The area of the brain that is associated with the emotional content of memories is the amygdala which is part of the limbic system. It constantly receives information as the person experiences the world, translates and stores them into emotional memories. For people who abuse substances the "high" (intense euphoria) of using becomes strongly associated with the action of using. In a sense the brain takes a photograph of the moment and remembers this as the acme of happiness. Any future pleasure is compared to the chemically induced euphoria. Many people arrive in drug rehab or alcohol rehab centers in South Africa not knowing how to experience pleasure in normal ways. They feel lost without chemicals and don't know how to have fun without being drunk or high.

Research studies have shown that the brain can even have conditioned responses to events that go around the ritual of using drugs or drinking alcohol. Many addicts in drug rehab centers in South Africa describe how even the run-up to using drugs (planning, scoring, preparing) is pleasurable. This could be related to how they associate the events around using drugs with the euphoria of the high. The amygdala is at least partly responsible for hijacking the brain like this.

After the effect of the drug wears off the chemicals in the brain crash down to lower levels than normal. Dopamine is the chief neurotransmitter involved in feeling pleasure. Dopamine levels crash rapidly leaving the user feeling depressed and low. Because the amygdala has remembered that drugs can make the brain feel good the user will begin to crave chemicals. A detox center can help a person overcome the physical cravings, but a treatment program in a drug rehab center in South Africa will help the user to learn strategies to cope with psychological cravings. People who leave rehabilitation facilities in South Africa are better equipped to experience the normal pleasures of life; For many people this is an eye-opening event.

Memories are also able to be triggered when the brain encounters something similar to the original event. If you walk down the street you grew up in as a child you may feel nostalgic and remember the times you spent playing there. It is very similar for memories of using drugs. When the user is exposed to old acquaintances, places, or objects that are associated with drug using the amygdala quickly flashes up emotional responses that induce cravings for drink or alcohol. A comprehensive addiction treatment program in drug rehabilitation facilities in South Africa will include a relapse prevention program. This program will help the user to identify high risk situations and other triggers and find ways to avoid them or cope proactively with this sort of associative craving.

This implies that craving is not a result of moral failing or personal weakness. It is the result of aberrant neurochemistry that is hijacking your thought process. This part of addiction is very much a brain disease. There is no stigma attached to other brain diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and epilepsy. There is no valid reason to pass judgement upon addicts and alcoholics who are just as much victims to their illness.

References:
Banich, MT. (2004) Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology (2nd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.