Monday, November 19, 2012
Compare and Contrast Addiction
You need to pick a behavioral addiction. The possibilities are limitless. You need to DO SOME RESEARCH!!!! FIND AN ARTICLE AND LINK IT IN THE POST AND INCLUDE INFORMATION FROM THE ARTICLE IN YOUR RESPONSE.You article needs to help you do not just give my notes to me again. Then you need to compare the behavioral addiction you picked to substance addiction and also point out some differences. This should take you some time if done correctly.Due Wed. BY 12:00AM!!!
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ReplyDeleteOne major behavioral addiction is adrenaline addiction. According to Dr. William Gaultiere, adrenaline addiction is human dependence on stress hormones for “energy, pleasure, and confidence” in their daily lives (Gaultiere, see link at the bottom). The addiction’s attractiveness is based on the powers of adrenaline, and to a lesser extent, cortisol, to relieve one’s stress during emergency situations. The bodily chemical adrenaline produces a “'fight or flight'” response to such situations, allowing parents, for instance, to speedily grab their child if they see a car driving down the street or for nervous employee relieve his or herself during an intense business presentation (Gaultiere). People become hooked on this feeling, especially in an American culture where Americans “[view] daily stresses as emergencies” (Gaultiere). In America, caffeinated drinks like coffee are praised and exalted for their abilities to stimulate people and to excite them from their normal stresses. With a culture behind them, many Adrenaline addicts feel no reason to stop and feel encouraged to keep up with the vibe of the people they see in daily life. Behind their addiction is a feeling of being “inadequate or insignificant” if they are not energetic and always moving, triggering their behavioral addiction to adrenaline (Gaultiere). They never stop moving or exciting their adrenaline, and if they do they get depressed. On weekends, when adrenaline addicts have nothing to do and actually take a second to rest, they find themselves experiencing several withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms include utter exhaustion, irritability, depression, inability to control temper, and feelings of a need to get back to work. Those that suffer with adrenaline addiction often suffer from “anxiety, rapid heartbeats, headaches, backaches, gastric distress, and sleeping problems” and may eventually suffer from problems as severe as heart disease and cancer (Gaultiere). Adrenaline addicts must realize their addiction before it is too late, which is difficult in a society supportive of always staying busy. They should commit themselves to 8 hours of sleep each night and general mental and physical relaxation techniques. They should also try to limit their usage of caffeinated beverages and sugar, which often support their feeling of a necessity to keep moving and straining themselves. This leads them to becoming dependent more and more on adrenaline for their well-being (Gaultiere).
My Source (Dr. William Gaultiere): http://www.newhopenow.org/notes/archive/adrenaline_dependence.html
(Part 2/2)
ReplyDeleteIn comparison to an addiction to meth, adrenaline addiction is similar in that it is based off of stimulating oneself and bringing feelings of reward through the manipulation of bodily nerves and hormones that each offers. Both addictions often involve a lack of sleep and an increase in heart rate and breathing. Addicts of both addictions rely on these highs to help themselves deal with feelings of depression and uselessness. There are some differences, however, between the two addictions. Since meth is a substance addiction, it involves the entrance of the actual substance of meth through injection, snorting, or swallowing. Adrenaline addicts, being behavioral addicts, do not depend on a substance they enter in to their body for their addiction. Although many may use large amount of caffeine, the caffeine is not the drug they are addicted to. They are addicted to the reaction of stress hormones in their body (adrenaline) to activities that they force themselves to do like trying dangerous stunts and staying completely busy without rest. Whereas meth addicts simply inject a substance into their body to create a high, adrenaline addicts have to work for theirs. In addition, meth addiction leads to physical, skin problems such as extremely dry mouth and meth sores. Users of adrenaline do not force skin mutilation on themselves simply by constantly pushing the adrenaline within them. Meth users also may suffer from hallucinations, which do not usually occur with adrenaline addiction.
http://www.video-game-addiction.org/
ReplyDeletehttp://www.addictionrecov.org/addictions/?AID=45
One interesting behavioral addiction is the addiction to video games. Video game addiction is an impulse control disorder, and is rapidly growing in teens and adults. The latest video games have greatly improved graphics and strategic skills, that they draw people away from friends, family, outside activities, school, and work. Some use video games to achieve goals and accomplish missions in a fantasy world. It is also used to meet real-life people in a vitual world, as a substitute for real-life connection with people. Boys are more likely to be addicted to video games than girls are. Some addicted may form an emotional connection to those they meet online. Behavioral addiction is similar yet different to drug addictions. Both can be triggered from abuse, neglect, and many other tragedies. The addictions are different because one involves a substance, and one does not. Heroin is a substance that can be consumed by snorting, smoking, or shooting. This drug creates a high that is very pleasurable, and causes the user to forget problems of the real world. This can also be found in behavioral addiction. Heroin use can result in collapsed veins and abscesses of the skin, which cannot be cause from video game addiction.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/19/AR2009041902350.html
ReplyDeleteOne type of behavioral addiction is an addiction to video games. This is something that is rapidly increasing in the United States, especially in the youth. It is considered an addiction to gaming when the person is experiencing some of the following affects, increasing their spending and time to maintain excitement, lying about how much time they play, being irritable when they cut back their play, escaping problems through playing, skipping homework and chores to play, and several others. This is an epidemic throughout America’s youth, a study now shows that eight and a half percent of those ages eight to eighteen have an addiction to gaming; this suggests that about three million kids in that group have this addiction. There have been studies showing that those children that spend more time on video games have, as a result, worse grades than those who don’t. These kids go into these games to escape from whatever problems they are facing and create a virtual barrier between themselves and the real world, a barrier that gives them everything they want in real life and as a result they immerse themselves into it, escaping their real pain and suffering.
Behavioral addictions such as this one contain many similarities to that of a substance addiction, although they are not exactly the same. Both types of addictions are indulged in because people are trying to alter their reality, and escape the pains and responsibilities facing them in the real world. Just like an alcoholic, these gamers immerse themselves in their drug until they are numb to what is around them. Also they both bring a feeling of accomplishment and reward to the subject, making them feel better temporarily. Another thing they do is create a debt for the person, causing the person to do anything to get the addiction, although it is much more severe in substance abuse. A major difference between the two types of addiction is the physical affects. While video games certainly don’t help a person, an addiction to them will not bring about a direct physical setback caused by the games. However, abusing actual drugs creates many harmful affects and can directly result in great injuries, and even death. Also withdrawal from these behavioral addictions will not cause death, while from substances it can. Even though these behavioral addictions are not directly harmful, they are a huge issue, and if they are not dealt with they can ruin a person’s life just as easily as alcohol can.
http://addictions.about.com/od/lesserknownaddictions/a/exerciseadd.htm
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brainphysics.com/exercise-addiction.php
A behavioral addiction is a pattern of behavior that starts with doing something that person enjoys. They may begin doing this behavior to enhance their life or cope with stress. They may do this behavior more often until it becomes a regular part of their life. When the person becomes addicted, they can’t control the urge to do this activity. They want to perform this activity more and more.
An example of a behavioral addiction is exercise addiction. A person may start exercising because studies show that exercise is essential for good health and exercise helps prevent disease, obesity, and promotes a longer life. Someone may also start exercising to lose weight, improve their physical appearance, or become stronger and faster. Exercise can contribute to relaxation and social enjoyment. Exercise can even be recommended to improve mental health and recover from other addictions. There is a big difference between healthy exercise and exercise addiction. Exercise becomes an addiction when a person can’t live without exercise and it becomes a compulsion to exercise more and more. They feel like exercise is the most important thing in their life and it helps them express emotions like anger and grief. They need and crave exercise and they can’t skip an exercise routine. They need to exercise more to be satisfied. They may exercise for a long period of time every day and become stressed if they are not able to exercise one day. Exercise addiction can cause physical problems with injuries and not getting enough rest. Someone who is addicted to exercise feels a sense of structure and control over their life, but their compulsion to exercise eventually leads to a loss of control because they can’t balance the other priorities in their life. A person who is addicted to exercise may skip obligations like school, work, and social activities to exercise instead.
Exercise addiction is similar to a substance addiction, such as alcohol addiction. Excessive exercise can affect a person’s mood, just like alcohol can. A person’s tolerance for exercise increases the more they exercise. They need more exercise to attain the same effect. In a similar way, an alcoholic needs more alcohol to satisfy their urge to drink. Exercise is associated with pleasure and drinking alcohol is also generally considered pleasurable. Exercising at a gym or through sports can be a fun social activity and drinking with friends is also a social activity. But there are also differences between exercise addiction and alcohol addiction. Exercise could improve mental health and focus, while excessive drinking can cause bad judgment. Exercise addiction can cause good physical changes, such as strength and losing weight. Alcohol addiction could cause weight gain. Exercise can improve a person’s social life, while alcohol can cause social problems. Exercise is considered a good moral activity, but excessive drinking is not. Exercise is usually a healthy activity, but when exercise becomes so frequent and compulsive, it takes over a person’s life and becomes an addiction.
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ReplyDeleteAn example of a behavioral addiction would be an addiction to shopping, or Omniomania. It is said that 6% of all Americans have an addiction to shopping. 80 to 95% of all people with this problem are women. It can become a person’s way of coping with stress. It helps people take their mind off of their problems for a little while and puts their focus on something else. They can escape feelings of boredom, depression, and anxiety and at the same time experience a type of high while they are spending cash. This is need to spend cash is called Compulsive Buying Disorder, and it’s the reason why most people get addicted to spending. The article states that compulsive buyers go through 4 steps while they shop: anticipation, preparation, shopping, and spending. During the actual shopping experience they have a high feeling of excitement and pleasure, and while spending they have a sense of accomplishment. Shortly after the purchase, the high wears off and the victim feels disappointment, depression, or even self-disgust. This can have a negative impact not only on the person emotionally, but also financially and can destroy relationships.
ReplyDeleteThis behavioral addiction is a lot like substance addiction because it is an outlet for negative emotions. It can only satisfy someone for a short amount of time and is never permanent. The addiction is usually always harmful to some aspect of a person’s life. It always does more harm than good. Once the person is hooked, it’s almost impossible for them to stop. But a shopping addiction isn’t exactly like a substance addiction. Usually with a substance addiction, a person is harming their physical health with whatever they are using. They can get sick or maybe even die from the harmful effects. Shopping isn’t going to cause someone to get seizures or kill brain cells. It’s more of a mental thing and has nothing to do with their physical body. It harms things outside of themselves, like their money situation.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1805733/
http://addictions.about.com/od/lesserknownaddictions/a/shoppingadd.htm
A behavioral addiction is continually partaking in an action until it causes a negative impact on a person’s life. For example shopping can be a great thing to do to hangout with your friends but it can also become an addiction. No one can be sure where a person’s addiction comes from but they do have a better understanding of why they keep partaking in the addiction. A person will keep shopping because it makes them feel good. A shopaholic will hide what they buy because it is easier to hide their addiction than to admit they have an addiction. Shopaholics are worried that they will be criticized for their spending so they will hide what they buy. You can tell when someone is a shopaholic when they spend over their budget or they will go out to buy one thing and come back with multiple things. Sometimes a person will take their items back that they bought because they feel guilty but that guilt will trigger a shopping spree to make themselves feel good again. For example Bryan is addicted to shopping. He is depressed and uses shopping to make him feel better but when he gets home that happiness goes away. He is over $100,000 in debt and has multiple credit cards. It is easier for Bryan to lie and hide his addiction from people than to admit that he has an addiction. He was neglected by his father when he was a little boy. When he was 6 years old he was sexually abused. Once his mom found out about the abuse she took him shopping to make him feel better. That is where his addiction is believed to have started.
ReplyDeleteShopping and heroin can both become an addiction but shopping is a behavioral addiction while heroin is a substance addiction. These two addictions do have some similarities. For example they both are caused by a lack of dopamine in the body and to get that dopamine that they are lacking they resort to their addiction. Shopping addiction and heroin addiction also have differences. Shopping can cause a person debt or depression. Heroin on the other hand has much more life threatening consequences. A person who is addicted to heroin can have collapsed veins, abscesses of the skin, brain damage, diseases, and even death. Whether an addiction is behavioral or substance they can be cured through a rehab center.
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/shopping-spree-addiction
A behavioral addiction is a non substance related addiction. It can include a compulsion to repeat an action until it becomes destructive to one’s life. One type of behavioral addiction is shopping. Shopping is enjoyable for many people; however, some people came become addicted. This addiction is often referred to as Omniomania. Shopping addicts will buy things just to buy things. Most of the time these people do not need anything from a store, but it is the actual feeling that shopping gives them that becomes addictive. It can become an endless cycle of addiction once the bills come in. The shopper will see the bill which emotionally brings them down. This triggers the addict and makes them crave the pleasing feeling of purchasing new items. This addiction can be very financially destructive. In many cases, feelings from a certain event can trigger the shopper to feel the need to buy things. Endorphins and dopamine are produced when a shopaholic goes shopping. They turn to shopping to get their mind off of a feeling or event and give them the high they yearn for. Shopping can become a way for coping with a person’s stress. They feel the need to spend to get their mind off of things. Shopaholics are normally very ashamed of all their pointless purchases and more than often hide the stuff after buying it. It is very hard to deal with this addiction because there is no actual treatment. Many people are prescribed antidepressants because depression is the root of the addiction in many cases. Other ways to treat this addiction is to get rid of credit cards and checkbooks and to work on other ways to spend time.
ReplyDeleteLike a substance addiction, behavioral addictions can be very destructive to a person’s life. Just like a person can become addicted to a drug, a person can become addicted to an action such as shopping. Both addictions give the addict a type of high that they begin to crave. The two are different types of addictions but both types produce dopamine that the addicts long for. Although substance addiction can cause more physical harm to the body, both types of addiction are destructive in different ways.
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/shopping-spree-addiction?page=2
http://addictions.about.com/od/lesserknownaddictions/a/exerciseadd.htm
ReplyDeletehttp://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/addiction
Some people are addicted to exercise. Instead of improving ones lifestyle, it brings consequences. An exercise addict will not let his body rest for it to recover and gain strength, instead he will continually exercise with the consequences of malnutrition, injury, physical problems, and other health care problems just because that is his way of dealing with things such as stress, grief, or anger. If the addict does not receive what he wants, then the addict will start feeling anxiety. Exercise addictions are probably the most against itself addiction than all of the other addictions. The reason for that is when other different addicts are getting trying to get out of their addiction, they would need to exercise to help them out. This addictions might not be considered comparable to substance addiction because the addict is mainly addicted to the endorphin that the body releases because of the pain and stress that it is in. But it is also considered a like. For example, the addict will create a tolerance for his body making him exercise more to get the feeling that he wants; the same with substance addicts. These addicts, if not getting their need will experience withdrawal. An overreaction of the brain is caused if they go near a gym and have that extra pull of a need to exercise. People who exercise think that it is the only thing to do in life, therefore they do not get other things done. They spend all of their time exercising that there relationship with other, especially family members, create conflicts between one another. Unlike other addictions, over exercise will not kill you, but will cause sever damage to the body and the way to stop over exercising is to have control, but when trying to gain control, it leads to loss of control causing even more conflicts and opportunities to go by in life.
http://addictions.about.com/od/howaddictionhappens/f/behavioraladd.html
ReplyDeletehttp://www.twloha.com/facts/
Behavioral addictions are becoming increasingly popular among people everywhere. Over 90 percent of Americans have some sort of “soft” addictions, whether they realize it or not. While these addictions are non-substance abuse addictions, they can have similar consequences. People with behavioral addictions go through the same addiction cycle that usually begins with emotional pain. While some take substances to cope with the pain, some cut themselves or harm their bodies in some way. When they feel down, they cut themselves, and for a little while they feel better about things. But once they come down from that feeling, the pain is still there so they cut themselves over and over again. A little over 4% of people self injure in some way, and self mutilation can be defined as deliberate, repetitive, non-lethal harming of one’s self. When a body experiences pain, endorphins are release. People who self harm can become addicted to the endorphins just as a substance abuser can become addicted to the release of dopamine. Self harm can be brought on by depression, the inability to express emotions, loneness, and depression. They see cutting as something they can control as opposed to the things that happen to them that they can’t control. Just like substance abuse, behavioral addictions can worsen overtime and need to be treated. Just as some addicts don’t see something with their actions, self harm victims will believe it’s what they need to do. Some feel increased shame by their actions and that only intensifies their addiction. This addiction is common in both man and women, but the public often views it from a female perspective. Self mutilation is sort of like a gate-way “drug”. When cutting isn’t enough, people will turn to alcohol, drugs, or eating disorders in attempts to numb the pain they are experiencing. Self harm can even lead to suicide if not treated with seriousness and care.
The behavioral addiction that I chose is cutting, which is becoming more prominent today. Cutting is a type of self mutilation, where one will purposely cut or scratch their skin. Cutting is a behavioral addiction because once people start to cut they fail to control the behavior because it gives them an escape from their emotional pain. Also, people continue to cut even though it damages their relationships and threatens their health. Cutting is a way to cope with your problems, distract you from your life, and release emotional pain. The physical pain briefly makes them forget about the emotional pain in their life. The addiction though stems from the need to continually make the emotional problems go away, however cutting is a short relief, so a need to cut more often is created. Cutting can be triggered by sadness, self loathing, guilt, rage, depression, or a traumatic event. The reward pathway of someone cutting is similar to one of someone who is suffering from a substance abuse. I believe that cutting is similar to the substance abuse of alcohol. People who typically suffer from alcohol abuse drink because they want to forget their problems for a while and feel better, this is comparable with cutting. People who cut want to forget their pain on the inside so they create pain on the outside. A difference in cutting and alcohol abuse is people who drink do not want to feel pain of any kind, and cutters are purposely creating pain. However, they both are only temporary reliefs for their pain, and cause more problems for the person suffering from the addiction. Another difference is that some people cut in order to feel something, anything and people who drink are trying to escape the pain. Cutters also usually cut in secret and hide their scars by wearing long sleeves, and alcohol abuse could be done in secret but is not as likely as cutting. Both cutting and alcohol abuse are issues that need special treatment.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.helpguide.org/mental/self_injury.htm
Behavior addiction, also known as process addiction, is an urge to repeatedly engage in an action or activity until it causes serious damage and or serious consequences to the person’s physical, mental, social, or financial being. One example of behavior addiction is compulsive gambling. Gambling is very common with males who range from middle-to upper-middle-class backgrounds. These men are smart, having an IQ higher than average, competitive, energetic, and independent. 1/3 of people with gambling addiction have a family history containing addictions to serious things, including compulsive gambling. Researchers believe that gamblers may have had an event in their life that triggered or caused them to have the first “big win,” whether it was winning a big game, the lottery, etc., resulting in leaving the soon-to-be-addict wanting more of those wins. This is how most addictions start- the need of wanting more of that good feeling they get when doing something. There are three stages a compulsive gambler goes through. The first one is the early/winning phase. During this phase, the dependency on gambling develops as the person begins to bet more and more, tending to win more and go out gambling with friends more as their knowledge and understand of gambling grows. The person is still able to “control” their behavior in the game and can stop anytime freely. The next stage is the losing phase. The person now starts to go out gambling alone and starts to bet even larger amounts of money. This causes the person to lose and gamble more out of frustration, taking more risky chances hoping to win. This attitude leads to the person borrowing money to “get even” with what he has lost. This is the denial phase as well, where family members and friend acknowledge the persons addiction to gambling yet the person denies it. The last stage is the desperation phase. This is when the gambler takes even higher risks and goes to great lengths to try and win again. The person may do things illegal or steal money just to go gamble. Depression comes along in this stage while suicide thoughts are frequent. The cause of compulsive gambling is unknown. . There are many people in the United States who struggle with this addiction. It is uncontrollable and hard to stop once addicted. Gamblers are addicted to the high or thrill they feel when they win, making the person repeatedly attempt to achieve that feeling. Substance addiction and behavior addiction are alike in many ways. They are both addictions and cause the person to lose control of their life. They do not realize their addiction and go straight into denial, while some shyly admit it. People who struggle with both addictions are addicted to the high they feel when doing the substance or activity. Just like an alcoholic, gamblers start to lose their judgment and become unaware of their surroundings due to their high concentration of winning the game. Also, alcoholics have to deal with physical damages to their body, while gamblers to not. Behavior addiction can be just as dangerous as substance abuse. Unlike gambling, which is a behavioral addiction, substance addiction can and will physically harm you directly and can kill you, while behavior addiction cannot directly harm you or kill you. Also, withdrawal with substance addiction can result in death because the body is so used to taking up the substance that it does not know how to react when it is stopped, unlike behavior addiction where it does not do physical harm to the body. They are both equally dangerous.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.indiana.edu/~engs/rbook/readabd.htm
A behavioral addiction is a repeated pattern of behaviors that follow a cycle similar to people who are addicted to a substance. Behavioral addictions are real addictions just like being addicted to drugs or alcohol, except the people addicted to their behaviors begin these behaviors just to enhance their lives but continue them in order to escape the stress of reality. We watched an episode of My Strange Addiction and the man on the show was addicted to his life sized doll, a doll that took the place or a real woman in his life. Other examples of behavior addictions are some like eating chalk, eating dirt, or dating cars. These people believe that what they are doing is natural and not hazardous to their health. Although some of these addictions are not as hazardous as being addicted to drugs or alcohol they are damaging the persons mind. A lot of the withdrawal symptoms of both drug and behavior addictions are similar enough to be considered as the same type of addiction. Drug addictions mess with the abusers body as well as their minds to completely overpower them and make them addicted to their own body’s chemistry not so much the drug. Behavioral addictions work in the same way except they do not always harm the person’s body mainly it overtakes their mind so that they get addicted to their brain chemistry as an association of their addiction. People who use both drug and alcohol admit once they have help that the addiction consumed most of their lives they can never get back and the same happens with people addicted to their behaviors. Most of the behaviors people are addicted to can be seen as repulsive to others who do not understand their addiction, which can cause these people to miss out on the major things that life has to offer. Women who are anorexic miss out on many things such as dinners with family, lunch with friends, and the chance to have a family of their own. All addictions, whether substance or behavioral, can affect the people who are addicted in many ways and mainly has the power over them to completely take their lives, socially, mentally, and physically.
ReplyDeleteMy Sources:
http://addictions.about.com/od/howaddictionhappens/f/behavioraladd.htm
tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/my-strange-addiction.
The behavioral addiction I chose is cutting. Cutting, also know as self-mutilation, is becoming more and more prominent in this generation of teenagers than ever before. Cutting is seen as an outlet from stress or emotions. Statistics say that most teenagers that cause self-harm are girls. They say the reasoning behind this is because girls have an issue with self image, and other things. Cutting is a way to alleviate pain on the inside by causing pain on the outside. Cutting is similar to substance abuse because they too have triggers. In most of the Intervention episodes we watched in the last couple of weeks, we saw how traumatic events effected the person later in life. Although cutting offers temporary relief, like drugs, it can cause long term effects to the body. Cutting is known as a compulsive behavior. Which means the more you do it, the more you feel the NEED to do it. The two abuses are different because one does not include a substance such as meth, heroine, alcohol, or inhalants. The people who per say were to have an alcohol problem don't feel temporary pain, unlike cutting in which you feel the pain immediately. Cutters usually are very secretive and cut in private. They in an attempt to cover their scars wear long sleeves in public. Both addictions need serious help, and if they are not taken care properly can result in serious consequences.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.helpguide.org/mental/self_injury.htm
http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/cutting.html#
The behavioral addiction I chose to research is gambling, or pathological gambling. Gambling is an “Impulse Control Disorder”, which means that it is a mental disorder where someone constantly fails to resist an urge or drive they are experiencing, even though they are well aware of the negative results and consequences that may likely follow. Gambling is a somewhat unique behavioral addiction in reference to the “high” that is sought out by the addict. Since money is constantly associated to positives, such as power and security, people traditionally yearn for more of “the green” in order to try and acquire these positives. This “dreamlike” nature of an addict is one form of the mental high that is brought on by gambling. Another way an individual can become addicted is through the positive, and rare, experience of actually winning money. Once a person wins money however, they usually tend to spit it right back out into the “pit” and just like that it is gone once more. The difference between (for lack of a better word) “healthy” gambling and pathological gambling stems from one’s thought process. An addiction is formed when someone no longer thinks of gambling logically, but in a completely distorted fashion. An addict will begin to attribute things such as superstitions and personification to the gambling experience, thus believing that certain actions or attitudes will improve their chances of winning. What gambling addicts forget is that gambling is not a player’s game, but more of a dealer’s game. The odds of losing outweigh all others and that is simply a statistical fact. Pathological Gambling, like all behavioral addictions, does not result in a declining state of physical health, but rather a decline in one’s lifestyle; this can be due to gambling debt, family issues, misuse of time, disruption involving one’s job etc. Like substance abuse however, behavioral addiction usually stems from one’s displeasure with themselves and seeking a way to cope with the pain they are experiencing. Like substance abuse this eventually cycles into the person’s daily life and potentially becomes a part of that person.
ReplyDeletehttp://addictions.about.com/od/howaddictionhappens/f/behavioraladd.htm
http://addictions.about.com/od/compulsivegambling/a/defgambling.htm
An addiction is something defined as an activity or thing that takes over one’s life. This can mean that it take’s all of one’s time and money to be involved with that activity. Addictions can come in the form of substance addictions and behavioral addictions. A major behavioral addiction that has developed in our society is Omniomania or shopping addiction. This has become prevalent in our times because of the influence of society on citizens. Nearly everyone in today’s society shops but only 6% of people are thought to have a shopping addiction. This shopping addiction brings a high much like substance addiction. This same high is because of the reward pathway in our brains. The feeling that you get when shopping is connected to your reward pathway. This pathway leads to the release of dopamine and produces the good feeling. Substance addicts feel this same release when using their drug of choice. It is also the same because of the process of a substance addict versus a behavioral addict. The addict is preoccupied with planning shopping trips, preparing for shopping trips, the actual shopping and the crash after shopping. This is much like the process of a substance addict.
ReplyDeletehttp://addictions.about.com/od/lesserknownaddictions/a/shoppingadd.htm
Behavioral Addiction is a compulsion to repeatedly engage in an action until the action causes serious negative consequences to the person’s physical, mental, social, and/or well-being. An example of behavioral addiction is a shopping addiction called, omniomania. Today’s society revolves around people trying to impress others which results in some people becoming obsessed with shopping for whatever will make them stand out in a crowd. However, this is not new. Shopping addictions date back to as far as the early nineteenth century. Omniomania occurs when the person feels stressed and needs to relieve it. They simply go shopping. However, even when they have spent a bunch of money, they can not control how much is really being spent. The money spent can cause conflict with their spouses and families but that does not stop them from shopping because it is their addiction when feeling stressed. As with other addictions, the person spends a significant amount of time and money with the thing they are addicted to. Like other addictions, shopping addiction “follows an addictive pattern of thoughts about shopping, planning shopping trips, and the shopping act itself, often described as pleasurable, ecstatic even, and as providing relief from negative feelings.” After a certain amount of time, as with most addictions, the addict starts to feel disappointed in him/herself. These addicts use shopping to get away from depression, anxiety, or any other negative feelings just as drug addicts do. It is their escape. However, apart from drug addictions, shopping is not physically harmful to the person. It can cause harm mentally between the person and the source of the money because they are spending so much of it. Many people suffer from omniomania, a shopping addiction.
ReplyDeletehttp://addictions.about.com/od/lesserknownaddictions/a/shoppingadd.htm
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ReplyDeleteThe addiction I chose to research on is adrenaline addiction. Adrenaline addiction, just like drug addiction, is focused on gaining more dopamine. adrenaline junkies do these things because this is what they run to, to make them feel better. They get bored easier than others because they have experienced such insane rushes. Unlike us a simple roller coaster ride would not have them screaming or getting much of a rush. It is like a tolerance level in drug addicts. The more crazy things they do the bigger they will have to do the next time to get a better high. The whole idea of the adrenaline junky is to feel that reward feeling and that rush. The adrenal gland, located on the top of the kidneys, are processed when you are either excited or scared( fight or flight). Adrenaline can make a person do superhuman things like lift a car off of somebody pinned or keep you awake for a longer period of time. The dopamine produced when free falling from a plane can be closely related to certain kinds of drugs that give you that rush and tense you up. Just like a drug addict, and adrenaline junky wastes his time, money, and maybe even his relationships on doing these stunts. If you think about it you could almost be better off doing drugs than being a hardcore adrenaline addict because the short term affect of doing these things are probably more painful.
ReplyDeleteAdrenaline was made to relieve stress levels not to be overused because it can cause high blood pressure or raise cholesterol levels. The symptoms of adrenaline are things like not being able to get to sleep, post adrenaline depression, or always having to do something. Just like in a drug addict they feel that when they are off the drug they need more of it, so when and adrenaline addict isn't doing anything or is just bored they have the want to produce more of it. The difference in adrenaline and other drugs is that adrenaline actually has positive affects that can help you overcome a situation, But if used in a way that threatens your life it is obviously being overused and is bad.
http://voices.yahoo.com/adrenaline-addiction-signs-symptoms-soteriology-6208158.html?cat=5
There are many addictions common in peoples lives today. An addiction is when somebody falls for the urge to do something to their body which would be a physical type of addiction or an impulse such as gambling which would be a mental addiction or heroin which would be substance abuse.
ReplyDeleteThe addiction I chose to do is gambling which most people do it just as a past time when their bored, but once that person wins they feel the need to play again and again. Eventually the person goes bloke or in debt because of their compulsion to win money. Gambling is a game of chance or luck. There is no way to really know if you are going to win or a pattern to follow. If you have a lacking of being able to control your urges or your attention such as ADHD you are more likely to become addicted to gambling. Sadly gambling can become a factor in somebody's mental health by the anxiety it causes, or stress, depression, unexplained anger, thoughts of suicide, and suicide attempts.
Gambling can be a way that people can avoid their problems in life such as problems in the home just like addictions to drugs. Drugs give you that temporary high that makes you forget about the world around you while you're on the drug. Gambling can take you away for a short time while you're at the casino playing games!
http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/problems/gambling.html#
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ReplyDeleteBehavioral addictions can be stated as patterns of behavior. Behavioral addiction starts with a person experiencing pleasure. The pleasure deals with the individual's behavior and they want to continue to have that type of behavior. They want to enhance it in their experience in life and it is also a way to deal with stress. Behavioral addiction is significant when the behavior is present in the person's daily lives. The person feels the need to engage in the behavior that they are addicted too. They will not stop until they are satisfied and later that sensation for the behavior will occur again. People with addictive behaviors still do the activity or behavior despite the negative consequences it brings. Video gaming addiction has become bigger and bigger over the past years. Advanced gaming technology continued to pour over everyone and people are now worried about the effects it causes. Research shows that gamers spend 6 to 12 hours per week playing games. ten to fifteen percent of gamers qualify for having a gaming addiction. Being addicted to video games can take a person's way of looking at life. The addiction can affect and disrupt their life. The most overplayed genre of games is massive multiplayer online role playing games. It makes about 9.1 percent of gamers who have gaming addictions. The reason for this is that the role playing games create interactive, social, and competitive feelings. People look toward role playing games because they have a difficult time in real life social situations. They feel that they have a better social experience in online relationships instead of ones that have to do with reality. The American Medical Association believes that video games are harmful. Video game addiction is a behavioral addiction because it causes a person to spend most of their time on that activity, in which this case is video games. Individuals develop a strong emotional attachment to the activity. Gaming addicts have patterns of social difficulties. Game addictions can disrupt family and other important areas such as school. The earlier kids start playing games the more likely they will develop a dependent and addictive behavior towards. Video game addictions can cause harmful effects. It can increase the risk of seizures and musculoskeletal disorders. Game addictions can also cause aggressive thoughts in the mind and behavior. Many cases of shootings have to deal with people who have a gaming background. An example is the shooting of Virginia Tech. The Korean guy who shot up the college was addicted to shooting games. This caused him to be unstable and have aggressive thoughts. Another affect is reduced social behavior in social interactions. Video game addicts are usually socially awkward in real life situations. They are so used to the virtual relationship and they have no need for real contact. In real life interactions they become uncooperative because they don't know what to do in those situations. Video games can be very bad if not controlled. It can lead to a series of horrible events and can cause harmful effects. Gaming addiction is a behavioral addiction because it consumes your life. The majority of an addicted individual's time is spent on that behavior and it ends up spacing them from the rest of the world. Video gaming addiction can be horrid because it can lead a person to see video games as their reality and lose all focus on the real world.
ReplyDeletehttp://addictions.about.com/od/howaddictionhappens/f/behavioraladd.htm
http://addictions.about.com/od/lesserknownaddictions/a/videogameadd.htm
Believe it or not you can have a behavioral addiction to video games. A behavioral addiction is when you do something so much until the action causes serious negative consequences. In the link below it talks about how people are going to a treatment center because they can not control themselves in relation to video games. My brother could be a great example of a mild case of gamer addition. Most days he gets on his xbox as soon has he gets home and if he could help it he wouldn’t stop until dinner. If he has been playing for awhile and my mom makes him get off he gets the worse attitude and it doesn’t go away until he either plays again or goes to sleep. You could almost say it controls a good part of his life. Hank’s addiction to video games should not be confused with substance abuse. This is when you something addictive that can modify your body functions. A good exam of this is alcohol. When you drink obsessively it can cause liver problem and death. Some minor effects are slurred speak, weight gain, and the inability to make good decisions. So the main difference to being addicted to video games or alcohol is being addicted to alcohol will eventually kill you while being addicted to video games like my brother will just waste a lot of time is his life.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/video-game-addiction-no-fun
http://addictions.about.com/od/lesserknownaddictions/a/foodadd.htm
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001381/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anorexia_nervosa
Behavioral addiction can come in many different forms. Although they may not be as well know as a substance addiction may be they are just as dangerous. Not only does a person go through emotional distress but they also deal with the physical aspects of addiction. One type of addiction is a food addiction. Weather it’s the urge to binge or purge. Or you just plain love food. Food addicts deal with the same things that a crack addict may deal with, they go through the similar phases. It all starts off with the need to compensate for the feelings they may be having then they turn to their substance of choice and abuse it then feel regret and then have to do something in order to not be depressed anymore. When you think of anorexia and bulimia addiction most likely isn’t the first thing to come to mind. When you think of addiction you mainly think of drug users. Eating disorders are an addiction, they take over peoples life’s and ruin them in the same ways that drug addiction does. With and addiction like anorexia there is almost always a lack of confidence and the thought that no matter what you look like you are beautiful. Many with anorexia change the way their body things about being hungry, where normal people would eat and drink when they are hungry people with anorexia convince themselves that they aren’t hungry and some force themselves to over exercise. They have this mentality that they can control something in their life’s with the amount of food that they eat. People with anorexia have a distorted view on their body image. Bulimics on the other hand tend to binge eat and then purge everything that they just consumed back up, un like anorexia bulimia is not a way for people to loose wait you mostly maintain the same weight that you were before binging. Bulimia is a way to make people feel empowered in a way, food consumption is something that people can always control no matter what and if you feel as if you cant control anything else in your life you are able to control this and the way that you look.
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/video-game-addiction-no-fun?page=3
ReplyDeletehttp://www.livestrong.com/article/170428-difference-between-gambling-addiction-substance-addiction/
http://www.video-game-addiction.org/
Behavioral addiction is a different type of addiction. In contrast to substance addiction (drugs, alcohol, etc), behavioral addiction is the addiction to a certain behavior or action. These addictions are fueled by impulsiveness. The addict has a want or need for the satisfying feeling provided from the specific behavior, and it creates a vicious cycle, similar to substance addiction. Even though drugs and alcohol are more associated with addiction, behavioral addiction can do just as much harm to your health and social life.
Many people enjoy playing video games. Video games can provide an alternate world for the player and is one of the most common behavioral addictions. Gamers normally do not think of their gaming as a problem or an addiction, but it fits perfectly with the criteria for being an addiction. Since most addicts have the constant urge to be playing video games, they spend a lot of time sitting idly for hours on end. This takes a tremendous toll on their physical health and in some cases, causes death. Similar to substance abuse, gamers want to escape from reality. In order to block out real life and all of it's problems, they numb themselves with video games. Considering that there are many "role-playing" games nowadays in which you enter an entire new fantasy world, it provides gamers with the perfect outlet for their stress. For example, a kid at school who is maybe unpopular or socially awkward, could simply enter a video game and spend hours playing and be dominant in the gaming universe; it can provide a sense of accomplishment for those who have not done very much with their lives. Addiction to video games can also jeopardize home/family life. Many gamers spend so much time gaming that they lose track of time. This leads to poor workmanship and work ethic. Because they feel more in control in their fantasy world, they do not bother coming back into reality where they have to work and put effort into what they do. Through this cycle they begin to let their loved ones down. It could be as simple and missing a meal, or not giving their child attention. It could also be letting their grades drop in school and not picking them up. Much like substance addiciton, gaming can stunt your mental growth. As in, once you begin to play, you stay at the mental stage you were in when you started. For example, a 30 year old man could have the same behavior as a 14 year old boy. He never got out, socialized, played sports, talked to girls, he is clueless. All he knows is games. Experts believe that an addict should be stopped. The addict should not be allowed to play cold turkey because to a video game addict, playing for only 1 hour a day is the same as an alcoholic saying he will only drink beer. Video game addiction is sweeping the nation just like substance abuse and must be looked at more carefully.
The type of behavioral addiction I chose was exercise addiction. Behavioral addiction can come in multiple forms. Exercise is an example of something that may sound like it would be good for us, being taken to extremes. Exercise addiction is a compulsive behavior that can be difficult to stop without treatment. When you start to let exercise rule your life and take control is when it becomes an addiction. A person who is an exercise addict is obsessed with physical activity and takes it to an extreme. Exercise helps relieve stress and anxiety; Addicts may turn to physical activity to cope with strains of everyday life. to avoid dealing with difficult issues or situations.
ReplyDeleteExercise is a behavioral addiction, but it is similar to a substance addiction. Just like a substance addiction can relieve stress, help in everyday life, etc. A behavioral addiction can also do these things. These escapes from difficulties are not necessarily bad, until they start to take control of your life in everything you do, and you have to have them. They are also different, because unlike substance addiction, behavioral addiction does not have nearly as many severe effects like substance addiction does. Both behavioral and substance addictions cause great danger and harm in peoples lives, but in different ways.
http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/addiction-types/behavioral-addiction/over-exercise-addiction.htm
The behavior addiction that I picked is video game addiction. Video game addiction is a lot like substance addiction because the addict keeps wanting more of the behavior in order to function right and if they don't get more, they go crazy and get irritated easily. Playing video games a lot is not extremely harmful but can become unhealthy if it becomes an addiction. Video game addicts do not have time for other productive activities such as family, friends, and school because they can become too wrapped up in their video game. All a video game addict can think about and revolve their life around is video games just like all a substance addict revolves thier life around is a drug. The withdrawal symptoms are the same too. The addict becomes irritated and starts craving whatever they are addicted to more. Video game addiction cannot kill you like substance addiction can, but it can harm you a lot and take over your life. It is much harder to get rid of a video game addiction than a substance addiction because you can get away from drugs easily but you see video games and computers everywhere. Computers are needed for everyday life making the temptation harder to fight when you use a computer.In order to get rid of the video game addiction, the addict needs to manage their time and slowly decrease use like a substance addict who needs to slowly use less of their drug and eventually stop.
ReplyDeleteBehavioral addictions are patterns which has a similar cycle that substance dependence/addiction does. The behavioral addiction I picked is shopping. 6% of the U.S. population is thought to have shopping addiction. The difference between a normal shopper and someone that is addicted to shopping is that the addict shops just to relief stress. Even if they cant afford it and they know that it's impacting their life negatively, they continue to shop to relief stress. Shopping addicts cant control their spending. In the Taboo episode we watched in class, there was a guy addicted shopping. He would buy stuff that he doesn't even need or use. He continued to shop even though he was $100,000+ in debt. He bought stuff because every time he bought something he would get a "rush". When he couldn't sleep he would just go to a grocery store and buy random stuff just to buy stuff and get a "rush" out of it. Like substance addiction, there's a trigger to behavioral addiction. His trigger was that he was sexually abused. Shopping addiction is really hard to recover from. There are stores everywhere you go so it's hard to get away from them. If someone has a shopping addiction, they need to look for help quick before they go into debt and ruin their life.
ReplyDeletehttp://psychologyhgcsb.blogspot.com/2012/11/compare-and-contrast-addiction.html#comment-form
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/alpha-consumer/2008/08/13/how-to-overcome-shopping-addiction