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How to know if you’re addicted

psyche.co

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Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#141

Post by realce »

hervature wrote: post #56
IAmGraydon wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Addiction can be defined as a persistent, compulsive need to use a substance, despite the negative consequences to you or others. If that describes you, you likely have an addiction.

The problem is that this definition does not help with the identification process. For instance, any use of drug is arguably not compulsive as the effect often brings pleasure/reward and is often premeditated. "I'm tired, let me get a coffee". So, by simple rationalization, any addict can come to the conclusion that their behavior is not compulsive. Anyone who has the wherewithal to introspect and realize where this…

> despite the negative consequences to you or others.

If I keep consuming coffee when I'm tired despite the negative consequences, I could be addicted to it. All desires are "genuine" but many desires are harmful to yourself or to others. If that doesn't prevent you from indulging, you should analyze it and probably try to stop.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#142

Post by matheusmoreira »

iSnow wrote: post #137
matheusmoreira wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't dispute any of that. I once fell into the mobile game trap myself, it's really bad. I've posted many times here on HN about how these games are deliberately designed to form habits in players and I think they should be illegal. The thing is I've personally seen opioid addicts do literally anything for a drug. Not for pleasure, just to avoid the pain of abstinence. One guy killed his own mother because she tri…

I think you are spot on but many people haven't experienced opiate (or benzo) addiction or talked to ex-addicts. It's really something else.

Indeed. I have experience at a neurology practice, I suppose it has skewed what "severe" addiction means to me.

Benzodiazepines addiction is severe as well. Not as bad as opioids but still pretty bad. I've seen patients get violent because a doctor didn't want to renew their prescription for their own good.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#143

Post by brimble »

EA wrote: post #5
sumosudo wrote: post #2

Remove the offending substance and see how long or to what extent you would go to get it back.

It took me almost 2 years to fully give up sodas and sugary drinks. I grew up on it. I learned a lot about my willpower.

Club soda got me off them (this is before fizzy water became a trendy drink). Turns out my craving was mostly for the carbonation bite, not the sugar.

Seltzer water didn't work. The missing minerals make it taste super weird to my palate. Had to be club soda (or sparkling mineral water, but that was too expensive for me to have often at the time).

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#145

Post by brimble »

ThinkingGuy wrote: post #99
lelandfe wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mercifully, shoes do not require identification before you go on a walk sans phone.

Somewhere in Silicon Valley, I have no doubt that the first "smart shoes" are under development.

Shoes that link to fitness trackers already exist. A quick Google reveals shoes with integrated bluetooth speakers, and shoes for the blind (not sure what those do, but I gather it does involve electronics).

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#146

Post by kolla »

oceanplexian wrote: post #139

It’s a lot harder than you would think. I’m not a big drinker, not even a daily drinker, maybe once or twice per week.. and decided to do a month without drinking for fitness reasons. After two weeks it was hard to resist the urge every time I’d see people drinking on a TV show, or at the airport, or with dinner at a restaurant. While it may not be a full blown addiction it made me realize I’m much closer to addictio…

Same here, I'm probably considered an alcoholic because of the ammount of liquour I drink per week/month but I can work out every single day and stay in great shape but come friday and saturday I do empty quite a few units. Stopping the weekend urge is hard.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#147

Post by mrtranscendence »

petercooper wrote: post #85
pdenton wrote: post #65

The worst of the bunch is tobacco. The effect is basically nothing, but it hurts ones health and wallet. I've done cocaine, marijuana, mdma, speed, xtc pills, and some research chemicals. Protips: don't smoke, and never combine any two drugs. If you really want a certain substance, do at least the first session with someone sober to keep an eye on you. Never accept drugs from strangers and don't give in to peer press…

I've never tried tobacco, but I did try nicotine last year after seeing it discussed in ADHD circles. Noticed no effect (beyond perhaps a mild caffeine-esque sensation early on) but forced myself to try it for a few weeks. The "cloud" aspect was amusing, but I forgot about the experiment months ago and have suffered not a jot for it since. Different strokes for different folks, because apparently it's usually one of…

I used to smoke as a teenager, but I found it effortless to quit and never once considered smoking once I reached adulthood. At the same time my mother has tried to stop smoking countless times, and even now -- with COPD, requiring oxygen supplementation, and unable sometimes to make it up a short flight of stairs -- she still hasn't been able to quit despite trying many times. Weird how that works.

(Also weird: she hid her smoking from us, though obviously everyone knew she smoked. She always smoked holed up in her bathroom. I suppose I always knew where I could steal a few cigarettes!)

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#148

Post by mrtranscendence »

iSnow wrote: post #129
bodge5000 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Guess its just a matter of experience and perspective, because for me tobacco is the "best" due its lack of any effect on you mentally, even if it is pricey and bad for you. Though I guess Sugar is probably a bit better and has pretty much the same consequences. Regardless of your perspective though, I'd say heroin is absolutely the worst

Sugar is not a drug though and doesn't create addiction, maybe a mild dependence.

Sugar may not be a drug, but for some reason I had no trouble stopping smoking and have been unable in 40 years of life to quit overindulging in sugar despite many efforts to do so.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#149

Post by mrtranscendence »

sjcoles wrote: post #69
pdenton wrote: post #65

The worst of the bunch is tobacco. The effect is basically nothing, but it hurts ones health and wallet. I've done cocaine, marijuana, mdma, speed, xtc pills, and some research chemicals. Protips: don't smoke, and never combine any two drugs. If you really want a certain substance, do at least the first session with someone sober to keep an eye on you. Never accept drugs from strangers and don't give in to peer press…

Nicotine is a useful tool though. The latest round of tobacco free pouches are great and reduce risk to basically zero.

A useful tool for what? I haven't used nicotine in a long time, but from what I recall the impact was basically zero unless I hadn't smoked in a while.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#150

Post by mediaman »

tenuousemphasis wrote: post #95
colinmhayes wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you define that though? My cannabis use is certainly persistent, but is it compulsive? Maybe I'm just in denial, but it's hard for me to say. I've certainly stopped many times, but find I enjoy life less sober, so I end up smoking again. When does partaking in an activity you enjoy become an addiction? I feel like my urge to read late at night has caused me more problems than my marijuana use because of the ma…

>When does partaking in an activity you enjoy become an addiction? When the activity is a consciousness altering chemical and you compulsively use it despite the negative consequences to you or others.

That's interesting, but suppose I like to drink a couple cups of coffee per day. It helps me get my brain active in the morning, and avoid the afternoon slump.

Are there negative consequences to me or others? Not that I can identify. The literature has no good study that suggests any long-term health problems with coffee consumption.

But I will feel out of sorts if I suddenly stop. I'll be fine again after a few days. But it seems certain there is a chemical dependence. This does not fit your definition of addiction, but it seems odd to claim that my daily coffee consumption is not, at the least, a light addiction?

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