Dopamine is a neurotransmitter responsible for a variety of functions in your body. Your brain uses dopamine for hormone regulation, motor control, memory and emotions. Your cardiovascular, endocrine, adrenal and central nervous systems all require dopamine to function normally. Having adequate levels of dopamine is, therefore, essential to your overall health.
Exhibited Behaviors
According to "Integrative Medicine," excess dopamine production, if not recognized and regulated, produces potentially dangerous behavior. Anxiety, psychosis, addiction, compulsion, gambling, aggression and unhealthy risk taking are some symptoms associated with increased levels of dopamine. Doctors also sometimes incorrectly associate these symptoms with other conditions and disorders.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental illness characterized by abnormal behavior, delusions, hallucinations and disorganized speech and thought. According to "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine," increased dopamine levels can, along with other contributing factors, lead to schizophrenia. Doctors will typically prescribe schizophrenics medications to decrease the production of dopamine. In many cases, once the drugs reduce the dopamine levels, symptoms associated with the schizophrenia become less pronounced. There are several medications indicated to treat schizophrenia. Doctors generally choose the best medication depending on the specific diagnosis and the symptoms associated with the specific case of schizophrenia.
Illicit Drugs
Certain illegal drugs can also make your brain produce excess levels of dopamine. According to "Integrative Medicine," this over-production of dopamine from illegal drug use can lead to delusion, incoherence, disorganized thoughts and schizophrenia. Once the drugs wear off and your dopamine level crashes, illegal drug users often experience a manic state followed by clinical depression. This up and down effect is one of the reasons illegal drug users have a difficult time stopping use of illegal drugs.
Treatment
Since doctors often misdiagnose increased levels of dopamine, you should make sure your doctor has training diagnosing dopamine disorders. Dopamine antagonists are a class of drugs used to treat excess levels of dopamine. These drugs function by blocking the dopamine receptors in your brain, stopping many of the undesirable effects associated with excess dopamine levels. Examples of dopamine antagonist drugs include amoxapine, benperidol, chlorprothixene, flispirilene and haloperidol.
References
- "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America"; Schizophrenia: More Dopamine, more D2 Receptors; July 2000; Philip Seeman and Shitij Kapur; July 2000
- Cornell Research; Psychologist Finds Dopamine Linked to a Personality Trait and Happiness; Susan Lang
- "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine"; Dennis Kasper, et al.; 2004
- "Integrative Medicine"; David Rakel; 2002
