Addictive Behaviours

[Plenum]

we all recognise that there are certain physical (read: physiological) type addictions like caffeine and alchohol which can come to dominate a life.

but what about 'Addictive Behaviours'? where do they come from?

an example would be OCD-like behaviour which is a disproportionate type of mental-looping which is recognised by the individual as being unhealthy, and yet they find they cannot stop.

certain gaming behaviours - like my experiences in WoW - also were extremely addictive.

what's the patterning behind repeating these detrimental loops?

[Ashim]

we all recognise that there are certain physical (read: physiological) type addictions like caffeine and alchohol which can come to dominate a life.

but what about 'Addictive Behaviours'? where do they come from?

an example would be OCD-like behaviour which is a disproportionate type of mental-looping which is recognised by the individual as being unhealthy, and yet they find they cannot stop.

certain gaming behaviours - like my experiences in WoW - also were extremely addictive.

what's the patterning behind repeating these detrimental loops?

It's pleasure. The pursuit of pleasure.
Gimme gimme gimme.

[Rhayader]

Or at least with alcohol, and perhaps tendancies with excessive gaming, its numbing the senses, so its more of a cessation of pain rather than the pursuit of pleasure.

[michael430]

[deleted]

[xise]

I don't disagree with either however isn't a cessation of pain pleasurable ?

Not unless you want to blur the definitions and define pleasure to include relief from pain. Pain and pleasure are normally pretty distinct. You can experience pain. You can experience pleasure. You can experience pain and pleasure both at the same time (someone who is constant pain over a health condition still laughing at a funny joke).


I think there's nothing wrong at all with seeking pleasure in general. Part of the red and orange ray is loving life and loving yourself, and part of that is loving life's pleasures. I think problems arise when one constantly seeks impulsive pleasures (or constantly engages in any fleeting impulses for that matter) or when one becomes attached to pleasure such that one is emotionally distraught when one cannot pursue pleasure implying that the seeking pleasure activity is masking and suppressing a deeper imbalance at play.


But I think pleasure is a big part of life. Embrace it is what I say.

[reeay]

OCD and addiction are 2 very different constructs. Not the same issue here.

[Rhayader]

I don't disagree with either however isn't a cessation of pain pleasurable ?

In terms of balance it could be linear with pain one end and pleasure the other and nothing/okness in the centre. As mentioned above it can be both at the same time. Well I think inherently at the core of our existence, we chose to be here and the experiences involved- and we choose pain, so higher up ought be taking some pleasure somewhere from it, because that choice was made. Then we could get in the murky grounds of BDSM....

[reeay]

When you're obsessive-compulsive, you're not necessarily attempting to seek pleasure. An obsessive-compulsiveness is based on fear/anxiety, which when engaging in certain types of behavior will help to relieve the fear/anxiety - only to certain extent. Same 'family' of conditions such as body dysmorphic d/o, hoarding, trichotillomania (picking hair), excoriation (picking skin), etc.

Where's the pleasure in that? 'Importantly, obsessions are not pleasurable or experienced as voluntary: they are intrusive and unwanted and cause marked distress or anxiety in most individuals.' 'Compulsions are not done for pleasure, although some individuals experience relief from anxiety or distress.' (that's from the diagnostic manual).

[Parsons]

I would say it is not quite the pursuit of pleasure, but the pursuit of something familiar in order to escape changing circumstances (catalyst). In other words, escapism of the harsh catalyst of 3rd density.

I have kicked several mental and physiological addictions including alcohol, marijuana, caffeine, overspending on gadgetry, and mindless television/commercials. Yet I still have a few addictions that I haven't been able to get rid of including overeating and spending too much time on the computer.

*Edit: Grammar

[Marc]

"Addiction" is such a loaded word. I enjoy eating a smoothie every morning and if I ever forget it can sometimes effect how I feel the rest of the day. The smoothie is undoubtably very healthy for me and I'm addicted to it. Same goes for eating, drinking, masturbating, playing video games, reading novels, meditating, and journaling. I go through gaming phases and this is the first time I didn't fight it and now the desire has waned a bit. Maybe having a clear definition of addiction would be helpful: "physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance, and unable to stop taking it without incurring adverse effects." If I stopped taking my smoothie every morning I would have a harder time with my BM's and also be losing quite a bit of nutrition. When we get out of judging behaviors as "addiction" we can then begin to see a bigger picture and start analyzing the behaviors instead of fighting them and judging them as somehow "bad" [aka "unhealthy"]. Calling something an addiction is judging it as bad instead of accepting it.

I was watching a documentary about a community of people addicted to morphine and they had a field full of plants that they made it from. They were a happy community and functional. The problems didn't come from the morphine itself but rather, the lack of it is what caused unruly behavior. I personally don't care to be dependent on drugs, but I am dependent certain food stuffs, electricity, water and an abundance of literature. As long as it doesn't harm others, there is no problem with dependency on substances. When it does hurt others though... that is another whole topic of discussion.

[Fang]

"Addiction" is such a loaded word. I enjoy eating a smoothie every morning and if I ever forget it can sometimes effect how I feel the rest of the day. The smoothie is undoubtably very healthy for me and I'm addicted to it.

More than a loaded word, it is a misused word. This is understandable because the definition is somewhat vague (which is also understandable given that it is a fairly recently defined word) and people often make a leap to say that they are "addicted" to things like smoothies or their favourite tv show. not a personal jab but it's fairly obvious you have never actually been addicted to anything, this is a good thing.
There is a difference between addiction and habitual behaviour. The more an action becomes habitual and mechanical, the less it is subject to evaluation. It's possible for habitual behaviours to reach a point where they are carried out on the same level as survivalist behaviors, so the action is seen as a bodily need need imperative to survival rather than a want, this is getting closer to addiction.

I was watching a documentary about a community of people addicted to morphine and they had a field full of plants that they made it from. he problems didn't come from the morphine itself but rather, the lack of it is what caused unruly behavior.

Now this, this is addiction. The physiological effects of opiate addiction leave the user in a state of sickness in withdrawal, people that are addicted to it are long beyond "getting high" and keep using to avoid the sickness the withdrawal will bring rather than pursuing anything resembling "pleasure".
That said, there are properties of mind within certain individuals that give them a certain predisposition towards addictive behaviour or pursuing chemicals that body becomes dependent on.

[reeay]

Tolerance and withdrawals & these things lead to distress and disability bc you're having extreme difficulty doing what you need to do in your daily life.