Heroin is one of the most addictive drugs in the world, and this means it is one of the hardest drug addictions to break. If you currently have an addiction to heroin and really want to break it, you will need professional heroin addiction treatment. Most people are not able to successfully break a heroin addiction on their own, and this is primarily because of the way it affects the brain. Here are several things to understand about the effects heroin has on the brain.

It targets the brain's pleasure system

When a person uses heroin, it can instantly make him or her feel great, and this occurs because of the way the brain reacts to heroin. After a person uses, the heroin instantly targets the person's pleasure system of the brain. It overflows the brain with increased levels of dopamine, which is a feel-good hormone. The result of this is pleasant feelings, and the feelings can be so good that a person will keep returning to heroin to experience these feelings.

The brain begins to stop producing happy hormones

One key problem with using heroin is the way it can affect the brain in the future. As you use heroin, you are causing artificial chemicals and hormones to control the way you feel. As this occurs, your brain begins to recognize the increased level of these hormones, and the brain then stops making them.

Without your brain producing them, you will keep wanting to use heroin because you will not even feel normal if you do not. In fact, you could likely feel a lot worse, simply because your brain no longer produces the chemicals and hormones it once did. This leads to a vicious cycle of addiction, and it makes breaking the addiction extremely hard.

It leads to brain damage

In addition to these effects, using heroin over any extended period of time can also cause permanent damage to the brain. The use of heroin might destroy your ability to reason, rationalize, and think clearly. You might find that it is hard to make good decisions. You might have a difficult time thinking things through. These are all common effects of long-term use of heroin.

Because heroin is highly addictive, it is very hard to break the habit. If you are serious about getting clean and sober, you should seek help today. It might not be an easy event to go through, but it will be a beneficial one for you, your health, and your future.