Addiction

Addiction

Addiction comes when a habit can’t be stopped, and the mind alters its attention towards the subject of the addiction for an extended period of time.

Whether its activities, substances, food or someone else, dopamine is the fuel towards addiction. Dopamine, being the area of the brain capable of providing feelings of pleasure, satisfaction and motivation within an individual. It is the reward chemical of the brain, stimulated when objectives are achieved or when something brings about a pleasant feeling or experience, such as nice food, sex, winning money, as well as drugs and alcohol. Dopamine is addictive, as we are exposed to higher amounts of it we tend to turn to it more, other activities too can become less interesting after continual or high dopamine experiences. What starts as fun, progresses to habit, then becoming a means of dependency forming into part of your identity. Addiction comes in stages, and once entrenched in negative forms of addiction it can be extremely difficult to overcome. Though too if addiction comes in the form of healthy viable pursuits, then it can also come to benefit the individual if they are not completely succumbed to it.

Fun/ Habit/ Identity

You are travelling along and you encounter a muffin in the fridge, its delicate appeal makes you consume it in an instant, the flavour melting on your tongue releasing a new sensation within your brain, that muffin is delicious. Next you get your mates over so you can all indulge in some muffins and everyone full of joy at the delightful flavour turn it into an ongoing social occurrence. With the flavour so nice and the feeling like no other, one muffin turns to five, then five muffins turns to ten. Extra muffins are eaten during social events for their profound effect, and muffins are eaten when we are alone as we do not feel the same without them. When we are not eating the muffin, our mind is thinking of the muffin, the next chance we’ll have to indulge. Without the muffin we grow reckless, aggravated, or distant from society, nothing else is as enjoyable without a muffin to accompany it. This is how addiction forms to a point you’ve become engrained in it so long and so frequently that the addiction has become part of your identity, it is just something you do and without it you will not feel the same or your mind will crave it within a day. Fun becomes a habit and habit overtime forms dependency.

Unhealthy Addiction

Addictions are unhealthy when they cause problems for your health, wellbeing or lifestyle. If there are things you are meant to be getting done, but addiction is constantly distracting you then this is causing problems for your life. If addictions make you feel guilty or lowers your self-esteem because you feel you are a participant in a bad habit, then this is not good for your wellbeing. If the addiction affects your health, with its regrettable impact on your mind or body then this is not acceptable for your health. If you are absorbed to the point something is in control of your life, and you are not living up to your higher potential because of it, then this is an unhealthy addiction.

Stopping Addiction

Health, wellbeing and lifestyle, if you find these aspects being affected negatively by the habit or addiction you are a participant in then it is good to recognize it. Once recognised, analyse how the negative results caused by the addiction could be reduced. If you are going to have it, don’t beat yourself up, if you are not meeting your goals maybe set a time to complete them before participating in the addiction or a way to integrate the addiction and productivity together. If an addiction has truly got a hold in a negative fashion, then maybe it is time to form the discipline of restraint. Stop. Stop for a couple days, stop for a week, see how long you can go without it even if it is just a day or a couple hours to begin with, it is as simple as saying the word no. If you can prevent the habit in micro doses through disciplining yourself against it, then naturally you begin to form more control. With short term breaks you will be able to recognise that the addiction can be overcome, therefore it will have less of an essential impact on your life.

Healthy Addiction

Not all addiction is bad either. Look at professional athletes, readers, writers, although healthy addictions are harder to obtain than unhealthy, they can still be formed and become an integral part of your life. The reason healthy addictions are less appealing is because they are not a form of instant gratification, compared to lets say putting a cigarette into your mouth. Healthy addictions take time to form, and the dopamine hit more comes from achieving progress rather than a burst of fun or a chemical which alters your brain. When you set a goal and you complete it, or you have a really fulfilling gym session the high you get is a positive form of dopamine because you feel accomplished in the task you have complete, which motivates you to continue in the same efforts moving forward. Many poor, unhealthy addictions can be replaced by healthy forms of addiction. If you have naturally a more addictive personality that means forming a habit of what is going to healthily contribute to your life could spark a wealth of change as what you are attaching yourself to tends take form as an ongoing commitment, an addiction which produces positive dopamine and contributes to your current and future wellbeing as an individual. Addiction towards positive can provide purpose and fulfillment in everyday life, it is like loving a healthy habit, pursuing it daily to the point it becomes a part of you.

 

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