positive results in medical tests. However, if we talk about mass usage, codeine beats the former two. It works the same way as morphine, while thebaine and papaverine are the most potent, most toxic and the most dangerous opium alkaloids. Though they are used in converted forms (e.g. oxycodone), an overdose can be equally lethal, especially when used as a treatment for erectile dysfunction.

Side effects include both psychological and physical dependence, muscle fitfulness, difficulty in breathing, gastrointestinal disorders, hypotension, drowsiness, disorientation and in worst cases, coma. All these prove opiate addiction to trigger central nervous system disorders, which also makes the brain cells stop generating natural endorphins. A sudden withdrawal thus subjects the system to a massive shock starting with cold turkey and resulting in damaging permanently the central nervous and the cardiopulmonary system. Thus, only a rapid detoxification program can only prove a painless withdrawal procedure from opiates, though risks of psychosis, delirium, suicidal tendencies and acute heart rhythm and renal failures and even death can’t be rules out completely. This is why the opiate agonist drugs came into being; these drugs combine with a receptor on a cell to produce the required physiological reaction. Methadone and LAAM (levo-alpha-acetylmethadol) are the examples for these, while Clonidine, administered through trans-dermal patches, reaches a steady effectiveness within 48 hours. But it does so at the cost of a lowered blood pressure and sedation.