Addiction . . .

[KillerMuffin]

What is it? How can you tell if you're addicted, really? We throw that word around, I'm addicted to {insert favorite thing here}, but are we really addicted to {favorite thing}? What's the difference between a serious addiction and the things we do that seem obsessive, but aren't? What are the dangers of addiction? What are the good things about addiction? How do you think people feel when they've conquered addiction? Do they ever? Do you think addiction is a disease or illness (like alcoholism)?

Pre-emptive strike: Yes, we know, you're addicted to Lit, chocolate, Laurel's ass, {insert snappy repartee here}.

 

[sexy-girl]

would it be too obvious to say something that you couldn't give up when its having a negative effect on your life


i guess the good thing about an addiction is that part of it must make you feel good ... or it wouldn't be possible to get addicted to it

the sad/bad part is when the feel good factor disappears and you're just carrying on your addiction to stop from feeling the withdrawals

 

[Hamletmaschine]

My guess: obsessions are psychological, addictions are pharmacological.

 

[perks]

I'd have to agree with sexy-girl on this one.

Addiction is the process of searching for the high while continuously causing detriment to your existence. It's partaking in behavior that destroys everything in search of that experience you never find again.

 

[sexy-girl]

My guess: obsessions are psychological, addictions are pharmacological.

i think that is broadly right but i would say i think its more complicated then that you can still have biological obsessions (an obsession being something that wouldnt cause you harm to give up) and psychological addictions (something that would cause you harm to give up)

 

[Calamity Jane]

What is it? How can you tell if you're addicted, really? We throw that word around, I'm addicted to {insert favorite thing here}, but are we really addicted to {favorite thing}? What's the difference between a serious addiction and the things we do that seem obsessive, but aren't? What are the dangers of addiction? What are the good things about addiction? How do you think people feel when they've conquered addiction? Do they ever? Do you think addiction is a disease or illness (like alcoholism)?

Pre-emptive strike: Yes, we know, you're addicted to Lit, chocolate, Laurel's ass, {insert snappy repartee here}.

The pat answer of 'continuing, even though it has a negative affect on your life' seems too broad and easy for me. Does that mean that some of us are 'addicted' to relationships?

I'm addicted to caffiene. I know this because it has very little affect on me unless I don't get it. I don't get a caffiene 'buzz'... but if I don't consume my fair share every day, I get a migraine from hell. My body craves the 'drug'.

I'm not addicted to smoking. I enjoy it, but I don't freak out if I go a week, or even two, without a smoke. I've quit cold turkey for years, and never wanted a smoke. When I do smoke, I enjoy the hell out of it, but there's no negative 'something' that happens when I don't have one.

Addiction, to me, is that thing that you do because you HAVE to. It's not necessarily something you want, something you enjoy, but it IS something that if you don't indulge, you suffer negative reactions from your body.

#Edited to finish answering the damn post*

I don't know that anyone ever kicks an addiction. You can put it behind you, you can move on, but it seems to me that most 'therapeutic tools' for overcoming addiction (AA and the like) only shift the focus of the addiction.

 

[nasty]

Addiction is when you REALLY gear yourself up for something, but, pass it up, because, you're doing the certain addiction. CAN'T STOP POSTING!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Guest]

An addiction is a type of habit that is very tough to break. Not only will the addicted person miss the habit terribly, but he/she will also experience withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms vary from habit to habit.

An addiction produces positive feelings due to sense of control. Therefore, as one struggles to rid of the addiction, there are feelings of being controlled.

 

[riff]

I agree with Hamletmaschine. Addiction is a pharmocological thing. It's chemical.

The other stuff is obsessional/compulsive.

I have been taking Paxil and Xanax since January now. I mean to tell you, if I have not taken a Xanax by 10:30 AM I begin to feel it. For those who don't know, Paxil and Xanax are anti-anxiety medications. They have helped me tremendously- I was depressed for about a year and one half before I realized I needed help. I started having panic attacks in January and they kicked my ass into the dirt.

Interesting enough, many obsessional/compulsive behaviors can be successfully treated with medication.

So far as I have read the basic elements of addiction are mood change, increased tolerance, and withdrawal. If one of the elements is missing, then it is not an addicition.

 

[Guest]

Addiction, though easily confused, is in fact, a physiological and psychological need.

The difference between addiction and compulsion/obsesssion; an obsession includes preoccupation with fixed ideas that are often accompanied by unwanted feelings. Obsession and compulsion, can be and most often, are accompanied by anxiety symptoms. Compulsive acts are warranted by impulses. Addictions are habits, needs, and established behaviors.

Whew. I miss working.

 

[bluntforcemama]

I agree with sexy-girl about the negative effects it may or may not have on your life. Some addictions are as simple as caffeine, which is easier to kick, and perhaps considered less of an addiction and more of a high. Other addictions are more like afflictions, such as alcoholism, heroin, in which the user no longer has much control over the situation. In those extreme cases, I would definitely say that it's gone beyond addiction.

Hey raindancer, I have OCD.

 

[Guest]

Myst,
I am starting to wonder if I do, as well.
It's either that or I am one anal-retentive bitch.

 

[juicygirl]

When your talking something like serious drugs, its certainly physical, but the desire factor shouldn't be overlooked. Waiting for that shot or toke like its an old lover. It like that movie requiem for a dream. Knowing what you are going to feel like, and knowing what its going to feeling is amazing.

 

[YogiBare]

There is a strong relationship between addiction and mental illness.

Many times, people who have untreated (and frequently undiagnosed) mental illnesses will use psychoactive drugs (including alcohol) to "medicate" the symptoms of the mental illness. They may have had symptoms from childhood (such as depression, abnormal mood fluctuations, anxiety, delusional thoughts, or even hearing voices) and accepted them as just being a part of life ("Life sucks") without ever thinking to get evaluated for a potentially treatable mental illness.

At first, the drugs seem to make life more bearable. The person eventually becomes physically and/or psychologically addicted to the chemical substance, and then has a double problem. These people are said to be "dually diagnosed." It may be many years, or never, before the mental illness is diagnosed. It has really heartbreaking to talk with an adult who has suffered through a wretched life, not knowing that they had a condition that could have been made substantially better with treatment. And that their addiction could have probably been avoided.

To be clear, this does not mean that all addicts have mental illnesses, because they don't. However, many people with mental illnesses become addicts.

(Edited for clarity. - Thanks freescorfr.)

 

[MechaBlade]

An addiction for me is something I have much difficulty quitting, and once I do, I get the urge to begin again.

 

[freescorfr]

My addiction to alcohol was both psychological and physical, so I believe addiction can be both. Off alcohol, I don't think I have any mental illness. So someone who had an addiction does not necessarily have a mental illness when they free themsleves from their addiction. In fact, I meet with dozens of former addicts every week and they seem eminently well in their bodies, their minds and their social existence.
The horror of addiction is well described in this thread.

Properly "being in love" is obsessional and compulsive, yet is anomolous in that it is also healthy - unless the compulsion is to be repeatedly in that state. People who fall in love with "falling in love" can have an addiction to the thrill of the experience.

Aristotle was, I believe, right about balance, and I now think it's worth checking that my life is balanced, intellectually, physically,and in terms of relationships.

 

[YogiBare]

My addiction to alcohol was both psychological and physical, so I believe addiction can be both. Off alcohol, I don't think I have any mental illness. So someone who had an addiction does not necessarily have a mental illness when they free themsleves from their addiction. In fact, I meet with dozens of former addicts every week and they seem eminently well in their bodies, their minds and their social existence.

Freescorfr, my point was not that all (or even most) addicts have mental illnesses. It was the reverse. Many people with mental illnesses become addicted. The research literature supports this.

 

[freescorfr]

Freescorfr, my point was not that all (or even most) addicts have mental illnesses. It was the reverse. Many people with mental illnesses become addicted. The research literature supports this.

Sorry, Yogi, I read it carelessly.

 

[fgarvb1]

simple answer is

If you NEED it your addicted. If you only WANT it no matter how much, you are not addicted.

i'm addicted to sex, smokes, caffeine and i'm working on a few more!

 

[YogiBare]

Sorry, Yogi, I read it carelessly.

Not a problem, freescorfr.

 

[Devilish1]

Description of a Sex Addiction?

What do you call someone that is addicted to sex?

I know a man that i feel is.
He cant have a sexually realtionship with 1 woman at a time.
Hes living with a woman that is bi and does 3-somes with him and it doesnt seem to be enough for him.

As of right now he has at least( known to me) 9 different women that hes involved with. Including the bi-sexual woman that is living with him.
He doesnt care if the women are married, single or have a boyfriend. He will sleep with them.
After about a month or two he will dump the women and go to someone else.

Its almost like its a game to him to see how many women he can sleep with. A goal or something.

Ive been told hes hung like a horse and he is a VERY attractive man.
I dont know how he finds time to sleep with all the women he does. He has a full time job working 12 hrs a day, 4 days a week.

Is this man addicted to sex or just a man whore?