• Addiction: is it real?
    107 replies, posted
Mental addiction itself has a chemical aspect, as happiness is a chemical reaction.
It's kind of sad that I'm sitting here reading this thread while smoking a cigarette. 420 Posts :D [IMG]http://i46.tinypic.com/4rbzfr.jpg[/IMG] Oh god I think I opened a 4th dimension :o
Well.. This doesn't really seem to be making much progress in terms of me not understanding the aspect of "stop touching what's hurting you." More or less, it seems kinda dumb to get addicted to something you know is bad for you in the first place. Which is why I think you just have to be easily susceptible to it in the first place. Aka addictive personalities.
I have a feeling that if I tried smoking I would get very addicted.
[QUOTE=Bloodshed16;22433146]Well.. This doesn't really seem to be making much progress in terms of me not understanding the aspect of "stop touching what's hurting you." More or less, it seems kinda dumb to get addicted to something you know is bad for you in the first place. Which is why I think you just have to be easily susceptible to it in the first place. Aka addictive personalities.[/QUOTE] No one starts doing something with the intention of becoming an addict. But the human race is highly irrational anyway. People don't stop eating McDonald's. People don't stop driving motorcycles. People don't stop consuming excessive amounts of caffeine. They don't exercise enough to stop obesity. They don't stop listening to extremely loud music or going to concerts that ruin their hearing. They don't stop playing sports that cause severe physical injury. It is because they like doing these things, so the risk is worth it. With physically and psychologically addictive drugs, this effect becomes essential for day-to-day functioning.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;22432490]Mental addiction itself has a chemical aspect, as happiness is a chemical reaction.[/QUOTE] Yes but it's not like equal happiness can't be achieved through almost anything [editline]11:15AM[/editline] Also- is caffeine truly an addictive substance? I have been drinking coffee since age 4 (Literally), and I've never had "withdrawal symptoms" of being away from caffeine. I won't drink any for a week or so and hardly notice anything
[QUOTE=thereisno131;22412392]'First off, I understand the chemical dependency of some addictions, and I am NOT referring to that type of addiction. I'm referring to cigarettes and the like. ' cigarettes have nicotine nicotine is addictive chemical OP is ignorant[/QUOTE] and thus this thread was destroyed
Oh, it's real.
[QUOTE=Ultra Violence;22434715]No one starts doing something with the intention of becoming an addict. But the human race is highly irrational anyway. People don't stop eating McDonald's. People don't stop driving motorcycles. People don't stop consuming excessive amounts of caffeine. They don't exercise enough to stop obesity. They don't stop listening to extremely loud music or going to concerts that ruin their hearing. They don't stop playing sports that cause severe physical injury. It is because they like doing these things, so the risk is worth it. With physically and psychologically addictive drugs, this effect becomes essential for day-to-day functioning.[/QUOTE] But the fact that they would do these things in the first place is mind blowing. Maybe it's just because I'm such an optimistic person I don't feel the need to rely on a drug, or alcohol etc to motivate me to be happy. I think that's the only conclusion I'm going to get from this thread. Depressed people = addictive personality = makes you feel happy.
[QUOTE=Bloodshed16;22429191]Yeah... But mine is arguable because [b]there ARE people who don't get addicted to stuff.[/b] Doesn't that seem suspicious to you in the least? It's almost like a placebo effect, everyone hears how bad addiction is then next thing you know everyone's addicted. And that just doesn't make sense to me.[/QUOTE] Define "stuff" cause the time it takes for an addiction to build and a tolerance to build is extremely dependant on the drug or substance. Oh and drugs effect everyone the same, that's why they are called drugs, that is the definition of a drug, although there are genetic abnormalities in some people which mean that for example a downer would be an upper. [editline]12:48PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Bloodshed16;22433146]Well.. This doesn't really seem to be making much progress in terms of me not understanding the aspect of "stop touching what's hurting you." More or less, it seems kinda dumb to get addicted to something you know is bad for you in the first place. Which is why I think you just have to be easily susceptible to it in the first place. Aka addictive personalities.[/QUOTE] You, read this. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_dependence#Causes[/url] Some drugs are potent enough to create an addiction from the first time you try it. And don't use the whole "but they know it's dangerous for you" argument, breathing air is dangerous, being near petrol is dangerous, going for a swim is dangerous, sleeping is dangerous. If it exists it's dangerous in some respect.
[QUOTE=Perfumly;22437567]Yes but it's not like equal happiness can't be achieved through almost anything [editline]11:15AM[/editline] Also- is caffeine truly an addictive substance? I have been drinking coffee since age 4 (Literally), and I've never had "withdrawal symptoms" of being away from caffeine. I won't drink any for a week or so and hardly notice anything[/QUOTE] There was a program about caffeine "dependency" on a while back. Wikipedia has a whole article on withdrawal. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffiene#Tolerance_and_withdrawal[/url] It's interesting how some people seem to separate differing drugs which they consider acceptable and unacceptable, even amongst the legal type.
I've got an idea, OP. Shoot a lot of heroin, then try and stop. Then I think you'll find that addiction is very real.
[QUOTE=bravehat;22437912]Define "stuff" cause the time it takes for an addiction to build and a tolerance to build is extremely dependant on the drug or substance. Oh and drugs effect everyone the same, that's why they are called drugs, that is the definition of a drug, although there are genetic abnormalities in some people which mean that for example a downer would be an upper. [editline]12:48PM[/editline] You, read this. [URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_dependence#Causes[/URL] Some drugs are potent enough to create an addiction from the first time you try it. And don't use the whole "but they know it's dangerous for you" argument, breathing air is dangerous, being near petrol is dangerous, going for a swim is dangerous, sleeping is dangerous. If it exists it's dangerous in some respect.[/QUOTE] The link cleared it up a bit. Self-medication, which is what I had assumed in the first place is a big one it sounds. Apathy, what fun. It's a valid argument. Breathing is something we must do, being near petrol is fairly mandatory to properly function as well. Doing a drug however is clearly something done by choice, and unless you're mentally challenged should be WELL aware of the chance of becoming addicted, along with the many other consequences. [quote=robowurmz] I've got an idea, OP. Shoot a lot of heroin, then try and stop. Then I think you'll find that addiction is very real.[/quote] Great idea! I'll get right on that, just a sec.
[QUOTE=Bloodshed16;22438213]The link cleared it up a bit. Self-medication, which is what I had assumed in the first place is a big one it sounds. Apathy, what fun. It's a valid argument. Breathing is something we must do, being near petrol is fairly mandatory to properly function as well. Doing a drug however is clearly something done by choice, and unless you're mentally challenged should be WELL aware of the chance of becoming addicted, along with the many other consequences.[/QUOTE] Okay, so, out of that entire article, all you took out of it was "self-medication" and inferred, somehow, that this equates to apathy? What about the rest of it? Honestly, it seems like you are just looking for the reasons that you already agree with, and ignoring the rest so your viewpoint on addiction and addicts can remain intact. And, once more, with feeling! No one does something expecting to become an addict. That is fucking stupid, and this will be the third time I've explained this to you.
Right, you wanna know why people do drugs? some drugs out gun anything you could feel otherwise, for example cocaine: [QUOTE][B]Crack-cocaine delivers an intensity of pleasure completely outside the normal range of human experience.[/B] It offers the most wonderful state of consciousness, and the most intense sense of being alive, the user will ever enjoy. (S)he will access heightened states of being whose modes are unknown to chemically-naïve contemporaries. [B]Groping for adequate words, crack-takers sometimes speak of the rush in terms of a [U]"whole-body orgasm"[/U].[/B][/QUOTE] The source is probably coke heads, but in this case that aids my point, as its from coke heads themselves. [url]http://www.cocaine.org/[/url]
Some people helplessy clinging onto their wrong knowgledge and opinions are kind of pathetic.
[QUOTE=Ultra Violence;22438276]Okay, so, out of that entire article, all you took out of it was "self-medication" and inferred, somehow, that this equates to apathy? What about the rest of it? Honestly, it seems like you are just looking for the reasons that you already agree with, and ignoring the rest so your viewpoint on addiction and addicts can remain intact. And, once more, with feeling! No one does something expecting to become an addict. That is fucking stupid, and this will be the third time I've explained this to you.[/QUOTE] It's fine earlier in the thread he actually said he was set in his way of thinking, so honestly all this effort is getting wasted entirely.
[QUOTE=Ultra Violence;22438276]Okay, so, out of that entire article, all you took out of it was "self-medication" and inferred, somehow, that this equates to apathy? What about the rest of it? Honestly, it seems like you are just looking for the reasons that you already agree with, and ignoring the rest so your viewpoint on addiction and addicts can remain intact. And, once more, with feeling! No one does something expecting to become an addict. That is fucking stupid, and this will be the third time I've explained this to you.[/QUOTE] No, I said self medication because it was a huge point and highly suspected (this is according to what I read, not what I'm just randomly saying). And yes. I'd say many addictions are caused from apathy. If they cared they'd get professional help. Yes, obviously. But unless you're super naive you know the consequences. I think that falls under commonsense... They're known as addictive substances for a reason.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.