I would say I’m addicted to watching TV, reading, and eating
chocolate (which I’m doing right now). Lots of people say they’re addicted to
things, but are they really? Addiction is when you do something that’s
pleasurable, but you do it so much that you develop a compulsive need to
continue doing it. It interferes with your normal life. The most common
addictions are to drugs and alcohol, but people can become addicted to other
activities like gambling and video games too.
The actual biological state of addiction is when a person’s
body has adapted to the presence of a drug so much that the body can’t handle
being without it. There’s also a behavioral perspective, where people are
dependent on something to cope with daily life. There are actually stages of addiction.
The first stage is dependence, where the person spends most of his time looking
for the object of his addiction. Eventually, he becomes tolerant. This is where
his body gets used to it. So, in order to get the same effect, he needs to
consume more of the substance. The symptoms of addiction vary depending on the
substance or activity and the person. Being without this substance, or
activity, leads to withdrawal symptoms, which also vary based on the same
factors. For example, symptoms of opiate (heroin, morphine, codeine, etc.) withdrawal include anxiety, muscle aches,
insomnia, and sweating. It can also lead to diarrhea, vomiting, shaking, and
cramps. On the other hand, withdrawal from cocaine abuse can cause depression,
vivid and unpleasant dreams, fatigue, paranoia. As you can tell, withdrawal
from cocaine causes less of the physical symptoms that are associated with
other drugs like heroin. More concrete ways to tell if someone is suffering
from addiction or withdrawal are blood tests and urine analysis, where there
will be actual physical evidence of the drug.
According to Medical News Today,
chocolate is a valid substance to be addicted to. Maybe I need rehab!
Priya, I like that you wrote down the stages of addiction, though I find it interesting that you were referring to the person with the addiction as "he" instead of a gender neutral reference such as "the individual" or "person" etc. Do you think you did this unconsciously or on purpose? I think in todays society we notice addictions in men more than in women..and personally, I think you did it unconsciously. Also, do you think we (society) has a stigma as to what gender is most addicted to what drug? I'm curious.
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean. I didn't even notice that I was using "he". I think that maybe subconsciously, I do associate drugs and drug addiction with men more than women. It's probably because on TV, drug addicts and drug dealers are usually portrayed as men. It also might have been because "he" is shorter than "she"
DeleteI know what you mean, I’m one of those people who will be first in line to say I’m addicted to something, but addiction is just another one of those terms that gets overused for every little thing, even though it’s not being used properly. You did a great job defining what addiction is and mentioning some of the drugs people get addicted to, and what happens when they don’t get their “fix”. I think that more than half the country would need to get rehab for chocolate addiction, but it’s just too good to quit.
ReplyDeletewow never thought of all sorts of addictions that's a great point, not just drugs. But humans are creatures of habit. i also think it has to do with the environment they grow up in that makes them addicted to certain things.
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