A friend passed me this interesting article on the latest understanding of addiction: The Likely Cause of Addiction Has Been Discovered, and It Is Not What You Think | The Huffington Post It suggests, in a nutshell, that drug addiction is not chemically-induced. Rather it is about dis-connection. Which reframes addiction not as an individual affliction, but as a societal phenomenon. Dare I say it, the answer is love! It also raises wider questions about how we think about addiction, and the societal aspects of the internet world and the plague of loneliness in modern society. Discuss! So, what are you addicted to? What are you going to do about it?
some people are easily addicted, to sex, drugs , alcohol, work , chocolate , food , adrenalin rush etc,, i thot it was by now generarlly accepted that there is a n addiction gene wherein some people get addicted whilst others may / do not.
the family doctor says yer born an addict. and to maintain family tradition none of which i intend to give up..ever.. only from me dead fingers.
Back to the old nature vs nurture debate! My take is that predisposition doesn't mean cause. The article argues with research (rats) and examples (like the Vietnam war heroin problem that didn't get imported home, and pain killers used in hospitals that do not lead to addiction after recover). The argument is that addiction is a surrogate for feeling love, belonging, sense of societal and relational connection... at least when it comes to drugs addiction. But if addiction is addiction, then do is addiction another type of so-called modern disease? As much a result of modern life as of any inherent individual weaknesses?
I thought the most interesting sentence in the article was "One of my earliest memories as a kid is trying to wake up one of my relatives, and not being able to.". I firmly believe that it is our earliest childhood experience that shapes and drives us for the rest of our lives. Regarding the addiction it seems to make perfect sense but it isn't just about chemical addiction, as the article points out, it is about behavioural addictions also, the self destructive loops that some people get into. My younger sister has a difficult son who, at 26, married a pregnant 16 year old and the story went downhill from there. My sister tries to "help" but is in there at the bottom of the hole digging away next to them, she fails to realise that she is addicted to "helping". Which reminds me, I must give her a call.
i get the peer pressure angle, and for some i can understand the feeling of belonging that can come from it. got way to much experience of alcoholics,addicts, social users. i might try and put something together you can understand later
Agreed. Marketers exploit our tendency towards habit formation all the time, trying to form (or modify existing habits to form...) usage habits. Starbucks are masters of this... MacDonalds... Apple and the internet (including forums: gamifying the user experience with labels, badges, etc - we are wired to be suckers for it!). There's a great book called "Hooked" which is a guide to creating products that create habits, based on psychology and neuroscience insights...
I'm addicted to this fucking forum right now, it's all down to you guys making it so bloody interesting!
As a result of illness I was on tramadol for about three years, a bloody high dose as well. I already came off the co cocodamol I was on to begin with. The tramadol was difficult to come down off and involved months of dropping my dose until I was at the lowest dose, then I split the slow release capsules and dumped half the contents before re sealing and taking, after a few weeks of this I managed to stop taking anything and even doing all this I had withdrawal symptoms . All in all well worth the effort, the pain relief was really needed and anyone who has had problems with the pancreas and billery colic ( spelling? ) will agree,but, the drugs bring with them their own problems. If anyone needs to speak to me for advice or help feel free to pm me. Cheers. Stephen.
And some are addicted to repeating themselves.....................I say...................some are addicted to repeating themselves
