|
| AUTHOR |
MESSAGE |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Addicts and addiction
Do you feel or think that some addictions are more "real" than others? Is being addicted to heroin more of an addiction, than a gambling, sex addiction, or shopping addiction?
We know brain receptors that we all have, can turn us into addicts when introduced to certain drugs like nicotine, alcohol, but does that make drug addiction more of a physical problem and something like a shopping addiction a more psychological problem?
Is it the genetic DNA of individuals that determines what we could become addicted to and how bad that addiction will be, or do you feel that a persons "weakness" is a larger factor?
|
| March 17, 2007, 11:13 |
|
nykitten
54 / female
Pawling, New York, US
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
I personally believe that an addiction is an addiction....Regardless of what you are addicted to......If you truly think about it an addiction is usually something people do to make themselves feel better for a certain period of time.....
Do I think its psychological, could be, yet it can also be in your genes......Take for instance and alcoholic....The more people in your family that drink like that, the more chances it will effect the next generation to come.....
I also believe we all have addictions, its just more noticeable in some than others, while some of us can control it others can not......Its the people who can't control their addiction that tend to have problems with it....
|
| March 17, 2007, 11:54 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
that mean when you like to kiss that your addicted to kissing 
|
| March 17, 2007, 13:01 |
|
nykitten
54 / female
Pawling, New York, US
|
Re: Re: Addicts and addiction
QUOTE (bulrfush @ March 17, 2007, 13:01)that mean when you like to kiss that your addicted to kissing
I could say I'm addicted to kissing!........  
|
| March 17, 2007, 13:31 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
me too and I could tell by you and jules pictures 
|
| March 17, 2007, 13:33 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
Back on topic...yep, I've known an entire family and it seemed that each of them quickly found their own personal addiction. The father had some real issues, the children all were obsessive to say the least with shopping, gambling, drugs...they just all seemed predestined to spend thier lives and energy seeking some sort of higher "high".
|
| March 20, 2007, 08:22 |
|
nips
39 / female
Bluerock, Ohio, US
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
Hey
Im not sure if there all the same.Im addicted to pot and sex
nipples
QUOTE (Chazzy @ March 17, 2007, 11:13)Do you feel or think that some addictions are more "real" than others? Is being addicted to heroin more of an addiction, than a gambling, sex addiction, or shopping addiction?
We know brain receptors that we all have, can turn us into addicts when introduced to certain drugs like nicotine, alcohol, but does that make drug addiction more of a physical problem and something like a shopping addiction a more psychological problem?
Is it the genetic DNA of individuals that determines what we could become addicted to and how bad that addiction will be, or do you feel that a persons "weakness" is a larger factor?
|
| March 20, 2007, 08:30 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
what about workaholics ,anybody in denial right now .JD go stand in the corner .
|
| March 20, 2007, 23:02 |
|
funlovingpair
59 / couple
Frozen Tundra, Minnesota, US
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
Addiction is very multi faceted. I don't think that it is one factor alone that creates an addiction, but several different factors that come together. Factors would include DNA, cultural, environmental, social. These are all factors that influence us for addiction. If we would remove just one factor, the likelihood of addiction is greatly diminished.
|
| March 21, 2007, 10:50 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
I've always wondered about this, why some become addicted to something after one try, and others do not.
During a very bad time in my life, I drank, I drank a whole lot...I'm talking about fifths of vodka.
All the time I drank, I knew it was a just a crutch for me to use, and that the day would come when I would toss away that crutch. I look back and I'm grateful, but totally amazed that I could drink like that for several years, and not become an alcoholic?
I know that no one, on my mother's side or my father's side, ever had a drug or alcohol problem and often think that contributed to my ability to just quit when I was ready to quit.
I still drink, but just an occasionall social margarita once in a rare while, maybe less than 6 times a year.
|
| March 21, 2007, 11:26 |
|
funlovingpair
59 / couple
Frozen Tundra, Minnesota, US
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
Chazzy, I did the same thing as you. I drank all the time, rarely did I sober up. Then one day just kinda woke up and told myself how stupid I was for doing this. So I quit. Now I only drink every once in a great while. My family also had no history of abuse that I grew up with. However there was a grandfather who did drink a lot, but had quit long before I was even thought of. So I was never exposed to drugs, alcohol, or even cigarette's. 
|
| March 21, 2007, 11:36 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
OK...is there a twelve step program for a woman that loves to shop? I love pretty clothes, shoes, lingerie, and purses. Hello, my name is Juilianna and I love to purchase nice things and I am high maintenance...to donate to the Juilianna recovery fund please make your donations at a girl'sgottashop.com (this is not a real website)
Thank you...
|
| March 21, 2007, 20:29 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
Well to answer your question Chazzy, I feel that your genetics or your upbringing can play a part in some of your addictions, (ie, alcoholism, drugs,abusiveness,) but I also think that as a person you can make a decision to change this genetic disfunction and make a better life for yourself. As far as being a addict, I think that is a decision that you have made for yourself, (ie shopping, computer games, tv,surfing web sites, even the drugs and alcohol)
|
| March 22, 2007, 01:54 |
|
pepper
56 / female
daytona, Florida, US
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
I'm like Jules. I love to shop. The difference between us is, I'm too cheap to spend a lot of money. I haunt the bargain racks and thrift stores, yard sales, ebay, ect. Take me to those places and I will spend a little and come away with a lot. One thing that has changed in recent years is that now I buy books brand new as often as I do from the UBS. Used to, I refused to pay brand new prices. Now, however, there are some authors whom I do not want to wait that long to read ( Hotbubblegum will know one right away, lol).
As for being addicted to bad things, drugs, alcohol, ect. I have had times that I wished to crawl into a bottle and never come out, but didn't do it. Not particularly because I resisted it, but the pragmatic side of me said "what good will that do you?" The answer was none. So I didn't. Drugs have never interested me. Tried pot 2 times when I was a teen, got hungry once and sick to my stomach once so didn't see the fascination with it, even though all of my friends were doing it constantly. Tried it once as an adult, same thing, so that was it. Why would I want to put myself through that, not to mention my family, for a momentary high that if done the wrong way, might kill me?
I love life too much to do more than get drunk occaisionally.
Yup, I do see that circumstances, upbringing and environment can all have something to do with addictive behavior. I had a good childhood for the most part, only one thing in it could have caused me to go in an addicted direction, but I CHOSE to not let it. to put it behind me and not let it affect who I am.
Maybe that makes me a stong person, maybe a naive one, but it's me.
|
| March 22, 2007, 05:01 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Re: Addicts and addiction
QUOTE (pepper @ March 22, 2007, 05:01)I'm like Jules. I love to shop. The difference between us is, I'm too cheap to spend a lot of money. I haunt the bargain racks and thrift stores, yard sales, ebay, ect. Take me to those places and I will spend a little and come away with a lot. One thing that has changed in recent years is that now I buy books brand new as often as I do from the UBS. Used to, I refused to pay brand new prices. Now, however, there are some authors whom I do not want to wait that long to read ( Hotbubblegum will know one right away, lol).
As for being addicted to bad things, drugs, alcohol, ect. I have had times that I wished to crawl into a bottle and never come out, but didn't do it. Not particularly because I resisted it, but the pragmatic side of me said "what good will that do you?" The answer was none. So I didn't. Drugs have never interested me. Tried pot 2 times when I was a teen, got hungry once and sick to my stomach once so didn't see the fascination with it, even though all of my friends were doing it constantly. Tried it once as an adult, same thing, so that was it. Why would I want to put myself through that, not to mention my family, for a momentary high that if done the wrong way, might kill me?
I love life too much to do more than get drunk occaisionally.
Yup, I do see that circumstances, upbringing and environment can all have something to do with addictive behavior. I had a good childhood for the most part, only one thing in it could have caused me to go in an addicted direction, but I CHOSE to not let it. to put it behind me and not let it affect who I am.
Maybe that makes me a stong person, maybe a naive one, but it's me.
Very well put...... I applaud you for making some great decisions.......
|
| March 22, 2007, 07:18 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
I think for the most part, it goes beyond bad or good personal decisions.
There are people who suffer from OCD to the point of being addicted to rituals.
I do think babies born to addicts of anything, crack, heroin, nicotine, etc...will always have those strong needy brain receptors to deal with all their lives, more so than a baby born to a clean mother.
I am most certainly addicted to caffeine, I can make the choice not to drink coffee, but the physical withdrawal headaches would probably force me to brew a pot after only a day or two without it.
We do have a choice whether or not to "try" something for the first time, but its the physical brain that determines if it will become a true addiction or not.
Some addicts are driven there by trauma so horrid, we can't even begin to imagine it. Maybe the physical brain's survival mode drives some to escapism in any form they can get it. For some that maybe psychological things like multi-personality,eating and OCD disorders, and some will choose whatever mood altering drugs available to them.
I guess for some, maybe it's just the coping mechanism of the brain that can drive a person to seek something, anything to watercolor the world they live in just enough to make it survivable, and this could strip away the reasoning of good and bad choices.
|
| March 22, 2007, 09:02 |
|
Mooant
41 / male
New Britain, Connecticut, US
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
I think a lot of you are confusing addictions, mental disorders, and compulsions.
There are two basic kinds of addictions, mental and physical. The first step a psychologist takes in curing an addiction is to find the underlying cause of the addiction. All addictions have mental and physical components, but some tend to be more one than the other. The physical aspect of the addiction is a release of neural transmitters in the brain that gives you the feeling of being good. This is what reinforces an addiction. The mental aspect to an addiction is why you feel the need to act on the addiction. To be considered cure of the addiction, you have to no longer feel the urge to continue the behavior. For example, a cured alcoholic will not even desire having a drink, if they feel the urge to drink, then they haven't yet been cured.
A mental disorder, such as obsessive compulsive disorder, the person is unable to function as a normal person unless a set of conditions are met. In the case of most OCD individuals, the area needs to be neat and clean before they can do anything in the area (watch the show Monk on USA for the classic example). However, that isn't the true definition of OCD, that's just the typical behavior. The obsessive part of the definition is that they focus on a particular behavior that they have to do to be able to focus on any other task, which for most is cleaning. Other examples are collecting (never throwing anything out), touching (anything that is patterned), organizing and so on. The compulsive part of the definition is that this is a repeated thing. In the case of cleaning OCD, the individual must clean everything a certain number of times a day. They will wash their hands at least 15-20 times a day, vacuum the house every day. In organization OCD, they will organize the table one way, then another way, then a third way and will basically not stop organizing the table until they have a reason to leave the vicinity of the table. Mental disorders are a set of traits that prevent an individual from acting normally until certain conditions are met.
Compulsions are more of a learned set of behaviors where the individual responds to a stimulus by acting a certain way. I tend to think of hypnotism when describing a compulsion, where a person will be unable to control their actions if a certain condition is met, such as barking when the word hello is used. Compulsions also explain the need to drink when in a bad mood, or to go out shopping when something bad happens. Usually a compulsion is learned by modeling someone close to you early on in life, such as your parents.
As far as the genetic components are concerned, there is some variation in our DNA that will predispose an individual to addictions, mental disorders, and compulsions in that they will feel a greater high from the activity. For alcoholics, this genetic variation might make he feeling of being drunk similar to that of taking heroine. For the compulsions, the release of adrenaline or seratonine might stimulate the pleasure center of the brain more than normal. The only way to identify these components is to see if your family has similar reactions, so the family that all have their own compulsion definitely has one of these genetic variants that increases their risk of addiction.
|
| March 22, 2007, 15:12 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Re: Addicts and addiction
QUOTE (pepper @ March 22, 2007, 05:01)I'm like Jules. I love to shop. The difference between us is, I'm too cheap to spend a lot of money. I haunt the bargain racks and thrift stores, yard sales, ebay, ect. Take me to those places and I will spend a little and come away with a lot.
Actually Pepper, I am a lover of the sale racks, I rarely pay full price for things because I get tired of things quickly. I only pay full price for something IF it is a staple like a black skirt that will ever go out of style, only things with classic lines. I've never had much luck at consignment shops but I love those places that have discounted prices (here in Texas like Stein Mart, etc.), on my birthday I walked out of there with like $800 worth of stuff for $200 bucks...I love that!!! Almost as good as an orgasm...wait, maybe not!
|
| March 22, 2007, 19:36 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
Mooant...Thanks so much for the time you took to reply to this thread!
I'm so very curious about addiction for one because of what I went through so many years ago, I just don't understand why I am NOT an alcoholic when another person would be.
The behavior of a person who will forsake all that has meaning to them, all that love them just to chase down what feeds their addictions befuddles me, I hate seeing them do this, I so pity the pathetic lives they have, and feel so much sympathy for their families.
Secondly, I'm very curious about my husband. He just seems to have a sort of addictive personality, or have an addictive gene maybe. He can easily become addicted to most anything.
He can be a fine and normal human being...till for whatever reason a doctor or dentist prescribes an opiate type of painkiller pill. From the very first pill, he seems to change into a completely different person and his life is all about that prescription.
I've often also wondered if he wasn't just a tiny bit OCD. Having just one of something, anything, seems to drive him crazy...he has to have two of everything and everything needs to be symmetrically place...(if there's one on this side, there must be an identical one on the other side)
Ya know, I know...I could look all this stuff up on the internet, but I just prefer the interaction with real people on a message board discussion!
|
| March 23, 2007, 10:25 |
|
Mooant
41 / male
New Britain, Connecticut, US
|
Re: Re: Addicts and addiction
I think what happens with people with addictive personalities is that any amount of excitement triggers the release of adrenaline and their brain reacts differently than normal when the adrenaline is removed, causing them to feel the lack of adrenaline more than normal. I think in a normal brain, serotonine increases with adrenaline and then gradually drops after the adrenaline is removed. But in the addictive personality brain, the serotonine level drops much more rapidly. But I could be wrong on this. In either case, it could be genetic, or could be a developmental disorder, or could even be a issue with a particular gland (probably the hypothalamus).
In most cases, the addiction is a physical issue, causing the addict pain if they don't get their fix. Even addictions like Gambling can be physical in nature. At the same time, there is a psychological portion to the addiction, what drove them to the point that the addiction became physical. In your case, Chazzy, you dealt with what drove you to drink before it changed your brain chemistry to the point you needed alcohol to function normally. With your husband, opiates are powerful drugs and it doesn't take much for the least addictive person to get hooked on that stuff. I'll get into how they work later (its really cool). In his case, most of his "addictions" are just physically based. Once he is able to resist the addiction long enough, he can start acting like a normal person again, whereas a true addict will revert back to their addiction even after the physical addiction is over (which causes a lot of druggies to overdose because their body no longer needs the same amount of drugs to get the same high but they used their last dosage anyways). While its good that he isn't psychologically addicted, if that does ever happen he will definitely become an addict, so make sure you keep him happy  .
Now for some neuralchemistry! I'm a Biology Major (Although I'll technically be a Biologist in a couple months!) There is a class of chemicals called Neural Transmitters, they are how information is transmitted from the brain to the various glands in our body. To make things even more complicated, there's only four neural transmitters in our bodies, Serotonine, Dopamine, Epinephrine, and Norepinephrine. (Ok, there are a few others, but they don't do much to affect our moods) They also tend to pair off, like one's the on switch and the other's the off switch (Serotonine-Dopamine, Epinephrine-Norepinephrine). The issue is that each gland or organ reacts differently to different levels of neural transmitters in our system and they control everything from pain and pleasure to hunger, from our growth rates as adolescents to our heart and breath rates, in women they control the menstrual cycle (why stress can trigger it) and lactic production. In men it can greatly affect our limbedo and stamina and our aggression.
Now, Serotonine acts as muscle relaxant, facilitates in memory absorption, regulates our sleep cycle and temperature controls, and has a profound effect on our emotions. People with higher levels of Serotonine tend to be much happier, sleep better, remember a lot of details (photographic at times), and they don't sweat a lot. Whenever you hear the word opiate, you should immediately think "lots of Serotonine." The danger of opiates is that the body is constantly going through a process called Homeostasis, where the body regulates chemical levels to keep them normal. When you constantly take a drug that acts like Serotonine, then the body stop producing Serotonine, leaving you the exact opposite kind of person in between your fix. Opiates make excellent pain killers because happy people don't feel pain. The pain that someone in withdrawal feels is just the intense pain of depression, its not physical pain at all. As anyone who's truly been depressed can tell you, depression really does hurt, and you can't always say where the pain is, just that you can feel it.
Don't Do Drugs!!!
|
| March 23, 2007, 14:20 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
So timely! CNN did a feature last night on addiction in America. (Didn't know Jamie Lee Curtis had to fight a recent battle with Vicodin, bless her heart!)
I have caught quite a few of the A&E Channel's "Intervention" and the episodes are always so gut wrenching.
I do believe that the opiates are so dangerous, how many addicts do we have in this country that started as just normal, stable productive family orientated people who for whatever health or medical reason, ended up with a prescription for Oxycontin, Percaset, or Vicodin?
|
| March 24, 2007, 09:07 |
|
Mooant
41 / male
New Britain, Connecticut, US
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
The most dangerous drugs are the Barbituants, they seriously mess with the controls of your heart rate, causing it to severely slow down when the drugs wear off. If someone hooked on barbituants goes cold turkey, they will die. No ifs, ands, or buts, they will just drop dead after a few hours (depending on their choice of poison.) These are also the only class of drugs that a Rehab centers are allowed to give to their patients as an effective treatment, since they'll die otherwise. Sadly, this class of drugs started out as a form of heart medication and abuse of it has made most of them banned from medicinal use. Sadly, they were probably the most effective heart drugs out there...
|
| March 24, 2007, 11:02 |
|
User no longer registered.
|
Re: Addicts and addiction
When I think of a "physical" addiction, (and this may gross a few out)I think of people who become addicted to over the counter laxatives.
They aren't psychologically addicted, but their bowels become dependent and addicted on laxatives to even work, if they over use or abuse them.
I said before, there are no addictions on either side of my family, I'll correct that, two of my close relatives found themselves physically addicted to...nasal sprays!
Just regular over the counter nasal sprays, like Dristan.
It's almost like they could not breath anymore on thier own!
|
| March 24, 2007, 12:04 |
|
|
