This is a good topic to discuss about. There's many types of addiction, food addiction, sugar addiction, shopping addiction, card collecting addiction (such as pokemon card game, tarot and other card type), drug addiction, alocohol addiction, smoking addiction and the list goes on. I don't see addiction as a disease with the expection of drugs, alcohol and smoking addiction. Addiction can be a fun and positive rush. What's your opinion on addiction?
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Head Above Water
- Dec 2011
- 3034
- Ecletic Pagan
- Southeast Michigan
- There is no mastery--only constant improvement.
Re: Addiction
An addiction is not a "fun and positive rush". It's having your life taken over by something that you cannot emotionally, mentally, psychologically, even sometimes physically live without. Addiction is a disease. It can ruin your life. It can ruin the lives of people around you. Saying "oh, I have an addiction to x" is only cute and funny when it's not running your life into the ground. I've had addictions that financially ruined me. I have an alcoholic parent who is struggling daily with their addiction.
What you're speaking of as "fun and a rush" are hobbies. Activities. It might be fun to get drunk or smoke a joint once in a while. That's not the same as not being able to function without alcohol, or being stoned every day because you can't deal with reality.
Addictions are not a joke. Please don't take them lightly.
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The Gaze of the Abyss
- Feb 2007
- 9295
- Alchemist and Neo-American Redneck Buddhist
- Frozen Northern Michigan, near Thunder Bay
- Where are the tweezers?
Re: Addiction
Addictions are what one does to fill in the emptyness of one's life.
Fill that emptyness, and addiction becomes a mere habit. IMHO.Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.
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Re: Addiction
Originally posted by Bartmanhomer View PostAddiction can be a fun and positive rush. What's your opinion on addiction?
BMH, Can you explain how you think addiction as opposed to an activity (eg drinking coffee) provides a fun and positive rush?
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sea witch
- Oct 2005
- 11651
- relational theophysis and bioregional witchery
- coastal Georgia
- *a little bad taste is like a nice dash of paprika*
Re: Addiction
Use of something, abuse of something, and addiction are not the same thing, whether its gambling or drugs or sex.
Use can be fine. In proper context, it can even be beneficial. Most of the time, its just fairly benign. Abuse on the other hand, will push yourself towards addiction eventually, and in the interim is pretty hard on your body. But addiction is plain bad--you aren't using something when you are addicted, you are letting it use you. In addiction, the rush is mostly gone (compared to just use) and you need whatever it is to just break even.
A bit simple, but this pretty much illustrates it perfectly:
The problem with this though, is the idea that doing it once makes you addicted, which for most people and most addictions, is not the case. And, of course, it brings with it the idea that abstinence is the only answer, when the problem isn't the substance, but what causes them to return to the substance over and over and over.
Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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Re: Addiction
To answer your question. Addiction can be a positive rush only in moderation and I already mention that addiction can be negative only with drugs, alocohol and smoking. And I really don't see it completely as a disease. There always a cure that people overcome addiction. Also addiction is not even a mental illness. If it was a mental illness there won't be no cure for it.
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Head Above Water
- Dec 2011
- 3034
- Ecletic Pagan
- Southeast Michigan
- There is no mastery--only constant improvement.
Re: Addiction
Originally posted by Bartmanhomer View PostTo answer your question. Addiction can be a positive rush only in moderation and I already mention that addiction can be negative only with drugs, alocohol and smoking. And I really don't see it completely as a disease. There always a cure that people overcome addiction. Also addiction is not even a mental illness. If it was a mental illness there won't be no cure for it.
Only drugs are negative addictions? What about gambling? Sex? Self-injury? Eating disorders? Shopping to the point of running yourself into debt or ruin? If you don't believe any of these exist, use Google. I shouldn't have to provide links. The very definition of addiction disagrees with your assertion of its meaning (emphasis mine):
noun
1.
the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
What about that sounds like a "fun rush" to you? You are not an addict if you are able to enjoy something in moderation. Do. Research. Before you start making topics of discussion, please, for the love of whatever gods you believe in.
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sea witch
- Oct 2005
- 11651
- relational theophysis and bioregional witchery
- coastal Georgia
- *a little bad taste is like a nice dash of paprika*
Re: Addiction
Originally posted by Medusa View Post
Repeating your incredibly unscientific and wrong opinion doesn't make it correct.Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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Re: Addiction
There is addiction,and then there is Obsession....MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED
all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.
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my new page here,let me know what you think.
nothing but the shadow of what was
witchvox
http://www.witchvox.com/vu/vxposts.html
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Silver Member
- May 2013
- 2847
- Shamanic Practitioner & Green / Hedge Witch with Hellenic leanings
- West Virginia
- Can't never did nothing till it tried!
Re: Addiction
Addiction has a clinical definition for certain but you'd still be surprised just how many caregivers use their own definition. I recall I was taking close to 30 aspirin a day without even thinking about it and brought it up to my doctor at the time. She was positive you couldn't become addicted to aspirin. It wasn't an addictive substance in her opinion. Definitely not fun and games at the time.I'm Only Responsible For What I Say Not For What Or How You Understand!
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sea witch
- Oct 2005
- 11651
- relational theophysis and bioregional witchery
- coastal Georgia
- *a little bad taste is like a nice dash of paprika*
Re: Addiction
Originally posted by monsno_leedra View PostAddiction has a clinical definition for certain but you'd still be surprised just how many caregivers use their own definition. I recall I was taking close to 30 aspirin a day without even thinking about it and brought it up to my doctor at the time. She was positive you couldn't become addicted to aspirin. It wasn't an addictive substance in her opinion. Definitely not fun and games at the time.
To be sure there is lots of misinformation, even among health professionals, and to be sure there are many areas of contention, incomplete conclusions, and uncertainty...add to that the idea of habituation often being conflated with addiction, and often times people are using the same terminology to describe apples and zebras.
But that doesn't make this any closer to a factual statement:
To answer your question. Addiction can be a positive rush only in moderation and I already mention that addiction can be negative only with drugs, alocohol and smoking. And I really don't see it completely as a disease. There always a cure that people overcome addiction. Also addiction is not even a mental illness. If it was a mental illness there won't be no cure for it.
That sort of statement is not only wrong, but wildly unhelpful and possibly dangerous to someone that might believe it.Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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Re: Addiction
Originally posted by habbalah View PostAddiction is an illness, it is mental and there is no cure. You repeating that doesn't make it not true. There are treatments, but one is never cured from alcoholism. They are recovering.
Only drugs are negative addictions? What about gambling? Sex? Self-injury? Eating disorders? Shopping to the point of running yourself into debt or ruin? If you don't believe any of these exist, use Google. I shouldn't have to provide links. The very definition of addiction disagrees with your assertion of its meaning (emphasis mine):
noun
1.
the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, as narcotics, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.
What about that sounds like a "fun rush" to you? You are not an addict if you are able to enjoy something in moderation. Do. Research. Before you start making topics of discussion, please, for the love of whatever gods you believe in.
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Copper Member
- Apr 2014
- 986
- That one where I can play with live snakes and speak gibberish.
- Mobile, Alabama
Re: Addiction
Originally posted by Bartmanhomer View PostI already did my research. Gambling is a tricky one. You'll win so much much if you're lucky but you'll lose a lot of money.
When people say they're winning what they really mean is that they are having an upswing from the average. Their long term average is always a loss. The crux of gambling addiction is that "win". The amount of money won doesn't matter. Winning releases dopamine in the brain. It essentially has the same affect as a drug. That's why so all casino advertisements have a variation of the word "win" in them.
Gambling is horrible. I have seen it destroy lives. Dealing is the one job I had where I hated myself for what I was paid to do. Casino dealers are no different than drug dealers.
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