Addiction

I've had some minor addictions and the main reason I got over them was because I simply didn't like being dependent on something else. It was the main motivator. The experience itself was eye-opening to me. I sort of just realized that the highs just weren't worth the lows.

I think that there's a separate category for everything that has withdrawal symptoms (The body will essentially produce opposite effects of the substance during withdrawal) and this can be much more difficult to overcome than other addictions. Medical professionals call it a physiological dependence. The other type of addictions are the ones that produce dependence based simply on the pleasurable effects. Really anything that causes a person significant distress or substantially impairs that person's life.

However the two types can work together and drug dependence can be influenced by more than a drug's chemical effects, including genetic predisposition, personality traits, religious belies, peer influence, and cultural norms. I really think that each addiction has generally the same traits but there are differences to each one that set them apart. Just like there's enough difference to tell each human apart but they're just enough the same that we can tell them apart from monkeys.

 

something about dopamine release in the brain..

 

Studies with the brain show that the 95 percent of the same areas of the brain light up during an orgasm as using heroin.

Essentialy, it just has to do with chemical release in the body. All addictions are related to what kind, and how much chemicals it makes your brain release into your body. So I think all addictions are very simmilar, and work in simmilar ways but are still somewhat different depending on the substance

 

That chemicals scares me... The idea of even slighty messing with it just screams "bad" to me.

I have never really had a true addiction to anything, and plan to keep it that way. The closest thing to it is when I get in very regular routtiens (I need routiens to function), and if they are thrown off slightly I can get very flustered.

As far as something like a drug addction, it won't ever happen to me. I have olny done drugs that carry no risk of addiction (a chemical addiction, not psycological), and will olny do drugs that have no risk of addiction or physical harm, which limits things alot.

 

When people are getting over strong physiological addictions they usually have people to help them through it. Whether it's family, friends or trained professionals. No matter how much they beg and plead, these people will not let them anywhere near their abused substance.

The drugs that increase dopamine activity in the brain are amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana and heroin. Heroin mainly just binds to and stimulates receptors which are normally activated by endorphins (the body's natural painkiller)...it's my favourite drug (not that I've done it, just the most interesting to me)

There's actually no diagnostic term called psychologically dependent. These kinds of cravings are physical because they're rooted in patterns of brain activity.

sorry that I'm just giving facts, this is my favourite part of psych...

 

I got it from someone I deeply trust, and it is pretty hard to fake plants, haha.

Everything carries a risk, I do understand that

 

As we find a pattern in nature. Addiction is falling for your inner impulses whether it is food, dependent personality, air, sex, you name it

However IndigoSensor I would like to know what you consider to be chemically addictive because it is still debated on certain drugs. For instance MDMA (exstacy) is said to not be addictive. Yet it affects the dopaminergic systems and often contain meth, amphetamine, which are HIGLY addictive. So how would you explain this, why isnt the pill addictive when it contains determinants of addiction?
And by addictive you mean physically not psychologically or ?

 

Example: Psilocin

 

It's certainly an interesting topic. My feeling is that if you've got an addictive personality, or are genetically predisposed to addictive behavior (if several of your close relatives suffer from addiction), it might be wise to consider the potential for addiction to substances widely proclaimed to be non-addictive.

Marijuana is a great example. It affects people differently, and I have absolutely known regular smokers who exhibited all the signs of addiction while adamantly denying that was the case. Yet they smoked throughout the day - every day - including first thing in the morning, before going to work or school. Before going into uncomfortable situations. And required greater quantities to achieve an optimal level of high as time went on.

I find it of particular concern that unless you're growing your own (which is still illegal in most parts of the world) the risk of ingesting high levels of toxins employed in the large scale production of marijuana is very real, and either not contemplated or ignored (because so many believe that it's "natural" and therefore not harmful).

Some interesting reading:

 

hmm in the familly of psilocybin? Can you be nice an explain because I just read a little on it and don't really understand the point.
It sais that there are no widthdrawal symptoms.

 

I have an addiction. I won't go into the details of it because it is kind of personal even for this forum. It's taken me the better part of 2 years to get it under control.

It has to be taken in small steps and you fail so many times along the way. But when you make progress you really do feel a sense of accomplishment even though the craving never really goes away completely.

As far as the nature, addictions are all psychological, but some have the added difficulty of also being chemical dependencies. And then there can be genetic and neurological predispositions to certain addictions that people often have even before they are born that can compound an addiction once it is formed. And finally, there can be sociological factors, such as how a person was raised and what peers they associate with, that can perpetuate an addiction.

In other words, a person with a purely psychological addiction to something such as the internet is in an entirely different boat than someone who has an addiction to alcohol, who has a family history of alcoholics, was raised by alcoholic parents and who hangs out with friends who regularly drink.

 

Psilocin is the compound formed when the pro-drug psilocybin is dephosphorylated in the body. Psilocin is the actual active chemical where as psilocybin is just the chemical injested.

It is non-toxic (i.e. impossible to overdose), it has no withdraw symtoms like you said. Leaves no hangover. It olny effects the serotonin pathway by mimicing it, which is the safest route. It is one of the safest drugs there are. The risk that runs with it is lasting effects (which in the majority of cases), are positive (as in good, not in the psycological sense. However that is possible).

 

I just had to chime in: Zencat, the picture you posted has some of the *nastiest* weed I've ever seen.

As far as heroin and orgasms; even without seeing a study, I'd believe it. Painkillers feel so good. So much that they're one of the only things I haven't sworn off. I'm not an addict, though; no steady supply. I also have plenty of self-control when I need it, so that helps.

 

I do. My dad is a recovered alcoholic, used to be very addicted to gambling, is trying to quit smoking, and even gets addicted to things like solitaire on the computer, his favourite TV show, even AFL (he gets cranky when footy season is over). There are varying effects depending on the addiction, but ultimately they are all similar in nature. The addict is enslaved to a habit, obsessed, preoccupied and dependent on something to the detriment of their lives, and those around them.

 

I think they’re similar in the sense that impulsive action is involved but addictions involving mind altering chemicals will have a different effect on the individual.