Stop Calling it an Addiction!

[the1ultimate]

If only drug addictions counted as addictions, why would anyone bother to qualify the type of addiction further by saying "drug addiction".

And of course the human body itself produces things that the human body may become dependent on in response to certain stimuli(see adrenaline junkie as an example). Thus you cannot say that people aren't addicted to certain activities.

Besides which I object to your use of obsessive/compulsive disorder. The people who suffer from those disorders don't feel the need to do things. They mostly just do them.

 

[Dusty Donuts]

As already mentioned, the release of endorphins in the brain more often than usual can be the concept for an addiction, such as someone shopping releases more endorphins than usual, making them happy and possibly making them want to do it again. Addiction is something that upsets the brain balance and begins to become habitual, hence an addict because they regularly do it regardless of the long-term side effects that usually come from prolonged exposure to most common addictions.

As terribly awful as heroine withdrawal must be, it is survivable.

There's a bit of a problem there. It's definitely survivable, but you can't do it on your own since the body convinces itself that it needs the substance and begins to use it's usual functions to tell you that it requires something. For shopping and other non-lethal addictions, you can become highly anxious or other emotions become dominant that you think can only be swayed by doing what you enjoy. (particularly for shopping) find some cheap reason to persuade your conscience that it's okay. As for heroin and etc...Your brain has convinced itself that it needs heroin and you will be looking for every excuse to get a shot of it.

 

[DerangedBeing]

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?

On a random note, I've actually fully read the first post, then decided to check the definitons of the words "Addiction" and "Obsession". Once you get past all of the different songs and tv episodes named after the words, they basically can be used for either or, with Obsessions used for random things you find yourself unable to stop thinking about or are "obssessed" or "addicted" to, while "addictions" are usually the common things you think about, such as Drug, Drinking, Eating, Video Game, and other such "obsessable" things.

So yeah, they're basically homonyms. Tomato Tomato, Potato Potato (you know what I mean... I dunno how to spell the different pronunciations for that example, but I know you get it).

 

[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.

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?

Probably some symptoms are similar. Addiction can affect you physically. You become ill or something like it.

Obsession will affect you mentally. However, it won't touch you to the physical level if you don't do something to affect your body ( A tatoo or cutting yourself).
An obsession is more associated with a thing or a person.

 

[Bobkat1252]

About a week ago, after finally being able to bring my xbox to school and having just aquired AC2 and L4D2, I sat down and played for about 5 hours straight. My roommate was out in our floor's lounge when another kid from our floor asks where I and a girl from our floor are. My roommate tells him that I'm playing games still and that the girl is passed out from intoxication. The kid replies that they should have an intervention for me since I'm aparently "addicted" to my xbox,. The girl and pretty much everyone on my floor (including the kid saying this) could be classified as an alcoholic except for me, since I dont drink, and I'M the one who needs an intervention?

Just thought I'd post this here, been wanting to get that off my chest for awhile.

 

[Daegond]

The OP is naturally entitled to his opinion, and to be fair, he's pretty close to the mark with his stance on gambling addiction. Gambling "addiction" is a more colloquial term, and not diagnostic. Pathological gambling is an impulse-control disorder (which has obsessive tendencies, but is not an obsession per se) of which a symptom is anxiety and irritability when cutting back. I think this is what people are talking about when going on about withdrawal symptoms.

But yes, there are both physiological and psychological addictions with their own withdrawal symptoms. And while physiological withdrawal symptoms are more severe, it doesn't mean psychological withdrawal effects aren't diagnostic. And if you want some extra reading material to figure out why gambling is so much more addictive than traditional reinforcement schemes read up on intermittent reinforcement. That's the process involved with gambling addiction.

A little part of me dies inside when I respond to threads like these...

 

[Music Mole]

I say we riot!

seconded!
some guy in the background "what for?"
WHO CARES LETS RIOT!

Another face in the crowd. "I'm not sure thats a good ide- gunshot

 

[Pegghead]

You can get addicted to anything really, at the end of the day it all boils down to the mind of the person.

 

[geddydisciple]

You sir have obviously never met a WoW addict. Especially someone who is into the hardcore end game stuff. (me 6 months ago) It was easier to quit smoking than it was to quit WoW.

 

[Atheist.]

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

You should know that you can't easily access a lot research papers without being enrolled in a univeristy, or paying an access fee. I'll look up a few papers I can find, if I can remember the names. If you're currently enrolled in a university you should easily be able to find them yourself with the vast online libraries that contain academic journals and the like.

Edit: http://www.springerlink.com/content/h35n579445314l8r/ This study provides evidence that gambling can replace another addiction (alcohol or other drugs). You'll probably have to pay to view this one. But there's an abstract.

www.sma.org.sg/smj/4205/4205cr2.pdf This pdf is a case study of a 32 year old Asian woman who is addicted to gambling.

http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/50/8/1021#SEC1 This is a decent article written by a fairly well established woman, Nancy M. Petry, Ph.D from Harvard University who works with various forms of addiction.

Happy yet?

 

[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

You should know that you can't easily access a lot research papers without being enrolled in a univeristy, or paying an access fee. I'll look up a few papers I can find, if I can remember the names. If you're currently enrolled in a university you should easily be able to find them yourself with the vast online libraries that contain academic journals and the like.

Edit: http://www.springerlink.com/content/h35n579445314l8r/ This study provides evidence that gambling can replace another addiction (alcohol or other drugs). You'll probably have to pay to view this one. But there's an abstract.

www.sma.org.sg/smj/4205/4205cr2.pdf This pdf is a case study of a 32 year old Asian woman who is addicted to gambling.

http://psychservices.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/50/8/1021#SEC1 This is a decent article written by a fairly well established woman, Nancy M. Petry, Ph.D from Harvard University who works with various forms of addiction.

Happy yet?

I'm enrolled at a university with access to all the big journal sources. Just give me their APA cites and I can look em up.

I'm not trying to shut you down by asking for sources, by the way. I'm genuinely interested in the subject and have been considering doing research in the area.

 

[The_ModeRazor]

Of course it is an addiction. People can get addicted to practically anything.
Computer games are fun, so there are addicts. Pathetic little excuses for a once-human being.

 

[Atheist.]

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Well I don't really have time to do research for someone else right now, but I recommend you start your search at LexisNexis Academic, as that database has access to a very large number of medical journals and studies.

http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/search/homesubmitForm.do

Just use whatever keywords are relevent to your research (Obviously.) You should be able to find whatever you're looking for rather quickly if your keywords are specific enough.

 

[TheSeventhLoneWolf]

Habits, not addictions.

 

[McNinja]

Gaming, TV, and gambling turn into obsessions, but not an addiction, or at least not the same way smoking or cocaine gets you addicted. Withdrawls from non-drugs are less severe.

 

[Phyroxis]

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Well I don't really have time to do research for someone else right now, but I recommend you start your search at LexisNexis Academic, as that database has access to a very large number of medical journals and studies.

http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/search/homesubmitForm.do

Just use whatever keywords are relevent to your research (Obviously.) You should be able to find whatever you're looking for rather quickly if your keywords are specific enough.

I was asking for the backup for your posts, lol. I can do my own research, I wanted to see what backed your statements, though.

 

[Fronken]

While not entirely on subject, there is alot of mentions of stuff that get branded "disease" without even being close to true, best example i can think of is obesity, i seriously get mad whenever some ignorant person says its a disease, hell, im a big guy myself, about 30kg overweight, and even i know that it isnt a disease, there are always ways to loose weight, it's all about personal will and strength, branding something as a disease is just a scape-goat for the real issue, same with branding things as an addiction when they really arent.

 

[Marowit]

Here's one of the first results on Pubmed about gambling and withdrawal:

"Despite clinical reports of other withdrawal-like symptoms, the DSM-IV considers only restlessness/irritability as a withdrawal-like criterion comprising pathological gambling disorder (PGD). We explored whether this criterion should be broadened to include other gambling withdrawal-like symptoms.Community-recruited adult gamblers (n = 312) participated in telephone interviews about gambling and related behaviors as a part of a larger psychometric study. Frequency and chi-square analyses described the association of gambling withdrawal-like symptoms by gambling disorder status. Multinomial forward selection logistic regression obtained a multivariate model describing the simultaneous relationship between these symptoms and gambling disorder status.

One-quarter of the sample experienced the DSM-IV PGD criterion of restlessness/irritability. However, 41% experienced additional gambling withdrawal-like symptoms when attempting to quit or control gambling. A model including restlessness/irritability and three additional non-DSM-IV withdrawal-like symptoms (i.e. feelings of anger, guilt, and disappointment) is a stronger model of gambling disorder (chi(2) = 217.488; df = 8, p < 0.0001; R(2) = 0.5428; p < 0.0001) than restlessness/irritability alone (chi(2) = 151.278; df = 2, p < 0.0001; R(2) = 0.4133). The overlap of gambling withdrawal-like symptoms with substance use withdrawal (11%) and depressive symptoms (34%) failed to fully account for these associations with gambling disorder status.Future PGD conceptualization and potential criteria revisions for DSM-V may warrant a broader inclusion of gambling withdrawal-like symptoms."

Cunningham-Williams, et al. 2009

After being crit by that text wall the TL;DR version is that people experience withdrawal from attempting/quitting gambling, and they are making the argument more criteria should be included.

Yes people over use the term, "i'm addicted to them," but people can become legitimately addicted to things like this, It has to do the the reward-schedule and the response your brain has to them. For example, the most addictive reward-schedule is a completely random one (surprise surprise like gambling). Your brain does release it's on chemicals in response to these rewards and hence, you can become physically dependent on them - another example is people who are addicted to sex/masturbation.

Oh, and to the point about disease here are some of the definitions from a google search:

an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as invading organisms, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune diseases.

hmmm - by those definitions addiction would fall into the category of disease, because it certainly falls under the abnormal functioning, but hey, i'm sure you're better qualified to determine the definition, and whether addiction falls under it.

 

[Seldon2639]

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.

Um... Yeah... You do know that in the DSM-IV (a fancy book filled with things like "diagnostic criteria") requires that an addiction have an adverse effect, right? And that neurological studies actually shows that people who are addicted to things like gambling actually experience the same kind of high (endorphin rush) that one can get from other sources which you would call an "addition", and that the lack of such a high actually does bring about withdrawal symptoms? If do you know all that, and have done the research, spoken to psychologists, read peer-reviewed journals, I'm curious how you came to your conclusion.

But, I'm betting you didn't do any of that. Instead, you're a self-righteous prig who (in opposition to the standing body of evidence) wants to make the issue about self-control. See, the irony is, you think it's not an addiction mostly because you don't have it. You can play video games, gamble, eat, do plenty of other things to which other people are addicted, and not suffer any adverse consequences. Because you aren't addicted you defy the idea that one can be addicted to those things.

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.

So, the only "diseases" are ones caused by something purely physiological, and which can only be resolved through medicine? Here's the thing: the brain is purely physiological, so the only difference between heroin addiction and what you would consider a "real" disease is the level of severity (perhaps) and the ability to self-correct. Thus, a cold isn't a "disease", since I get over it on my own (by ridding my body of the afflicting substances in my body), and it's nowhere near as serious as MS. But, I'd bet that if you actually talked to a cancer survivor, or an MS patient, and asked them "is a cold a disease" they're not going to say "of course not, it's nowhere near as terrible as what I have". Your hyperbolic, and melodramatic, hypothetical only makes sense unless you look at it reasonably. There are many diseases which aren't in the same group as MS, but you'd not doubt that having strep throat is a disease.

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

[citation needed]. I love the self-righteous part again, and I really like the conspiracy theory. But without evidence to back up that the entirety of the psychology and neurology communities are corrupt to the core and lying about the evidence they see and research they do, you're simply without any basis for your claims.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

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.

paraphrasing the words of Phillip K Dick in the afterword of A Scanner Darkly, drug addiction is not a disease, it's a choice. you chose to do the what the drug, you didn't need it you chose it. it's much like walking in front of a bus, you chose to walk in front of the bus.

i'm kinda sick of people saying it's a disease but it's part of a trend to remove blame and personal responsibility from one's own actions. it's easier to say it was the drugs causing you to do that than you admitting that you were a jack ass and did all that bad stuff of your own volition