OUD Is Not a Willpower Problem

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]Opioid addiction is not a willpower problem.

[00:00:03]It sort of looks that way, but what we now know is that the opioids actually injure the four different important regions of the brain.

[00:00:15]There are four important parts of the brain that get injured by the opioids.

[00:00:20]The reward system which is where dopamine gets released in high amounts because of the opioids.

[00:00:27]That gets injured because it gets less and less responsive and releases less dopamine so people want to use more and more and they actually stop getting high.

[00:00:36]Memory circuits get attached to all of the experiences from the drugs and those become really strong triggers when we re-experience any of those memories.

[00:00:46]They actually release dopamine in the reward system so that makes you have cravings and if the drug is available almost certainly people will go ahead and relapse.

[00:00:56]The emotional circuits get get involved because people literally fall in love with their drug and it also provides the drugs provide an a mood altering effect so it decreases, you know, negative moods like anxiety or stress or loneliness and the drugs relieve that for a little bit but they don't make any problem any better so it it's it's it's damaging to the brain.

[00:01:22]And lastly the prefrontal cortex or the thinking part of our brain gets injured because we lose our ability to really judge what's a good decision and what isn't, what's a healthy risk and what isn't. We lose our ability to to think clearly and make good decisions and resist temptations. So all of those things get damaged by the opioid use which is why we know it's a disease and not just a willpower problem.