Addiction (the second term is addiction) is a keenly felt hyper-obsessive need for something or someone, which, when habituated, turns into a pernicious habit, imposing serious restrictions on communication and daily human activities. The page https://antiage.click/en/all-dependencies-en provides a classification and the most complete list of dependencies, or addictions to date. Separate pages are devoted to alcohol, caffeine (tea, coffee) and food addictions on https://antiage.click/en/.
What do addictions have in common
Addiction is a keenly felt hyper-obsessive need for something or someone, which, when habituated, turns into a pernicious habit, imposing serious restrictions on communication and daily human activities. Being addicted is not the best way of life, so many people suffering from one or another addiction (or their relatives, close friends) want to get rid of the addiction.
Common components of all addictions:
- gradual increase in dose, increase in tolerance,
- negativity when stopping or absent,
- willingness to make significant efforts to obtain, mood changes,
- excessive use,
- loss of self-control when using,
- peculiarity, overvaluation, inadequate prioritization that causes harm,
- ignoring negative consequences,
- relapses,
- conflict with others and with oneself.
The most common main types of addictions are known to everyone. As for modern types of addictions, the medical community and even the WHO do not have a single established opinion on some issues. Below on the page https://antiage.click/en/all-dependencies-en there is a classification of addiction types and the most complete list of addictions to date.
The physiology, psychology and criteria of each addiction are individual. It is not always possible to unambiguously interpret the signs of addiction and prescribe treatment even for experienced specialists in narcology, psychotherapists, and psychologists. There is no unambiguous division into addiction categories and their complete list in the scientific literature, since there is no consensus on this issue in the scientific community. It is not necessary to immediately contact a hospital or another treatment center, to begin with, just consult a doctor in the format of a free consultation. In the process, it will be necessary to identify the signs of addiction, cycles, understand the causes, control and get rid of the addiction.
Classification of addictions into two types
Most experts divide addictions into two types: chemical and mental. The first group of addictions is characterized by the presence of an active substance. Chemical addictions such as drug addiction, substance abuse, alcoholism, smoking, food and drug addiction (antidepressants, tranquilizers, sleeping pills, analgesics) are treated by narcologists and psychiatrists. In the later stages, the degradation of the body and psyche is so significant that it can end in death.
Psychological addictions are not chemically conditioned and are characterized by behavioral disorders, aggravated by the inability to stop certain activities on their own. The most typical non-chemical addictions are social or Internet addictions, obsessive health-improvement and fasting or, conversely, overeating.
Psychological addictions include shopaholism, workaholism, excessive passion for sports, haste, watching TV, getting bogged down in a sect, financial scams, fan associations, obsessive hobbies, pathological hobbies (including extreme sports), etc. Right now at https://antiage.click/en/welltory-en at the bottom of the page you can download a stress test application and measure your current stress level. Diets, fasting, or, on the contrary, overeating and other non-substantial food addictions differ in the mechanisms of occurrence and development from addiction to sweet or salty products, which create physical addiction.
Psychological addiction is easier to treat than physically conditioned. The causes of psychological addictions include anxiety states, tendencies to depression and phobias. Among the factors that aggravate the development of addiction are unstable psyche, weakened self-control, dissatisfaction with life. Dependencies can be divided into those conscious and unconscious by the subject.
Alcohol, caffeine (tea, coffee, etc.) and food addictions are dedicated to separate pages on https://antiage.click/en/.
Physical addictions
A significant percentage of all physical addictions are drug addictions and substance abuse. In addition, physical addictions include food addiction, since food consists of from various chemical substances, including psychoactive ones. Addictive food substances include morphine and casein (converts into opiates) in dairy products, coloring agents (E100-E182), preservatives (E200-E299), stabilizing agents (E400-E499), emulsifying agents (E500-E599), flavor enhancers (E600-E699 – including monosodium glutamate or glutamate E621), antifoams (E900-E999), other food additives, salt, sugar, a combination of fats and sugar, fats and salt. In certain combinations in some products, some of the listed food substances can cause food addiction. This is how unhealthy excessive consumption of cheese, sausages, fast food, cakes, pastries, other sweets and other unhealthy products occurs.
As a rule, food addiction is caused by many products containing fat and salt: hard cheeses, chips, sausages, snacks, French fries, hamburgers, pizza; as well as fat and sugar: chocolate, halva, cakes, pastries, cookies, other sweets.
Drug addiction is the pathological use of narcotic drugs such as: opioids, cocaine, morphine, codeine, trimeperidine, fentanyl, tramadol, buprenorphine, butorphanol, nalbuphine, naloxone, naltrexone, hashish, heroin, DOB, LSD, MDMA, methaqualone, methylphenidate, hallucinogens and others. The list of drugs is constantly expanding as new substances are created. Drug addiction causes somatic and mental disorders, personality degradation. Drug addiction must be treated by a narcologist and psychotherapist who have undergone special training.
Toxicomania is a crazy desire to take drugs that are not classified as drugs, but cause intoxication, addiction, mental and/or physical dependence. The difference between drug addiction and toxicomania in manifestations and consequences is insignificant. These two addictions differ only in the substances that cause addiction.
Toxicomans sniff gasoline, gas, fumes from everyday chemicals, glues, paints, solvents, and use medications (tranquilizers, antiparkinsonians, anticholinergics, antidepressants, and sedatives). Also, toxicomanias include barbiturism (barbiturate addiction), chloralism (chloralomania), muscarinism (taking fly agarics), nicotinism (smoking tobacco). Caffeinism, theism and alcoholism are considered somewhat separately.
Psychological addictions
Psychological addiction is the desire to experience pleasure again, which has already occurred under the influence of a certain factor, despite the undesirable consequences. A break or the inability to experience this pleasant feeling again causes a feeling of anxiety, worry, fear and psychological tension.
The most severe psychological addiction is pathological attraction to gambling (ludomania, gambling addiction, gambling addiction, gambling addiction from gambling). The attraction to risk, realized in the format of gambling with chips or money in a casino, at cards, on slot machines, leads not only to unjustified spending, debts and loans, but also to depression, nervous disorders, suicides.
Addiction to television is not considered a disease, but many people watch television more than two or three hours a day. By the age of seventy, some TV addicts will have devoted ten years of their lives to television. In those suffering from television addiction, the electroencephalogram of the brain, even after stopping watching television, shows an effect similar to taking tranquilizers (lack of initiative, passivity, relaxation). TV addiction is an addiction to television, and addiction to the phone, accompanied by the fear of being left without a gadget, is called nomophobia.
Excessive uncontrolled use of the Internet (web surfing, searching for information, chats, web forums, use of social networks, other virtual communication, addiction to pornography, cybersexual activity) is also not considered a mental disorder. ICD-11 includes only video game addiction and online gambling addiction.
Completing and winning a video game causes a release of dopamine, which is why some scientists compare gaming addiction to alcohol and drugs. There is an excessive priority of the game in comparison with other types of daily activities, despite the appearance of undesirable consequences. Often, it is not the process of the game that causes problems, but ineffective time management.
Urgent addiction is accompanied by an internal feeling of lack of time for vital things and a fear of not completing important things in a timely manner. Urgent dependence is characterized by constant anxiety about time, close monitoring of it, an increase in the pace of activity, maximum concentration on solving problems and tasks, and a desire to fill all free time with things to do. People with urgent dependence, unlike those integrated in time, see the future with an even greater workload, in dark, gloomy colors.
Workaholism is a pathological desire not to work to confirm their own importance.
Shopaholism allows you to become happier for a short time, buying necessary and unnecessary things, relieves stress, causes euphoria. The process of uncontrolled shopping itself can bring more satisfaction than the purchased goods. Negative consequences of oniomania include debts, loans, disappointment, problems in the shopaholic’s family.
Oscar de la Renta called a person who follows fashion trends beyond common sense a victim of fashion. Tattoo addiction is accompanied by an irresistible desire to decorate your body. Tanorexia is an addiction to ultraviolet rays. Trichotillomania is an obsessive hair removal on the body and head.
People suffering from dysmorphophobia try to correct an imaginary ugliness or improve and bring the negative image of their body closer to the ideal. When it is no longer possible to hide a defect with the help of cosmetics or clothes, plastic surgery is used. But for those who are dependent on plastic surgery, aesthetic surgery will never bring satisfactory results.
Kleptomania is an obsessive desire to steal. An obsessive passion for gain (greed, bribery, extortion) manifests itself in extorting gifts, bribes in money or things, collecting up to collecting junk, like Plyushkin. Syllogomania (obsessive hoarding, collecting junk, like Plyushkin, hoarding) consists of collecting and storing things in larger quantities than necessary, leading to clutter.
Social dependence arises between people interacting with each other or in a community. Dependence on an authoritative opinion is due to the immaturity of the individual, the lack of independence and responsibility for the decision made. Relying on an opinion that seems authoritative, a person lives someone else’s life. Own complexes require activities to eradicate them, and as a result, there is a dependence on the means of eradicating complexes (plastic surgery, dysmorphophobia, tanorexia, trichotillomania, workaholism, gambling addiction, shopaholism, etc.). Pathological dependence on one’s own creativity and its public recognition is expressed in neglect of other types of everyday activities, in cold indifference to family and friends.
Emotional dependence on another person is mistaken for love, although this is a completely different feeling. Sexual addiction differs from normal sexual behavior by obsessive actions and thoughts of a sexual nature. As a result, sex becomes the meaning of life.
Emotional dependence on a toy, virtual pet, robot, smartphone application or virtual object is called the Tamagotchi effect.