What Causes Addictions?

[HeIsRisen2018]

I'm not sure whether or not that this truly qualified in the health section, but considering that any kind of addiction is unhealthy, I figured that it could. Anyway, like it or not we all have things that we're addicted to. Sure some people can be addicted to drugs, (hopefully you're not one of those people) but other people can be addicted to their phones or the internet. (A certain forum for me) So I'm just curious, what causes the body to get addicted to things and what are ways that you can help break those addictions?

 

[evenifigoalone]

I had an addiction to a show I liked--like, legitimately, I had severe withdrawal symptoms, so I felt like I was chained to the thing I was obsessed to whether I wanted to be or not, and it made me suicidal. I eventually escaped with help, but it took a long time for my brain to return to normal.
What I had was called a psychological addiction, and these tend to come from leaning on something too closely, to the point you become dependent on them. If you have an obession with something and it's not causing you problems, then it's probably fine, but if you get too attached to something you might want to give yourself some space away from it to keep your brain from relying on it solely to cope. That doesn't mean you need to give it up entirely, just don't let it be the only thing that you look to for comfort.

Chemical addictions like smoking or alcohol work a bit differently, as in those cases your body becomes dependent on them, and not just your mind. But usually an alcoholic or drug addict is both chemically and psychologically addicted to alcohol/drugs, because the alcohol/drugs is also a stimulant to the brain.

Psycholigical addictions and addiction in general are common with people who either live with a mental illness, or who were abused. Particularly because people tend to use them to numb any pain they live with.

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

Psycholigical addictions and addiction in general are common with people who either live with a mental illness, or who were abused. Particularly because people tend to use them to numb any pain they live with.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's the category that I'm in. I wasn't abused but like I said I was bullied. I guess the reason that I'm so addicted to this website is because I am so unpopular in real life, I hardly have any friends, and not a whole lot of people that I can talk to about it. This forum has made me popular which is something that I always wanted to be. People think that I must be so pretty and cool in real life but I'm not. Unfortunately I'm the girl who was always picked last in gym class, sat alone at lunch, and cried herself to sleep a lot. I even had teachers who picked on me for not understanding the material. Yep, I am pretty much a loser in real life. Sad, but true.

 

[evenifigoalone]

Psycholigical addictions and addiction in general are common with people who either live with a mental illness, or who were abused. Particularly because people tend to use them to numb any pain they live with.

Yeah, that's the category that I'm in. I wasn't abused but like I said I was bullied. I guess the reason that I'm so addicted to this website is because I am so unpopular in real life, I hardly have any friends, and not a whole lot of people that I can talk to about it. This forum has made me popular which is something that I always wanted to be. People think that I must be so pretty and cool in real life but I'm not. Unfortunately I'm the girl who was always picked last in gym class, sat alone at lunch, and cried herself to sleep a lot. I even had teachers who picked on me for not understanding the material. Yep, I am pretty much a loser in real life. Sad, but true.

I don't think using the forum is bad. It makes sense to use a forum to socialize, especially if you don't have much chance to socialize in your life or have difficulties in that area. I don't think you need to worry too much about posting here unless it is causing you problems or you think it might lead to that.
I tend to very obsessive with all the things I like, I have all my life, and only one of those things became so bad that it caused me the issues I mentioned. It's about balance, be sure you enjoy a variety of things and not only one thing. For myself, I've had to learn to use a to do list and make myself cross a few things off of it before I'm allowed to go on the internet, or only use the internet in the evening, etc.

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

I don't think using the forum is bad. It makes sense to use a forum to socialize, especially if you don't have much chance to socialize in your life or have difficulties in that area. I don't think you need to worry too much about posting here unless it is causing you problems or you think it might lead to that.
I tend to very obsessive with all the things I like, I have all my life, and only one of those things became so bad that it caused me the issues I mentioned. It's about balance, be sure you enjoy a variety of things and not only one thing. For myself, I've had to learn to use a to do list and make myself cross a few things off of it before I'm allowed to go on the internet, or only use the internet in the evening, etc.

I see what you're saying and I do enjoy other things like watching movies and playing videogames, but since I hardly have friends I hardly have a life other than being online. Like I said, this forum has made me into the type of person that I have always wanted to be, pretty and popular. Of couse I would never admit that in real life because all of the so called popular kids at my high school were all jerks. I don't want to be mean to people, I just want them to like me as much as they like me on here. And I am not at all comfortable with my looks either. I'm always secretly wishing that I had the perfect body. On here nobody knows what I really look like, so even though I don't really believe in pretending to be what I'm not I sort of do and I secretly wish that everyone thinks that I'm a beautiful attractive woman. Sorry, I know that probably sounds bad. I hope that that doesn't sound too arrogant.

 

[evenifigoalone]

You don't sound arrogant, and it makes sense.

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

You don't sound arrogant, and it makes sense.

Thanks but I really wish that I liked myself better.

 

[Christ_empowered]

hi. you're not a "loser." the whole "winner"/"loser" way of looking at things is too simplistic, anyway. people are people, and every person has a soul, a spirit, a life, a backstory, etc. "loser" stuff is incompatible with The Good News (to me...).

I think addictions grow when there's problems, in one's life, character deficits, etc. not to sound judgmental about "character deficits," just...well, in my case, I got hooked on high dose prescription amphetamines pretty much from day 1 because I was socially isolated, child-like (and, admittedly....childish), and because being on a ton of uppers (often mixed with downers....) was preferable to dealing with what was really going on in my life (psychosocial factors, as the "experts" put it). So...

that was my "addiction," and how it took over my life. once i got my first prescription for a hefty dose of Adderall, I found...cheap thrills, euphoria, escape. it wasn't until after I landed in a Pentecostal treatment place, years after being detoxed, that I actually started to--gasp--grow up a bit. It wasn't until The Lord dealt with me and I got saved, age 28 (and regarded as an "over the hill flamer," junkie, etc.), that I gradually lost the desire for quick fixes in the form of pills and such. "put off the old, put on the new," etc.

so, now...I'm drug free, except for the Camels and occasional coffee binges. I take 2 very boring psych drugs daily, plus tons of supplements (the supplements may or may not actually -do- much of anything, btw...just something I'm doing to see if I can avoid some of the worst effects of long-term psych drug treatment...). at this point, I doubt I would/could develop a genuine addiction again, even if I had the world's biggest Adderall prescription. The Lord has changed me inside and out, and He's also seen fit to "fix" a lot of what was wrong in my life, so...I have 0 interest in goof balling, being a speed freak, etc.

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

hi. you're not a "loser." the whole "winner"/"loser" way of looking at things is too simplistic, anyway. people are people, and every person has a soul, a spirit, a life, a backstory, etc. "loser" stuff is incompatible with The Good News (to me...).

What do you mean by that? What else would you call me?

 

[evenifigoalone]

Other common forms of addiction can include self harm (because self harming can release endorphins that make a person feel better, making it something that gets repeated and eventually, something a person relies on), or even video games. Virtually anything can become an addiction in the clinical sense, really.
(Edit: disclaimer, self harming is something to avoid whether it's to the point of addiction or not)

 

[Christ_empowered]

having been labeled a "loser" for much of my life, especially before Jesus saved (is saving, I pray will save me...), I'd like to point out...

God didn't create junk, trash, "losers," etc. people...are people. some people mess up. some people aren't going to be amazingly successful.

me? I reject being labeled a "loser," because I think of it as a sort of oppression, much like I"m now labeled a "mental patient" and/or "Schizophrenic." I -am- a human being, I -am- a child of God, and I (Now...by the grace of God...) have a voice, things to say, etc. Being labeled "Schizophrenic" is arguably worse than being labeled a "loser," although...in my situation...the "Schizophrenia" label is bearable, because God has willed so much good in my life, since I got saved.

you're just a human being, with "stuff" going on, like anybody else.

 

[evenifigoalone]

I agree, you're not a loser.

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

having been labeled a "loser" for much of my life, especially before Jesus saved (is saving, I pray will save me...), I'd like to point out...

God didn't create junk, trash, "losers," etc. people...are people. some people mess up. some people aren't going to be amazingly successful.

me? I reject being labeled a "loser," because I think of it as a sort of oppression, much like I"m now labeled a "mental patient" and/or "Schizophrenic." I -am- a human being, I -am- a child of God, and I (Now...by the grace of God...) have a voice, things to say, etc. Being labeled "Schizophrenic" is arguably worse than being labeled a "loser," although...in my situation...the "Schizophrenia" label is bearable, because God has willed so much good in my life, since I got saved.

you're just a human being, with "stuff" going on, like anybody else.

Thanks, I really appreciate that,I just wish I could fit in with everyone else. I wish I wasn't born with these stupid disabilities in the first place. I would have never been bullied if it hadn't been for them.

 

[evenifigoalone]

Some stuff to look out for that indicates your obession may be making it to problematic addiction terriory.
(That said, disclaimer,this is based largely off my own experience in addition to a few articles I read or conversations with people who had similar addictions to me. Someone else's experience might not mirror mine in every detail.

-Your mood seems to be melded to the Thing. If you're not with Thing, you're miserable, but when you're with Thing, you're super duper happy.
-The happiness you get from Thing comes at the cost of all your other interests--maybe you used to love scrap booking, but scrap booking or anything else just seems completely boring now when you could be spending that time with Thing.
-you want to be with Thing constantly.
-you need to spend more and more time with Thing to get the same exciting feeling you used to.
-maybe at first you were only a little sad without Thing, but over time that sadness grew to be suffocating and the only escape seems to be through Thing
-you get a feeling of anxiety or uneasiness when imagining a life without Thing. Everything else seems boring and dull compared to Thing.
-you feel like your ties to Thing are tearing you apart or causing you major problems, but you can't seem to stop, or the moment you have Thing to make you feel happy again, that desperate feeling of needing to escape is gone. Until next time.
-you lie to friends and family about how much time you spend with Thing, or spend time with Thing behind their backs
-if you go somewhere, like the store, or a friend's house, all you can think about is Thing. You can't enjoy yourself because Thing isn't there.
-you can't ever stop thinking about Thing, even while doing other things

Also, don't worry if you relate to only one or two, some of them, like wanting to spend more time with something you enjoy, are things you can still experience while having a healthy amount of interest. A clinical addiction is defined by impaired impulse control (continuing a problem behavior despite consequences) and by withdrawal symptoms. An intense feeling of depression was my withdrawal symptom, and it got very bad.

I was often in denial while addicted, but one kicker was that during that time, I strongly related my experience to what I had heard a cocaine addict say. Which was that, when she woke up, she thought about cocaine, when she went through her day she was thinking about cocaine, when she went to bed she was thinking about cocaine, and while she had been clean from it for a while, if you offered her some right then and there she'd take it without hesitation even though she knew it was cocaine that wrecked her life. That's how I felt about the thing I was addicted to, pretty much exactly. Even though it wasn't a drug.

I will end up with though, that you can be obsessed with something and it's still at a healthy level. The key to avoid a full on addiction is, as I said, enjoying a variety of things and be sure to talk to the people you trust in your life about the stuff you struggle with too. That can include us here on this forum.

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

Actually, believe it or not I couldn't relate to any of those. Sure I'm happy when I'm on here, but I'm also busy enjoying my life and happy when I'm not. I guess I just have to stop taking it so hard on myself. :biggrin

 

[ezra]

addictions is acquired over a period of time . the alcoholic 1 drink then several ==then intoxicated . he/she soon to enjoy doing this and does it more frequent addiction comes in many forms seen where tom petty the rock star o.d on 2 type pills

 

[ezra]

I just wish I could fit in with everyone else. I wish I wasn't born with these stupid disabilities in the first place. I would have never been bullied if it hadn't been for them

you need to be just like God made you..i am sure disabilities are no fun. but God GRACE IS SUFFICIENT. you are who God made you

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

you need to be just like God made you..i am sure disabilities are no fun. but God GRACE IS SUFFICIENT. you are who God made you

Thanks, I'm beginning to understand that now.