Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- .This section is about addiction. --- 1/24/2006
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- (1) How many resources you spend on an addiction. How much time you spend thinking about it, talking about it, and doing it. How much money you spend on it. (2) What you neglect in order to do it. Do you neglect your spouse, kids, or social life? Do you neglect your job? (3) Physical addiction vs. psychological addiction. --- 1/1/2000
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- (1) If you watch television sixteen hours a day are you addicted or merely depressed? (2) If you engage in a behavior for sixteen hours a day that provides no pleasure are you addicted or obsessed? (3) What if you neglect to bathe, eat, sleep, exercise? What if you neglect your job, mate and kids? That is a problem. (4) And yet we all have to figure out some way to spend our days. We all have to decide how to spend our time. If a person decides to do nothing all day, is that an addiction? --- 5/2/2005
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- (1) The human emotion of happiness or pleasure has distinct components. There is excited-happy emotions and calm-happy emotions. (2) The human brain produces specific neurotransmitters when a person is happy. Specific neurotransmitters produce excited-happy emotions. Other specific neurotransmitters produce calm-happy emotions. (3) Various natural activities produce various types of pleasure. For example, anticipating a meeting with your lover can produce excited-happy, and consummating a meeting with your lover can produce calm-happy. (4) Drugs artificially affect the levels of neurotransmitters that produce the various types of happiness. Cocaine and other stimulants produce excited-happiness. Alcohol and other depressants produce calm-happiness. (5) People often engage in excessive levels or durations of eating, sex, gambling, computers games, stock trading, Internet porn or drugs to produce a false, artificial happiness. (6) Confronting and solving the problems of life can be challenging, arduous, and uncomfortable. Avoiding the pain of life by pursuing unhealthy and nonproductive activities is a sign of addiction. Any activity can be done to excess. Addiction and avoidance is easy and unhealthy. Effort is difficult and healthy. --- 5/1/2005
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- (1) The question is how much time do you spend pursuing an activity, or even thinking about an activity? (2) How harmful is the activity? (3) What are you neglecting by pursuing the activity? --- 5/2/2005
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Addicted to risk. Addiction to risk can occur in criminals, illegal drug users, or anyone who participates in dangerous activities. Risk addiction is related to, but not the same as, self destructive urges. It is possible to be addicted to the rush that comes with dangers pursuits. You engage in the pursuit more and more, not for their intrinsic rewards, but just for the danger rush of it. Adrenaline junkie. --- 10/05/1997
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Addiction as habit. --- 5/2/2005
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Addiction is a hypnotic state? --- 9/23/1998
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Addiction to booze, drugs, junk food, etc. (1) Trance like state. Focused only on one thing. Unable to think. (2) Caused by (A) Rebellion. (B) Low self esteem. (C) Pain avoidance. --- 12/30/1992
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Addiction. Do anything that feels good to avoid pain. Sourceless, mindless, urges. Healthy vs. unhealthy urges. --- 12/30/1992
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Degree of addiction, habit, urges vs. self control. (1) Thinking about the addicted substance constantly, once a day, week, year. (2) Engaging in addictive behavior constantly, once a day, week, year. (3) Degree you can control your thoughts and behavior, i.e. direct them elsewhere. --- 12/30/1995
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Dynamics of addiction. (1) Addiction (physical pleasure to block out psychological pain) as actually a psychological obsession? Ex. The person can not stop thinking about booze. (2) Addiction as actually psychological self destruction. Ex. The person knows they are drinking themselves to death. (3) Depression can cause self anger and self loathing, that can lead to self destructive thinking, that can lead to addiction. (4) Depression can cause psychological pain, that can lead to addiction as a means of relief. (5) Depression can lead to apathy (extreme not caring, giving up), which can lead to addiction (why not drink, it feels good?) or self destruction (why not kill self?). --- 10/10/1997
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- I do not agree with twelve step programs. They seem to rely on religious belief and prayer instead of psychological self discovery, self confrontation, self understanding, self knowledge, and reason, found through methods such as journal writing and psycho-therapy. Even drugs alone cannot bring epiphany, and help stop repression. --- 08/17/1997
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- If you do an activity to excess on any single day, is that addiction? No, its just over-doing it. If you do an activity to excess everyday for a month or year, is that addiction? Probably. --- 5/2/2005
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- If you feel the urge for additives, sit down, relax, and figure out what is bothering you. --- 03/11/1989
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Is the word "addiction" a useful word? If you steal or rob to support a habit. If the activity kills you. If the activity puts the life of you or others at risk. Risky behavior is not exactly the same as addictive behavior. What if the behavior is merely a big waste of time? --- 5/2/2005
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Is there a genetic component to addiction? Can it be overridden by environment? Is the genetic component just a predisposition to becoming addicted? Addicted to any substance or a specific substance? --- 12/5/2003
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- People who work by instinct (urges), like me, fall prey to addiction easily. --- 06/17/1994
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Physical addiction versus psychological addiction. Since psychological states can cause physical symptoms there is no such thing as purely psychological addiction. Since physical states can cause psychological symptoms there is no such thing as purely physical addiction. --- 5/2/2005
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Physical addiction vs. psychological addiction. Some people posit a difference between physical addiction and psychological addiction. However, that distinction is not unproblematic. When psychological feelings (emotions) can cause physical feelings (sensations), and visa versa, then where is the dividing line between mind and body, and where is the dividing line between physical addiction and psychological addiction? --- 12/5/2003
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Stress and anxiety can both trigger addiction. Boredom can also. --- 10/30/1998
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- The mental pain of depression can trigger addiction. Longing for a good feeling to ease or cease the depression. Depression and addiction go hand in hand. --- 03/05/1989
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- Types of addiction. Things to be addicted to. Drugs (including alcohol, nicotine and caffeine), shopping, gambling, power, pain, sex, working, eating, Internet, violence. (2) Any activity can be done to excess. Any activity can be done to avoid boredom, depression, anxiety, anger, etc. Any activity can be done for pleasure too much. --- 12/5/2003
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- What do we say about a person who decides to spend their life enjoying the pleasures of life without ever efforting to solve the problems of life? Is that person a pleasure addict? --- 5/2/2005
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- What is the difference between addiction and habit? What is the difference between addiction and obsessive compulsive disorder? --- 12/5/2003
Psychology, pathological, specific, addiction. --- When is it addiction and when is it a matter of ethics (good and bad)? When is it a matter of sanity (sane and crazy)? When is it a matter of ignorance (smart and stupid)? --- 5/2/2005