Serious what are you addicted to?

ad-dic-tion
noun

• the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing, or activity

the word "addiction" has many connotations attached to it, a majority of them, if not all, being negative. addiction in itself is generally classified as a mental disorder. it's labeled as "substance-related and addictive disorders" under the dsm-v. it is also thought that many people are born with more addictive personalities than others, particularly those who grew up in a similar environment or had family members with addictions. factors to addiction sway from childhood trauma to genetics.

there have always been arguments within the psychiatric community about what exactly people can be addicted to. drugs and alcohol are obvious ones, but there are more obscure ones, such as self-harm (cutting, burning, hitting one's self, etc), destructive eating habits (binging or starving one's self), sex/porn, dermatillomania/trichotillomania (although this may fall under ocd and anxiety disorders), gambling, shopping/spending money (retail therapy), hoarding, stealing (also known as kleptomania), and some psychologists and psychiatrists argue that the internet, tv and video games can be addictive.

my opinion? everyone's addicted to something, whether they like it or not. sometimes it's serious, sometimes it's bizarre, sometimes it's lighthearted and what can be seen as an addiction to some may be seen as just an interest or obsession to another. with that in mind... what are you addicted to?

for me, well, i have many serious and some silly ones.
i was an alcoholic for many years. i drank underage and would constantly steal my parent's alcohol, hang out with people older than me so they could buy me liquor, etc. i managed to kick my habit for the most part. i still have a lot of urges every now and then, but i do my best to restrain myself. my grandfather was an alcoholic and i would argue that my parents, particularly my father, are borderline alcoholics. my mom openly admitted to drinking while she was pregnant with me, so i guess that explains a whole lot, LOL. not that funny, i guess, but i've tried to let it go. i self-harmed for a long time, but i can say proudly that i'm clean now. i haven't cut myself in over a year, and that's a huge achievement for me. really the only addiction i still struggle with is my addiction to my prescription meds which i'm doing my best to kick. it's been an okay ride so far, i think i'm doing fine. and... i do have an addiction to nicotine/tobacco. that one i'm probably not gonna curb for another couple years at least.

lighthearted wise, i'm definitely addicted to the internet and video games LOL. my life still revolves heavily around these things. to me they're distractions from bad feelings. i go on the internet to find a safe space to relax and be myself. video games help take me to a different world and inspire me and my creativity. i don't think they're negative addictions. i can see why and how it can probably get to that point, but i don't think i'm there. the prior addictions i listed probably knocked ten years off of my life, but the internet and video games aren't destroying my liver, lungs, heart, etc. i was going to say brain too but i think some people can argue against that lmao.

other than that i'm not addicted to really anything else. i do pick at my skin sometimes, but that's more of a stim thing because i'm autistic.

the internet
caffeine

The internet, alcohol, caffeine and my phone. I will spend hours online just doing nothing sometimes. I can spend 12 plus hours just looking at social media when i'm off and even when I'm at work it's hard for me to not feel the urge to check the internet on my phone. It takes me away from reality and the horrors of our world and honestly I feel safer and more comfortable being online than any where else. My phone is the same way. I will use my phone to distract myself from the real world. I use my phone as a way to help cope with my anxieties. When I'm bored, I will pull my phone out. When I want to distract myself from whats happening around me I'll check my phone. If the conversation I'm having is boring, I check my phone. If I literally have nothing else to do I'll check my phone. I find it as an escape sometimes. There's times where I will start to fall asleep, and give up and a few seconds later when pick my phone up to look at it . I can say it's definitely affecting my sleep cause sometimes I can sit in bed for 3 hours looking at social media or whatever instead of even trying to sleep. Even when I know I need to go to bed early for work, I'll end up distracting myself and only sleeping for like 3 hours cause of it.

Alcohol isn't as intense as my phone or the internet but it has become a problem sometimes. Sometimes I drink a lot when I'm having a rough day or mentally breaking down. Or sometimes I'll just drink cause I'm bored. Most use alcohol as a coping mechanism and I realize it's not healthy at all, but sometimes it feels like that's the only way. I wouldn't call myself an extreme alcoholic though cause I'm not yet 100 dependent on it yet. By that I mean like I don't drink everyday, I don't get wasted everytime I drink either. I never have gotten drunk or tipsy during or before work to help with the stress of the job. I've never been caught drinking when I wasn't supposed to be. I think i want to maintain some self-control and not become so addicted where become too dependent and can't live without it. I have gone several days without a drop of alcohol and still feel fine. So I'd say I'm moderately addicted but not to the point where I can't function without it.

My addiction to caffeine started in high school when I'd have a glass of tea every morning before school. Eventually it turned into coffee and then sometimes having two or three cups a day. On mornings where I have no coffee or any sort of caffeine, I feel super drained. Even doing basic functions is hard. I feel like I must have at least dose of caffeine , particularly coffee, to make it through a full hour shift. I go to Starbucks so often most of the baristas know me by name. I've basically had everything on the menu and always try a new drink almost the day it comes out. I'd say next to the internet and my phone, caffeine is my next biggest addiction.

Let's see....I may have very little access to the net as of now, but I still say i'm addicted to it.
Pokemon and 3DS in general....browsing the eshop endlessly and just browsing the random videos on advertised games
CAFFEINE *twitch* Eh junk food in general. x_x
And feeling depressively numb inside. I enjoy the feeling very much don't fight me.

my biggest 'addiction' I'll say its Diet Coke, or Diet Pepsi, or store brand version of their diet soda, where I live at Safeway is the "Refreshe brand Diet Cola'
no matter what I do, even if it has 'bad health reasons in high quantities' I still buy it, love the taste, and yes I even have it more than water, I'll even skip buying food to get diet soda

even once I skipped paying a bill on time to get my diet soda craving

Probably gonna be depressing sorry

But I do think at one point I was addicted to self harm. From the ages of like, 13 to I wanna say.. 18 maybe, I suffered severely with self harm tendencies and it was really bad. I've gotten much better about it now, I have a lot of support from friends and my boyfriend and any family members I am comfortable sharing my issues with. It's still an on going issue and will be for the rest of my life, but I am better at handling it than I was before I think. I'm trying to have better coping mechanisms. I'll also hopefully be seeing a therapist soon who will be able to help me with that but.. yeah.

I also think I have an addiction to social media, because I use it 24/7 mostly because I have little to no local irl friends and nothing really to occupy my time besides video games or writing or something. Since currently as of right now I'm unemployed (but trying super hard to get a job). It's difficult and hard to break, and I know for sure I'd use social media far less often if I had a job and friends to occupy my time with. But for right now I'll have to deal with the fact it's an issue I can't break unless I want to lose basically all the friends I have so..

Yeah.

I have to say in this respect... it's writing. It makes sense to me because I can't stop doing it. I have to be writing in some way, and if I can't write my stories or whatever... I'll do what I can to write some other way. If I don't write at all, I feel as though my brain will go nuts. I like to think that this is also because of my autism. It's my routine, and the idea of writing helps me feel more in control of myself. I can escape from what's going on. Another thing is also music because it's also helped me a lot. It's saved me. It even helps me be less distracted by everything around me. Honestly, I don't think I would be hear if not for music. ><

I also have to say the internet. I admit to this... but it's something I can also gain some control over. I do spend a majority of my time in front of my computer screen. I also have a tendency to get paranoid when our internet is down or out. But for me... it's the only life I have. Being autistic does have it's downsides. I don't care much for socializing in real life, so I tend to resort to the life of being online a lot more. I have more friends online that I can relate to more easily as well.

Idk about straight up addiction, but I certainly have a dependency on my phone lmao - I feel anxious without it, and more than one boss has commented on my usage repeatedly lol
Same goes with my tendency towards food as comfort

For a more serious answer, it surprises me that I have little issue with alcohol despite coming from parents (and from what I understand, their parents before them) that both have a long legacy of uninhibited alcoholism that began when they were much younger than I am now. I'm not much of a drinker to begin with because of this, but while I do enjoy vodka, it always surprises me that I don't have to be careful about my intake. I have an addictive personality, I think, when it comes to food intake and phone usage and I have to be careful there, but from what I can tell & to my surprise, it has not manifested with alcohol consumption.

I'm addicted to being obsessed with fictional men. The Once-Ler is my main currently, Lucas Baker was a huge one, Thief King Bakura, Pokemon's very own Paul, Souichi Tsuji, Link; there are all sorts of men I've been attracted to or fixated on for some reason or another, typically in a sexual way but not always (as is the case with One Piece's Ace, who I love and think is attractive, but I've never thought about him sexually at all, among several others).

Also, coffee, typically. Though I can go a few days without it and can resist temptation when I have a stomach ache. But there are plenty of days where I'm stressed or irritated and just really need coffee.

And I guess my brain is technically addicted to thinking bad thoughts, dwelling on past trauma, and my hypochondriasis. I personally would love to be rid of that crap, though...

I smoke weed sometimes, but I'm definitely not addicted and often prefer to go without it. I used to be addicted to booze, but I haven't had a drink in about two years now. I was not in a good place at that time (and currently am in a rut ever since I lost my pup, Tachi, who I love very much) and that definitely contributed to my alcohol use.

i am getting the feeling from this thread that the word addiction and fixations/unchallenged comforts are being conflated and treated as the same, which given the rather serious intro post, is something i'd prefer to not continue happening

I might be addicted to using my phone, similar to what Her says, but I'm not entirely sure it's a proper addiction, as I can do without it in plenty of situations (I just greatly miss it). Other than that, I don't think I can say that I have a real addiction. I can survive without coffee, something I usually joke about being addicted to.

Confectionary.

Lately I've bought it for the umpires in games I officiate… but then I end up consuming a good amount of it. Help.

I'm very much addicted to Twitter. I'm constantly refreshing my timeline and even have the app open on my computer and phone at the same time when I am at home. It's not that I excessively tweet much myself but I feel insecure if I think I am missing something there.

Related but about 4 or 5 years ago I was very badly addicted to League of Legends. It was not just an addiction to playing the game but an addiction to buying skins for the game. I spent over 1k dollars on skins in just a few months and realized I had to stop doing that. I still enjoy it from time to time but have only spent about 50 dollars in the past 3 years.

I don't think I am really addicted to anything (not even internet)

I've never really been addicted to anything like alcohol, drugs or even smoking. I always consider myself to be to lazy to wanna try those kinds of things. Even growing up in a family who smoked like a chimney I've never even wanted to try.

As for other things I use to be super addicted to any and all wrestling but that's seemed to calm down a lot. I think we're all addicted to Pokemon or we wouldn't be here.

I wouldn't say I'm addicted to my phone but I feel like I always need it while I'm not at home because of all the medical issues I have. It has all of my info in it about what's wrong with me and what medicines I take.

Former opiate, alcoholic, and self harm addict. Chemical addictions include caffeine and nicotine. Other than that I have a lot of ticks that feel like addiction but neurologically are not.

edit; I guess I'm also technically addicted to xanax right now so we can add benzos to the list. o/

The first that comes to mind is my OCD, particularly trichotillomania. Some parts of my body are completely covered with sores, scabs and infections from this. Hands are always dry and bleeding from over-washing alone.

In the past it was self-harm, benzos and particularly bad eating habits. Not addicted to these anymore though, I've gotten better.

black tar heroin.. :( in rehab rn

GreasyGarlic said:

black tar heroin.. :( in rehab rn

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I feel you man, I just relapsed last night. :(

Remember, the program works if you work it. Stay strong and get well. <3

Fairy said:

Former opiate, alcoholic, and self harm addict. Chemical addictions include caffeine and nicotine. Other than that I have a lot of ticks that feel like addiction but neurologically are not.

edit; I guess I'm also technically addicted to xanax right now so we can add benzos to the list. o/

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What the....really? Would have never expected that LOL.

Ah, I'm addicted to Fighting I guess!