I have a confession to make.
I’m an addict.
Wow, that’s a load off.
Yeah, finally the world knows...that I’m addicted to saying that I’m addicted to
stuff.
Hey everyone, Matt Lieberman here for DNews.
Self-diagnosis of addiction is rampant in today’s society.
And I’m not talking about alcoholism, or drugs, or anything substance-based.
I’m talking about phone addiction, twitter addiction, facebook addiction, Chipotle addiction
- well, that’s obviously a real thing.
But are all of these diagnoses actually addictions?
Where does our addiction to addiction come from?
Well, substance and behavioral addictions are becoming more widely recognized as common.
Compulsive sex, shopping, and gambling as reactions to stress are accepted as addictions
because of how the brain processes the cycle of stress, compulsion, and reward.
In addition, and most importantly, the part of your brain that inhibits these risky behaviors
are quieted.
However, when it comes to things like Facebook and Twitter, no such quieting occurs.
The issue stems not from our ability to stop ourselves, but from a lack of motivation to
do so.
AKA, it’s easier to check my notifications than to delete my profile and potentially
miss out.
A recent study from Cal State Fullerton found that only between 0.7 and 11 percent of the
people surveyed were “strongly impacted” by the addictive tendencies that they displayed
concerning the internet and various internet services.
Now the American Society of Addiction Medicine defines addiction as “a primary, chronic
disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry.
It’s characterized by the inability to stop, cravings, and most importantly, a lack of
recognition of significant problems with their behaviors.
Namely, if you have the awareness to claim addiction, you might not actually be addicted.
Additionally, we have to talk about the definition of excess.
If someone plays World of Warcraft for 5 hours a day, they obviously have a serious habit.
But if that person could not stop playing to save themself, like a man in Taiwan who
died at an internet cafe after three straight days of nonstop play, something more sinister
is obviously at work on a biological level.
Okay, so maybe we exaggerate when we say that we’re addicted to poking people or crushing
those goshdarn candies, but what drives us to do so?
According to Psychology Today, society has an addiction to addictions.
The cycle is eerily similar to that of drug addiction, namely, a new technology is introduced,
we overuse it to excess, and find ourselves hooked.
When we stop using it, we go into withdrawal.
However, rather than go into recovery, we label our overuse as an addiction to regain
some control over our behavior.
It’s not my fault that I can’t stop snapchatting, I have a disease.
Hold on, that’d actually make a good snapchat.
Sorry, I’m addicted.
Our addiction to addictions and the rampant over-labelling, not to mention the highs and
lows of watching people battle addictions on television, are rewiring our neurochemical
impulses and pushing personal responsibility further and further into the background of
our society.
But hey, it’s not our fault that we’re irresponsible.
We’re just addicted.
Are you an “addict” who’s not really an addict?
Fess up in the comments below and be sure to subscribe for more DNews every day of the
week.
And you can find me over at SourceFed.
Come say hi!