Addiction
If you have never been addicted to something, I mean truly addicted, then there is a good chance you won’t be able to really understand what it is I am about to say, however if you feel that some or all the things written here ring true to you in one forum or fashion, then there is a very good chance you have an addiction problem.
Addiction may come in many forms, from all walks of life, and may be any thing from spending to much time at work to having to have another fix to stop the pain, it may be the thrill of riding your 100th rollercoaster or the thrill of thinking this time I will win as you put your last coin into the gaming machine, whatever it is, if you have ever made a decision to satisfy a selfish need at the risk of something more important, or worse, someone you love, then chances are you have an addiction, or at least addictive tendencies.
Now I’m not saying that someone who has a bit too much to drink on the rare occasion or the parent that has missed a child’s ball game because they were required to stay late at work is a addict, no but a continued pattern of such actions, especially when they become more frequent, should be cause for concern. Let’s face it, not every addict has a needle hanging out of his/hers arm, they are just the obvious ones.
So then what is an addict, how do we define what an addict is and what are the signs one should be aware of.
The following is a list of possible signs you should be aware of, whether it is you or someone close to you, you will find these of benefit to you as you try to assess whether there really is a problem.
- Withdrawn, and unable to positively deal with your emotions.
- Willing to put at risk those things which should be of most importance including ones own life
- Unable to stop harmful behaviours even when being aware of the harmful effects it is causing to both yourself and others.
- Debt and credit problems due to poor money management.
- Physical and mental abuse to family members and others.
- You find difficulty in relaxing even during holiday breaks.
- Unable to take direction from others, dislikes authority figures.
- Unable to finish projects and finds it difficult to stay focused.
Maybe not what you were expecting? Did you find that one or two of the items on this list wee something with which you struggled? Did you relate to everything on the list?
Now just because you struggle with some of these issue in your life doesn’t mean you have an addiction, what it does mean is that you could very well have addictive tendencies and should be extra careful by evaluating how you deal with things in your life, especially those of an emotional nature. You should also be extremely careful with your consumption of alcohol, and prescriptions giving by your doctor.
If you struggle with most of these areas in your life and have found them difficult to deal with, and especially if they have grown in severity, we highly recommend that you seek the advice of your physician or mental heath professional to see if there is a problem or if something might be done to avert any potential future problems.
For a more in-depth look at addiction we have broken it down into the following more common addictions. Here we take a closure look at a specific kind of addiction as well as include stories from those who have been through the process of recovery themselves so as to give you a better understanding of not only the addiction, but to give you some comfort and hope to know that there are others who have and are going through the same things you are experiencing.
- Alcoholics
- Drug Abuse
- Eating Disorders
- Pornography and Sexual Disorders
- Gambling Addiction
- Celebrity Addiction
- Recognition Addiction
There are many sides to addiction and we don’t claim to have all the answers, but there is a lot written on the subject and we recommend that you visit the follow sites to get more information on the subject.
http://www.beatingaddictions.co.uk/http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/addictions/Pages/Introduction.aspx
http://www.thesite.org/drinkanddrugs/drugsafety/addiction/addictionbasics
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/emotional_health/addictions/
http://www.uk-rehab.com/
http://www.recovery.org.uk/
http://www.nida.nih.gov/scienceofaddiction/
http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/97/
http://www.addictioninformation.co.uk/
http://www.egetgoing.com/drug_addiction/drug_addiction_information.asp
http://www.interventionsolutions.com/progaddiction.asp