Script for 'This Is Your Brain on Drugs, The Real Story'

INTRO - Lead In

       ( graphic of 'fried egg on the sidewalk )

   Narrator:  Is this your brain on drugs?  Errr…not exactly.

Fade to Title Screen

    "THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON DRUGS

      THE REAL STORY"

Fade to Second Title

     by

     Dr. John Brim

     Harm Reduction

     Therapy Center,

                        SF

      Graphics

       by

       David

       Lovins

Narrator:  Mother Nature has equipped us with a system in our brains that helps us decide how to 

               behave.

Narrator:  This part of the brain is called the Nucleus Accumbens, or 'NA' for short.

Narrator:  We can think of the NA as the happiness regulator of the brain.  It’s the part that makes you  happy or sad.

Narrator:  How does the NA know whether to make you happy or sad?

Narrator:  The rest of the brain, the thinking part, sends messages to the NA in the form of little

               packages of dopamine.

Narrator:  The more dopamine, the happier.

Narrator:  Normally, we stay in the middle range of mood, neither happy or sad.

               Happy Experiences increase the dopamine flow.

               Sad Experiences decrease the dopamine flow.

               When something good happens to us, like getting an "A" on your report card, the brain

               sends a message to make us feel happy so we'll want to do it again.

               We remember the good or bad feelings and try to repeat the good and stay away from the bad.

               Happy Experiences

                    Student getting an "A"

                    Olympic Medal Winner

                    Lover's Kiss

                    Mother and Baby

                    Father Giving Son a Pat on the Back

                               ( approval from parents )

                               ( approval from peers )

                               ( acceptance from others )

                Sad Experiences
            

                     Student getting an "F"

                     Suitor being rejected

                     Loss of a loved one

                     Losing something valuable

                     Injury

                     Losing job

                     Not enough money

                     Rejection from friends, parents, or peers

Narrator:     What happens when we consume a "recreational substance" like alcohol, coke, meth,

                  heroin, oxycodone, etc. ?

Narrator:     All the recreational substances, as far as we can determine, work by forcing the brain to feed

                  more dopamine to the NA ( graphic showing 1 ton of dopamine hitting the NA and pushing the

                  pleasure meter to the top ) making us happy without doing anything to earn it.

Narrator:    Neuroscientists refer to drugs as “hijacking” the NA, that is to say a drug takes over control of our happiness from the rest of the brain.

(graphic:  cowboys Heroin, Alcohol, Coke, and Meth circling the stage coach (labeled “NA) with gun’s blazing.)

Narrator:     Drugs hit the NA like a 10 ton weight.  ( graphic - big batch of dopamine, released by meth 

                  with happy/sad face meter )

Narrator:     So, what's the problem?  The body knows this isn't normal and thinks the spring has gotten

                  "too weak".
 

                  So, it beefs up the spring....

                  ( graphic showing transition from normal spring to strengthened )

                  So that it takes more drug to get the same effect.

Narrator:     Another way of looking at it is Mother Nature doesn't like to be fooled.

                  She made our brains so they work a certain way and she gets upset when we tinker with that.

Mother Nature:  Hmmm...It is not natural to be so happy.  He is screwing up my system that I've

                       developed over two million years.  He won't want to do anything useful if it is that easy to 

                       get happy.  I can fix that.

                       ( graphic showing spring getting stronger and stronger and stronger, pushing back

                         against the flow of dopamine. )

Narrator:      So it takes more and more of the drug to get the same effect.

                       ( graphic showing person using more and more drugs to chase the high. )

Narrator:      There are two ways to go from here - Door 1 and Door 2, if you will.

                                 Door 1...Many people realize that they are going down a bad road, and pull back on

                                              their drug use, limiting the amount they use or stopping entirely.

                                 Door 2...Some people push on and continue chasing the high.

                                 ( graphic showing both doors, numbered )

Narrator:  So what's wrong with Door number 2?

               Well...it gets very expensive, it gets dangerous ( it puts you at risk of DUI's, arrest, robbery, 

               etc. ), and most people won't want to be with you if you become a hard core dope fiend

               ( or drunk ).

               Does Door number 2 make you happy?  Only in brief bursts, the rest of the time you're 

               scrambling like crazy to fight off dope-sickness ( or the shakes ).

Narrator:   The End

Narrator:     Questions for future consideration...
                 

                  1.  Why do some people take Door 1, and others take Door 2?

                  2.  What can I do if I took Door 2, and it's making me, ( and those I love ),

                       miserable?

Final narration:  New videos answering these questions are coming.  Keep watching!