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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

#161

Post by standardUser »

simon1ltd wrote: post #154
standardUser wrote: post #151

The most important thing for people to understand is that everyone is different, and different people can have very different experiences with the exact same substance. Some people can smoke cigarettes on the weekend for years and never get addicted, which sounds insane to someone like me who couldn't go for more than a hour without a cigarette for twenty years and went through hell for 6 months to finally quit. But…

I just had a discussion with a friend about this last week. Some people (we call it addictive personalities, not sure if there’s a better term) seem to get hooked almost right away. Others, can stop whenever they want with little trouble. The problem is that you don’t know which of those possibilities applies to you without trying it, and then it’s too late. Since my immediate family members have had issues with subs…

There's even hard data on this with regards to alcohol and cocaine that show that some people are predisposed to have a higher risk of addiction. With alcohol we know it's at least partially hereditary, so people with histories of alcohol abuse in their families are often told to be extra careful. I would love to see more research on this and even the ability to give individuals info on their own risk levels.

The only thing that seems to be near-universally dangerous in terms of addiction are opioids. But even still, most people who try heroin or get prescribed oxycodone never become addicted.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#162

Post by shard »

jagger1345 wrote: post #102

It doesn't always get a ton of notice when addiction is brought up but addiction to anabolics is an interesting phenomena in itself. I started using anabolics years ago and slowly added more compounds over time. It eventually got to the point where I started to experience increasingly negative sides that I had trouble managing so would add further pharmaceuticals to the stack to mitigate the side effects of the anabo…

To save someone else a search, HPTA is, according to Wikipedia:

The hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis (HPG axis) refers to the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and gonadal glands as if these individual endocrine glands were a single entity. Because these glands often act in concert, physiologists and endocrinologists find it convenient and descriptive to speak of them as a single system.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#163

Post by [deleted] »

mrtranscendence wrote: post #149
sjcoles wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#164

Post by coolso »

openknot wrote: post #128
blobbers wrote: post #126

"Addiction can be defined as a persistent, compulsive need to use a substance, despite the negative consequences to you or others." What about things that are beneficial but unclear if they're healthy? Staying up late on the computer but then taking a sedative to fall asleep immediately so that you don't spend an hour staring at the ceiling. You get more sleep, but you're probably addicted to the sleeping pills. With…

Sleeping pills may be better than getting no sleep at all, but cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBTi) may be a better treatment approach than medication [0]. A problem with sleeping pills is that they reduce sleep quality, so you aren't as well-rested versus sleeping without them. From an interview with Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology [1]: "The quality of sleep that you have when…

Hopefully non-non-drowsy antihistamines aren’t considered “sleeping pills”?

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#165

Post by xvedejas »

wwweston wrote: post #160
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…

Did it get easier over time? I've quit sugar for months at a time and found that 2-4 weeks was the most difficult spot for cravings, after which it eased off (though never went away). I don't have experience with alcohol, though, and I hear it's higher on a scale of risks for physical dependencies than a lot of substances, so sugar may be a poor comparable.

For me, the urges for sugar and alcohol are very very similar. I've never had urges to binge either, but cutting either out completely after semi-consistent use does result in similar cravings. And I've noticed that my urge for both seems to be reduced if I choose to eat large meals at night instead.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#166

Post by at-fates-hands »

kolla wrote: post #146
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.

Anecdotal evidence so take this as you will.

I have alcoholism in my family. When my Dad finally went into a 30 day in-patient treatment, I was still a sophomore in college. I was very much like you. An athlete (played D3 soccer), so I was working out, and in great shape, but wouldn't touch alcohol during the week - when I first got to college, my drinking was all done on the weekends. Then when I was of legal drinking age (US 21 years) then it started to creep into Thursday, then eventually I was drinking Wed-Sat, drying out Sunday and then cramming all my homework and studying into three days just to get ready for the weekend again.

One of the things they do is a screening. You fill out a long survey - How do you drink, when you drink? When do you drink? How often are you drinking, etc. I fill it out based on my current activity.

Counselor sits me down, and starts telling me that I'm not an alcoholic YET, but I'm clearly heading that way. I do abuse alcohol on a regular basis and these are the behaviors they look for and she basically told me if I continue doing what I doing? I will be there in a few years. I was 22 or 23 at the time. I kind of shrugged it off. Dad continued in and out of rehab while I continued doing what I was doing.

Then the wheels fell off for my Dad. Like really bad. Disappeared for a week, Mom couldn't find him, started getting worried. Found him in a shady hotel on the edge of town. He was trying to drink himself to death. We got there, got him into the psych ward and they forcibly detoxified him. He was basically under medical house arrest until he sobered up and vowed this was indeed the end.

I finally had a front row seat to see what my future was. My mom pulled me aside that Christmas in the midst of our entire extended family at my parents house celebrating. She grabs my arm and pulls me into a room, looks me dead in the eyes and says, "If you want to put someone you love through what your father just put our family through these last two years? Then keep drinking, keep partying and doing whatever you're doing." and then just walked away from me.

That was pretty much it. I decided a few weeks later to put a cap on it, I had a good run, but gambling with my future like that? No thanks. Been sober 14 years. Sure I have a beer here and there, but its only one (I'm a total lightweight now, so its no fun) and then that's it. And I never judge the people I'm around if they want to drink.

I would tell you what the nurse told me. It sounds like you do abuse alcohol, and you're heading down that road. Is your future predetermined? I don't think so, but it took a litany of close calls and the one major episode with my Dad to make me realize what was happening and change course before it was too late.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#167

Post by clpm4j »

goldcountry wrote: post #124

Can we finally stop calling it "drugs and alcohol" and just acknowledge that alcohol is a drug?

I think the fact that they're grouped logically is enough, for the most part. It seems widely acknowledged that alcohol is not good for you, but there is a psychological distinction between doing shots at your local dive bar and a glass of Pinot with dinner. I think the spectrum of alcohol use is just broader than most other drugs except for maybe cannabis and psilocybin.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#168

Post by johnisgood »

standardUser wrote: post #161
simon1ltd wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just had a discussion with a friend about this last week. Some people (we call it addictive personalities, not sure if there’s a better term) seem to get hooked almost right away. Others, can stop whenever they want with little trouble. The problem is that you don’t know which of those possibilities applies to you without trying it, and then it’s too late. Since my immediate family members have had issues with subs…

There's even hard data on this with regards to alcohol and cocaine that show that some people are predisposed to have a higher risk of addiction. With alcohol we know it's at least partially hereditary, so people with histories of alcohol abuse in their families are often told to be extra careful. I would love to see more research on this and even the ability to give individuals info on their own risk levels. The onl…

Are people who take antidepressants addicted? The reason I am asking is that opiates can be used as such.

> Opiates promote goal-directed behavior.

> Interestingly, the mechanism of antidepressant action for ketamine may not even involve NMDAR blockage and may instead involve modulation of other CNS binding sites, such as being an agonist (activator) of opioid receptors.

I can see how opiates would help with anxiety and depression, especially for people who do not experience euphoria from it, just enough calmness... which does not actually go away after 2 weeks as it does with benzodiazepines, or without the cognitive deficits.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#169

Post by MandieD »

kaycebasques wrote: post #157

Just started Urge: Our History Of Addiction yesterday! I am doing a sober February this month as an exercise in contemplating my own addictions and for the pure sake of challenge. No beer, no marijuana, etc. Not even caffeine! Caffeine is much harder for me than any other.

I give up alcohol for Lent every year.

I tried giving up caffeine one year instead.

I broke down after a week and went back to giving up alcohol instead.

Re: How to know if you’re addicted

#170

Post by sjcoles »

mrtranscendence wrote: post #149
sjcoles wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's a stimulant. It helps me concentrate and seems to help my working memory (which is already poor due to ADHD).
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