Stop Calling it an Addiction!

[Seasons of Bailey]

This annoyance also applies to those who insist on re-branding addictions as diseases. Last time I checked, one can't simply starve out lymphoma and hepatitis. As terribly awful as heroine withdrawal must be, it is survivable. I would love to be in the room and hear the self perscribing hop-head tell the Multiple Scelrosis patient that they belong in the same group.

You sure you're comfortable with branding all mental illnesses as trifles?

I don't think he said that. Actually I'm sure he didn't. It's not a disease and it's not an issue aren't the same thing.

 

[Audemas]

Are you an actual doctor that can clinically and factually refute this? Do you have the qualifications to categorize what is an addiction and what is an obsessive compulsive disorder?

No, you're right I'm not a doctor. Congrats. But, since you're using that particular argument foil I'm assuming you a doctor. I refuse to put psychological addiction on the same level as the physical. If the release of endorphins nad similar neuro transmitters is the only requirement for psychological addiction, why aren't we all incapacitated with psychological addictions?

Spending time with my wife is one of my greatest pleasures. And I'm sure that in our 10 years together an avalanche's worth of feel good chemicals have been released in my brain. Where's my addiction?

Your addiction doesn't exist because there is a huge difference between gambling addiction and loving your wife. Are you talking about the love for your wife or what? People with a gambling addiction get a high I think that is similar to one a cocaine addict has when he does cocaine.

 

[Dirty Apple]

This annoyance also applies to those who insist on re-branding addictions as diseases. Last time I checked, one can't simply starve out lymphoma and hepatitis. As terribly awful as heroine withdrawal must be, it is survivable. I would love to be in the room and hear the self perscribing hop-head tell the Multiple Scelrosis patient that they belong in the same group.

You sure you're comfortable with branding all mental illnesses as trifles?

Ok, stop right there. Not once do I say "all mental illnesses are trifling." I have nothing but the greatest sympathy and respect for those who are battling mental illness. Those fighting with addiction though...

 

[quiet_samurai]

Are you an actual doctor that can clinically and factually refute this? Do you have the qualifications to categorize what is an addiction and what is an obsessive compulsive disorder?

No, you're right I'm not a doctor.

Well then you really don't know what you're talking about.

I refuse to put psychological addiction on the same level as the physical.

Then it's your own prefferences you base your clinical assumptions on and not actual medical fact... that's not how it really works.

If the release of endorphins nad similar neuro transmitters is the only requirement for psychological addiction, why aren't we all incapacitated with psychological addictions?

Any and everything you do in life, from your greatest accomplishments to the vaguest of tasks are governed by endorphins and neurotransmitters governing your actions and decisions. Your mind is what makes you who you are, even when it's broken.

Spending time with my wife is one of my greatest pleasures. And I'm sure that in our 10 years together an avalanche's worth of feel good chemicals have been released in my brain. Where's my addiction?

What if I took her away from you?

Also that's not rally a valid point because you are taking something you have a strong emotional attachment to and using it in an argument to try and refute actual medical science. Like I said that's not how it works. You have a one sided and ignorant notion on what addiction is completely based on your own personal feelings and you are wanting others to accept it ... no thanks.

 

[Bat Vader]

Are you an actual doctor that can clinically and factually refute this? Do you have the qualifications to categorize what is an addiction and what is an obsessive compulsive disorder?

No, you're right I'm not a doctor. Congrats. But, since you're using that particular argument foil I'm assuming you a doctor. I refuse to put psychological addiction on the same level as the physical. If the release of endorphins nad similar neuro transmitters is the only requirement for psychological addiction, why aren't we all incapacitated with psychological addictions?

Spending time with my wife is one of my greatest pleasures. And I'm sure that in our 10 years together an avalanche's worth of feel good chemicals have been released in my brain. Where's my addiction?

When you are with her and know she will be home or waiting for you, it is most likely you will not have any withdrawals until she is gone. Cheating, Death, or some other horrible thing. Only then you might suffer withdrawal symptoms from her not being around anymore.

 

[rabidmidget]

This seems to be one of those arguments, which no one can win because it's all based on definitions

 

[Ultrajoe]

I'm just getting ready to kill and flay the next person to confuse the 'word' addicting with addictive.

 

[Random Argument Man]

Oh my! A list of Withdrawal Symptoms with Online gamers

http://www.olganon.org/?q=game_addiction_withdrawal_symptoms

List of withdrawal of gambling
http://www.victoriaga.org/withdrawal.htm

List of food craving
http://www.eruptingmind.com/withdrawal-symptoms-from-food/

I could google some more if you want... You could also admit that's enough.

 

[quiet_samurai]

I'm just getting ready to kill and flay the next person to confuse the 'word' addicting with addictive.

Will it be in that order necessarily?

 

[Flunk]

You're right OP guy, that stuff is annoying. How about this one, people who add -holic to words to signify someone who is dependant on something E.G. rageholic, because you don't mean that person is addicted to ragehol do you?

A lot of people misuse the language but I don't think the solution is calling them out on it. Better language classes for elementary and high school students could fix this right up. It's a shame about the current focus on standardized testing which has never been proven to show that students are able to do anything but memorize standardized answers.

 

[DerangedBeing]

I can't say that Addiction and Diseases are equal to eachother. I'd rather have an Eating Disorder than AIDS. So, yeah...

But as for Addiction being applied to even things like Video Games, that's true. Anything where someone takes in so much excess they are incapable of being without it can be an addiction. I've actually seen this happen to a friend who was grounded from playing games (although he may have just been acting, although again it happened for 2 months the first time, and I've seen it happen to him years later too). After a period of time without playing Paper Mario (that's the first time I saw it happen), he had been showing signs of withdrawl. What I saw was
-Vomiting
-Spasms
-Sporatic Temperature Changes
-Nausia
-Diareha (well, I didn't see this, thank god, but I can tell you it happened)
-and Chronic Headaches.
He stoped completely once the grounding wore off and I snuck him Pokemon Blue. I dunno whether it was Mental, Physical, Spiritual, Or WhatEVER the fuck it might have been, but being grounded from Video Games caused his Health to actually deteriorate. That's all the proof I need to know people can suffer from Video Game Addiction.

 

[Phyroxis]

I had a really fun debate on this topic, on this very forum, about a year ago. IF you'd like to see our thousands-of-words posts, I can PM em to you.

 

[Ultrajoe]

I'm just getting ready to kill and flay the next person to confuse the 'word' addicting with addictive.

Will it be in that order necessarily?

Of course, the other way around would be inhumane.

 

[Phyroxis]

It's been shown in studies that addiction to gambling stimulates the same parts of the brain as an addictive substance (ex. cocaine) and releases endorphins. People get addicted to the feelings associated with performing the task, and the chemicals released when they do it. All addictive behaviours work on immediate positive reinforcement, which is one of the basic criteria for defining whether or not something is innately addictive.

I've read enough case studies and research papers to scoff at what you assume.

Sources plz.

<3

 

[chronobreak]

I would go even further than that and say people can do drugs without being addicted to them, and it is sorely overlooked. If you do cocaine or mushrooms, or anything really like once a month, if that, people should not try to lay the addiction trip on you, but that's the first thing they will go to. The notion of millions of responsible drug users escapes a lot of people, just because of a culture of emotional repression.

 

[Altorin]

It's been a long held annoyance of mine that people will attach the word addiction to anything. I refuse to refer to anything that doesn't bear an adverse biological dependance as an addiction. Cocaine, nicotine, alcohol, perscription drugs, these are legitimate addictions. Gambling, television, and, of course, gaming aren't addictions, they're more in line Obsesive/Compulsive disorders. Show me one case where an individual has suffered withdrawal symptoms from lack of gambling, and I'll reconsider my position. Until then, it's only an addiction if there are negative physical aspects to its long term use and eventual removal.

This annoyance also applies to those who insist on re-branding addictions as diseases.
Last time I checked, one can't simply starve out lymphoma and hepatitis. As terribly awful as heroine withdrawal must be, it is survivable. I would love to be in the room and hear the self perscribing hop-head tell the Multiple Scelrosis patient that they belong in the same group.

Both of theses recent movements are just retconned attempts at buying into a higher funding level, and I think it's pathetic.

It's called Ican'tbeAccountableForMyOwnActionsitis.
Gambling lures people in with the promise of greed. But It is not something that you can't stop because it changes the chemicals in your brain...

sure it can, dopamine is the basis of almost all addictions. If you win a 5000 dollar jackpot, your body would no doubt flood you with so much dopamine that you'd feel higher then if you had just freebased.

Your brain remembers that feeling, and wants to feel it again, so you gamble, and lose, and then your dopamine lowers, making you depressed. And everytime you lose, you know that if you try again, you just might have that magical orgasmic experience of winning 5000 dollars or even more next time, so you keep gambling, even if it hurts you.

Almost all addictions (and all habits even - that's really no different then an addiction) are caused by a dopamine imbalance.. Sure, some chemicals can assist or make an addiction stronger, forming addictions and habits is central to the way the human brain works.

 

[Dirty Apple]

Oh my! A list of Withdrawal Symptoms with Online gamers

http://www.olganon.org/?q=game_addiction_withdrawal_symptoms

List of withdrawal of gambling
http://www.victoriaga.org/withdrawal.htm

List of food craving
http://www.eruptingmind.com/withdrawal-symptoms-from-food/

I could google some more if you want... You could also admit that's enough.

Interesting, I'd be interested to see how these compare to someone who's been denied access to an obsession. Do you think they'd be similar?

 

[jebus4you]

Cocaine, nicotine, alcohol, perscription drugs, these are legitimate addictions.

those arent addictions either. addictions dont exist. self control is the problem.

 

[Carlston]

It's been a long held annoyance of mine that people will attach the word addiction to anything. I refuse to refer to anything that doesn't bear an adverse biological dependance as an addiction. Cocaine, nicotine, alcohol, perscription drugs, these are legitimate addictions. Gambling, television, and, of course, gaming aren't addictions, they're more in line Obsesive/Compulsive disorders. Show me one case where an individual has suffered withdrawal symptoms from lack of gambling, and I'll reconsider my position. Until then, it's only an addiction if there are negative physical aspects to its long term use and eventual removal.

This annoyance also applies to those who insist on re-branding addictions as diseases.
Last time I checked, one can't simply starve out lymphoma and hepatitis. As terribly awful as heroine withdrawal must be, it is survivable. I would love to be in the room and hear the self perscribing hop-head tell the Multiple Scelrosis patient that they belong in the same group.

Both of theses recent movements are just retconned attempts at buying into a higher funding level, and I think it's pathetic.

It's called Ican'tbeAccountableForMyOwnActionsitis.
Gambling lures people in with the promise of greed. But It is not something that you can't stop because it changes the chemicals in your brain...

sure it can, dopamine is the basis of almost all addictions. If you win a 5000 dollar jackpot, your body would no doubt flood you with so much dopamine that you'd feel higher then if you had just freebased.

Your brain remembers that feeling, and wants to feel it again, so you gamble, and lose, and then your dopamine lowers, making you depressed. And everytime you lose, you know that if you try again, you just might have that magical orgasmic experience of winning 5000 dollars or even more next time, so you keep gambling, even if it hurts you.

Almost all addictions (and all habits even - that's really no different then an addiction) are caused by a dopamine imbalance.. Sure, some chemicals can assist or make an addiction stronger, forming addictions and habits is central to the way the human brain works.

Insightful, when i think about it I used to get my fix on Roller coasters. 30 bucks...all day...nice rush. Honestly they just need cheaper and more constructive addictions.

But still, they need to face why they have the problem, the rush, and a alternative to said rush.

Not keeping doing it and blame it on genes.

 

[Talendra]

Anything can be an addiction really, it just has to affect your life or the lives of those around you negatively due to the time you spend doing something.
Though I do agree that people tend throw addiction around a fair bit when it shouldn't be used.