Talk about your various addictions here

Okay, that sounds good.

So, how about hobbies?

Hmm, if I couldn't get to A2K for a week and it really bothered me, I guess I might be addicted? :wink:

I dunno if I'd accept 'bothers me' as a form of withdrawal.

Reyn, from your definitions I see an addiction as resulting from the use of a substance that can be addicting in certain individuals. It sound circular, but it really isn't.

The door knobs and window locks can't become addicting - you don't consume them in any way. Neither can the bar of soap for the person who needs to wash their hands over and over. Those are compulsions - an irresitable impulse to perform an irrational act - from your definition.

Checking the doors and windows is only irrational if there is no logical reason to check them at all. Checking them repeatedly each night before you went to bed would be irrational, checking them once is not (IMHO).

How about gambling, J_B? No substance involved there.

I believe people become addicted to certain substances because they .. i guess in a way.. are pre-disposed.
Disease could be a good title to that.
But I look at addiction as a way of self medicating.
Something is wrong chemically with a persons brain and with out realizing it, they self medicate to make that wrong, or imbalance, RIGHT.
There is a psychological addiction to many drugs in certain people, that far out weigh the physical addiction.
I see your point JB and i think you are absolutly correct.
People become addicted to things that change their chemical 'make up' so to speak.
Sex is an addiction. Simply because it releases dopamine and that effects seratonin levels . While sex itself isnt a chemical, it is just as addicting because of the physical results the ' user' gets.

People who do not have a chemical imbalance - depression, schitzophrenia, bi-polar- and on and on, are not AS succeptable to becoming addicted to a chemical or action as those who do have imbalances do.

Ok... so, gambling and other adrenalin inducing activities could then become addicting.

yes.
people have become addicted to excersize, gambling, FIGHTING...
anything that changes the brain chemical balance can be addicting.

Those are interesting explanations. It seems to make sense.

So, the people who have imbalances in their lives would be the ones who are predisposed to addictions?

i believe so.

I mean, think about it this way.
When you are sick , you do things to make you feel better and half of the time you dont even realise you are doing it.
You speak quieter if your throat hurts, upset stomach, eat less or diffrent foods etc.
And you do that for the desired result Feeling better.
Now , place that sickness in your mind. Being depressed beyond control for example.
Noone likes to feel that way.
Some people look to jogging, social activities andother healthy things to change that feeling. Then some choose chemicals..Alcohol, pot, prescriptions etc..
They get the desired result no matter thier choice.

If your body and mind work the way they should, you dont have the desire to change things to feel better.

I must thank you for your explanations. It's put things in a different way that I've not really thought about before.

I'm familar with chemical imbalances causing possible mental problems, as we have an adopted mentally-challenged daughter. The doctors seem to be always tinkering with her prescriptions to improve her behaviour.

I never really thought about addictions in the same sense.

Tonight, I was doing a little searching for good info sites on addictions. Here's one that seems quite good:

http://www.addictions.co.uk/index.asp

I looked at just a few references on that site, Reyn, and it does seem to have a lot of good information.

So, whatcha say we revive this thread and talk about addictions we picked up over the Christmas holidays? :wink:

Well, I was being really good before Christmas - doing a few miles on the treadmill daily, watching my diet, taking my vitamins, etc. And in the routine chaos over Christmas, I'm having a lot of trouble getting back into the workout routine, getting the diet back on track, or even taking the vitamin regimen.

HELP!!! I am addicted to fried chicken and slothfulness. I need a dutch uncle lecture from somebody.

Will this do?



That should shake you into action!

Seriously though, I know where you're coming from. I'm not overweight or anything, but I'm not a fan of excercise. I just recently retired from my meter reading job, and have been sitting around the home a lot - not being very active.

The excercise bike in the basement has been calling my name to get going with some sort of routine.

It doesn't help that it's miserable weather outside. Bucketing rain for days on end.

Well, even though you look like somebody I would really like and aren't all that scary at all, I'll accept that as a "Dutch uncle" talk.

Actually we do get addicted to just about anything including message boards, computer games, television programs, etc. and it would seem that it would be just as easy to get addicted to the stuff that is actually good for us. Why isn't that possible?

But tonight I will try to prepare a healthy meal and first thing in the morning, at least a mile or two on the treadmill. I'll properly report.

So how about everybody else. We combat the harmful addictions one step at a time? Can't we acquire good habits the same way?

Yeah, why is it easier to get bad habits, rather than good ones? This is an eternal question, indeed.

Well, when I get off this computer, I will do a little bit of time on the bike - eventually.

Well, there you see again the European medical gap: the Priory Group is Europe's leading independent provider of acute and secure mental health, neuro-rehabilitation and specialist educational services, and their sites are highly praised here.

Didn't pick up any addictions over the holidays but was challenged by the ones I've already got. I did manage to keep the shopping addiction somewhat in check. Didn't go too far overboard with the gifts and decorating the house and such. Tried to be a little more conservative than in the past.
The addiction to sweets must be reharnessed now. I did let myself go a little, cookies, desserts, snacks, and now I need to reign it back in.
Otherwise, I'm cool.