Can Addiction Affect Your Memory?

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Abusing drugs and alcohol can have many adverse health consequences on the body. These effects can include insomnia, unhealthy weight loss, seizures, stroke, and a weakened immune system; as well as heart, lung, and liver conditions. Prolonged use of drugs and alcohol can also cause memory problems because many brain regions affected by addictive substances help regulate cognitive functions such as memory. As a result, the longer individuals remain addicted to drugs and alcohol, the more likely they are to experience brain fog, memory loss, absentmindedness, dementia, amnesia, and other memory disorders.

Addiction and The Brain

Addiction can be equally damaging to the brain as it is to the physical body. Shortly after use, the chemical compounds in stimulants, opioids, alcohol, hallucinogens, and sedatives enter the brain and bloodstream. When this happens, the compounds in addictive substances interfere with the brain’s routine tasks, changing how the organ functions. Eventually, individuals lose control of their impulses and compulsively use addictive substances despite adverse consequences.

Even though different substances can affect different parts of the brain, most drugs and alcohol affect the:

Besides negatively affecting these brain areas, addiction can also negatively affect parts of the brain that help regulate memory.

Brain Areas That Help Regulate Memory

Our brains determine who we are, what we think, and how we behave. The brain also determines what we remember and what we don’t. Our brains are healthy when our memories are stored correctly. Addiction weakens brain areas that regulate memory, including the:

As chemical compounds in addictive substances weaken these brain areas, addiction starts to take a toll on our ability to create, store, and retain memories.

How Can Addiction Affect Memory?

Research consistently shows a link between substance abuse and memory loss. Here’s a little insight into how that memory loss can occur:

1. Addiction Can Prevent The Brain From Creating New Memories Correctly

When people consume excessive drugs or alcohol, they tend to blackout. Although temporary, these blackouts stop the brain from completing the process of forming memories. This inability to create new memories properly can make recalling recent events extremely difficult, leading to short-term memory loss.

2. Addiction Can Negatively Impact The Brain’s Memory-Storage System

Using drugs and alcohol can negatively affect the hippocampus. The chemical compounds in addictive substances distort the messages sent to and from the hippocampus. When those messages become distorted, the hippocampus cannot convert short-term memories into long-term memories. As a result, declarative memories related to facts, birthdays, important dates, and historical events become challenging to remember. Spatial memories about directions, locations, and instructions can also be negatively affected.

3. Addiction Can Increase The Risk Of Memory-Related Disorders

Severe substance abuse can cause brain damage that increases the risk of memory-related disorders such as dementia, amnesia, Korsakoff’s syndrome, and Alzheimer’s. Some of the most common symptoms associated with memory loss and conditions include:

Brain-Focused Addiction Treatment

Experiencing symptoms of brain damage can be one of the most frightening and concerning adverse effects of addiction. Luckily, some of the brain damage caused by addiction can be reversed with the right type of treatment. That’s why we pride ourselves on offering brain-focused addiction treatment.

All of our addiction treatment programs incorporate evidence-based brain science to help the brain function optimally. If you or someone you know is experiencing addiction-based memory loss, contact us. We can help you regain some memory and work to restore your brain health.

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Because mental health and addiction concerns are so often interconnected, we utilize research-based approaches with evidence-based outcomes that promote overall healing and recovery.

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