Live data from Hacker News

Most people with addiction simply grow out of it (2014)

psmag.com

41–50 of 118 posts

Re: Most people with addiction simply grow out of it (2014)

#41
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Addictions do not have to be life destroying. Plenty of people are addicted to various things but are fully functional and live fulfilled lives. It’s a bit unfair to ask whether OP wants words to have any meaning when it seems you’re a bit fuzzy on the definition of “addiction” yourself.

> Addictions do not have to be life destroying. Plenty of people are addicted to various things but are fully functional and live fulfilled lives. It’s a bit unfair to ask whether OP wants words to have any meaning when it seems you’re a bit fuzzy on the definition of “addiction” yourself. Wikipedia: Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a…

Wikipedia isn't really an authority on words, specifically, though. If one goes to Merriam-Webster, an actual dictionary, one sees:

> a: exhibiting a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity

> b: strongly inclined to do, use, or indulge in something repeatedly

If one looks at the Oxford English Dictionary, one sees:

> a state of dependence produced either by the habitual taking of drugs or by regularly engaging in certain behaviours (e.g. gambling).

No specific requirement for negative consequences, just a habit.

Re: Most people with addiction simply grow out of it (2014)

#42
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Addictions do not have to be life destroying. Plenty of people are addicted to various things but are fully functional and live fulfilled lives. It’s a bit unfair to ask whether OP wants words to have any meaning when it seems you’re a bit fuzzy on the definition of “addiction” yourself.

No, I'm not fuzzy on the definition of addiction. If a behavior has little negative effects, then it's not an addiction.

I dunno how else to say that not having negative effects doesn't mean one isn't addicted to something. It simply isn't a requirement.

Re: Most people with addiction simply grow out of it (2014)

#43
post #35

I don't have a lot of personal experience dealing with addiction in either myself or others, but TFA lays out to me a pretty compelling claim that addiction is a developmental disorder. The current mainstream belief of addiction as disease has always seemed to me like it had a great number of holes; it's main purpose was to make people stop stigmatizing addicts for moral failing. The comparison to ADHD made in the ar…

I've heard the first-time heroin experience described as feeling like "being wrapped in a warm, wet blanket." What else feels like that? A lot of addiction is trying to get back to the comfort of the womb to escape from early childhood traumas and abuses. You get a taste of that with the use but never get close to it again after.

> What else feels like that?

Probably being wrapped in an actual warm, wet blanket.

Re: Most people with addiction simply grow out of it (2014)

#44
post #26
post #22

I wonder about where habits end and addictions begin. I think once a ball is rolling it’s not easy to stop it, as it kinda does it on itself

The best definition I’ve read somewhere was along the lines: addiction is something you do repeatedly even though you know it’s harmful for you.

This makes it sound like you trying to say addiction is a mental thing. When your body is physically addicted so that you are sick and in pain because you didn't dose, that's not mental. At that point, it could be more harmful to not fix regardless if you know it or not.

Re: Most people with addiction simply grow out of it (2014)

#45

Alternately, you just execute people for drug trafficking. A total win in terms of net human suffering.

E.g. the Singapore method. It works better than the western methods but people don't want to take it seriously and would rather suppress the suggestion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_prevalenc...

Re: Most people with addiction simply grow out of it (2014)

#46
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

El Salvador seems to be quite happy these days...

The murder rate of the USA is now almost 3 times higher than that of El Salvadors. New Zealand now has more murder than El Salvador.

New Zealand has 2.6 homicides per 100k. Singapore has 0.1 per 100k; 26x less.

Re: Most people with addiction simply grow out of it (2014)

#47
post #35

I don't have a lot of personal experience dealing with addiction in either myself or others, but TFA lays out to me a pretty compelling claim that addiction is a developmental disorder. The current mainstream belief of addiction as disease has always seemed to me like it had a great number of holes; it's main purpose was to make people stop stigmatizing addicts for moral failing. The comparison to ADHD made in the ar…

I've heard the first-time heroin experience described as feeling like "being wrapped in a warm, wet blanket." What else feels like that? A lot of addiction is trying to get back to the comfort of the womb to escape from early childhood traumas and abuses. You get a taste of that with the use but never get close to it again after.

A lot of addiction is trying to get back to the comfort of the womb to escape from early childhood traumas and abuses.

Says who

Re: Most people with addiction simply grow out of it (2014)

#48

This article confuses drug use with addiction. Addiction is a state where a patient wants to quit a drug, but can't. And that is when you want to intervene as a psychiatrist.

Afaik addiction isn't defined based on what the person wants, but if their life is negatively affected by it.

Sometimes I don't get why that's a necessary condition, but for addiction it makes sense.

Re: Most people with addiction simply grow out of it (2014)

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The murder rate of the USA is now almost 3 times higher than that of El Salvadors. New Zealand now has more murder than El Salvador.

New Zealand has 2.6 homicides per 100k. Singapore has 0.1 per 100k; 26x less.

One wonders what a Kiwi Bukele could do

Re: Most people with addiction simply grow out of it (2014)

#50
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I'm not fuzzy on the definition of addiction. If a behavior has little negative effects, then it's not an addiction.

I dunno how else to say that not having negative effects doesn't mean one isn't addicted to something. It simply isn't a requirement.

> It simply isn't a requirement.

A third of the diagnostic criteria for substance addiction are about negative effects in the person's life. Perhaps it's not strictly a requirement but often it's only a question of time.

Post reply on HN