#behavioral addiction

[kittyit]

post-entertainment society

[transandrosis]

I used to believe in behavioral addiction and think I was a shopping addict. I was briefly in a program to become a substance abuse counselor at technical college and all my instructors taught us that behavioral addiction was real.

Recently, I found out that my compulsive shopping is actually a side effect of a psychiatric medication I was taking. I'd been treating my compulsive behavior like an addiction, and nothing I did was working, so learning that it *wasn't* an addiction was really validating! The compulsive shopping went away as soon as I stopped taking the medication.

It really made me think about how "behavioral addictions" are very different than drug addictions. I've been addicted to drugs before and that was such a drastically different experience.

I want to be careful how I say this, because y'all on tumblr love misinterpreting people, but -- I had some amount of control over my actions when I was a drug addict. I didn't have control over my situation or over societal conditions. Taking drugs was probably legitimately my only option at the time.

I still made the decision to take the first pill, though, no matter how hard things were at the time. I had control over at least that one choice. With my compulsive behavior, it's like I never had a choice.

I get why it's tempting to call compulsive behavior an addiction -- addictions and compulsive behaviors can both worsen people's lives. They're both hard, if not impossible, to quit. They're both mostly outside of people's control.

They're different though, so let's stop pretending that someone who is seen as being addicted to their smartphone has the exact same experience as someone with a heroin addiction.

-Q&

[piscescel]

Plastic Surgery Addiction sketches

Bald

Hair

[forgottenbones]

Vape-o-nomics: Why Everything is Addictive Now

[rowandriftwood]

Obsession with conspiracy theories is a type of behavioral addiction.

As I have mentioned many times before, my mother is one of those people who has fallen waaaaaaay down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole. It’s something I’ve spent a lot of time and emotional energy trying to come to grips with, because I didn’t really have the words to explain how this behavior has damaged our family. It is bewildering to lose someone in this way, and frustrating not to be able to reach them no matter how often you try, or how much proof you offer that their beliefs are unfounded.

I’ve tried setting boundaries. They never work for long. I’ve tried refuting and debunking. It never takes. I’ve tried asking her to make note of which things her “sources” say will happen that never pan out, and recognize that they are consistently wrong. I’ve tried just deleting and ignoring any texts or emails on these subjects, no matter how much they trigger my own anxiety. It feels like, no matter what I do, she just won’t engage with me about anything that isn’t a conspiracy theory she read on the internet.

After talking with my sister, who is just as frustrated as I am, but lives close to my mother and has to deal with her in person more often, I’ve come to realize that her consumption of conspiracy theories is a form of behavioral addiction. The ways in which it operates and the damage it has done to our family resemble other compulsive behaviors such as gaming or social media addiction.

To that end, I recognize: 

I need to be compassionate toward her. Addicts cannot help themselves.

Our brains are naturally attracted to conspiracy theories because finding patterns helps us make the world “make sense”. 

Some people are particularly susceptible to conspiracy theories due to low self-esteem and anxiety. The world is a confusing place, beyond their control, but their beliefs do not actually help them feel any less anxious.

Debunking addresses the symptom but not the root cause of the problem, and makes the believer feel attacked.

In order to help her feel more in control of her life, I should try to guide my mother toward hobbies that make her happy and fulfilling goals she can work toward.

If her life is full of positive things to occupy her mind and keep her busy, she won’t have time to obsess over conspiracies on the internet.

The resentment I feel is normal. I do not need to feel guilty about it. My mother’s behavior has damaged our family, and it should not have to be my job to fix it.

I am not alone in this. There are resources out there to help families affected by addiction which can be mapped onto this particular problem.

I know I’m not the only one who has these types of issues. Here are some resources which others may find helpful:

Article about losing family members to QAnon conspiracy “cult” - this article helped me realize what the problem really was, and that other people have had experiences uncannily like mine with their family members.

Conspiracy Theory Addiction page @ Addiction Center

Effective ways to help people stuck in the conspiracy bubble

[shitidoinmysparetime]

I’ve been trying to read “Irresistible” since it came out in 2017, but I could never seem to make it happen. Finally, I broke down and listened to the audiobook instead, and I’m glad I did.

At its root, “Irresistible” is about behavioral addiction and how modern technology is essentially designed to keep us hooked. The methods companies come up with are frankly pretty ingenious (if totally amoral). Netflix, for example, encourages us to binge-watch by structuring their shows so that each episode ends on a cliffhanger, AND by defaulting to playing the next episode automatically.

As a former teacher, I was most interested in the impact that these technologies have on children, and the news is...not great. Basically, in order to get anything out of these devices, children need adult supervision and frequent, QUALITY adult interaction—which I can assure you is NOT happening in most cases. Also, these devices are literally shortening our attention spans, which is not great for young minds trying to learn.

The good news is that you CAN learn how to game many of these technologies so that they don’t ruin you life. Alter spends a lot of the book giving you tips on how to do just that. For example, do NOT keep your phone next to your bed, letting it interrupt your sleep. And if you don’t want to binge watch a series, stop an episode five minutes before the end so that the cliffhanger can’t suck you back in.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn more about addictive technology and how to combat it. And for teachers in particular—the next time your school is thinking of going 1:1, make all the stakeholders involved in the decision read this book first.

[piscescel]

Who up gooning ?

[shutterlens]

I would like to come out to you all as an addict.

I am an addict to caffeine, to sexual media, to social media, and I've had a gambling scare this week. I've had to block Zone Casino on MSN yesterday because I don't want to waste real money on gambling away fake money, and that gambling could easily turn into real-life gambling.

Drinking and weed are not problems for me at the moment, but they very well could become problems for me, considering my genetic proneness to substance dependency.

It has taken a lot of bravery for me to admit that to myself.

I don't think I've ever fully waken up unless I've had at least 400mg of caffeine via energy drinks. I usually fully wake up at 3pm and stay up until 1am thanks to how badly caffeine has messed up my sleep cycle (on top of the trauma). I've never counted coffee as a source of my caffeine, despite the fact that a standard shot of espresso contains the same amount of caffeine as a Red Bull (80mg of caffeine). I usually don't feel anything from energy drinks until the caffeine content is at least 200mg. I get the 2-for-$5 deal on Alanis at the CVS near me several times a week, and I usually drink both cans on the same day. When I don't, I'm practically a zombie the whole day. The caffeine problem's gotten that bad. I think it got worse once I started working towards my bachelor's degree. It was about time I started being honest to myself about being an addict.

Almost everyone hates addicts. Most people look down on us because we addicts are addicts. They say we have "no self-control". They say we "chose to ruin our lives". They blame us for our addictions and ignore the circumstances that led to our addictions.

I am an addict because the trauma I faced throughout my life has pushed me to addiction. I acknowledge that I can only begin to recover from my addictions if I work through the traumas I faced in my life.

Thank you to all the selfless souls who push for harm reduction. Thank you to everyone who treats us addicts like human beings. Thank you to the people who include those with Substance Use Disorder and behavioral addictions in the Mad Liberation movement. Thank you to my mutuals, thank you to my followers, and thank you to my friends for sticking around, when I was at my worst and when I was at my best.

Thank you.