hammer
Active member
I don't want to quit coffee...does that make me not addicted?;-)
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Is Addiction a Choice?
- Thread starter andyzee
- Start date
+1
riverc0il
New member
Heroin makes you physically ill when you try to get off it. Not saying folks don't get the shakes for coffee and cigs, but they don't end up bed ridden for a week in a complete wreck and totally unable to function. When did anyone have to go to rehab for coffee and cigs?
gmcunni
Active member
i choose YES
I think some people also just have more addictive personalities right?
Liek I said earlier... it's wierd but once I make my mind up about something I've never had a hard time stopping. That said, getting to that point where I make up my mind has always been hard.
Food is the biggest example, if you looked at a graph of my weight over past 15 years it looks like waves. I'm fat, then thin, then fat, then thin, then fat, then thin. But rarely am I able to just "hold" a weight for a long time.
That's because I am either a) on a hardcore diet that really regimented and strict ... no cheating at all OR b) I am eating a pizza every night of the week and washing that down with four beers and stopping at Taco Bell on the way home first :lol:
Where is the middle ground :uzi:
Liek I said earlier... it's wierd but once I make my mind up about something I've never had a hard time stopping. That said, getting to that point where I make up my mind has always been hard.
Food is the biggest example, if you looked at a graph of my weight over past 15 years it looks like waves. I'm fat, then thin, then fat, then thin, then fat, then thin. But rarely am I able to just "hold" a weight for a long time.
That's because I am either a) on a hardcore diet that really regimented and strict ... no cheating at all OR b) I am eating a pizza every night of the week and washing that down with four beers and stopping at Taco Bell on the way home first :lol:
Where is the middle ground :uzi:
ScottySkis
Well-known member
Biggest +1 of the thread!
+2
andyzee
New member
First of all, never ever compared coffee to heroin. Cigs, yeah sure, you can quit heroin and get through the intense symptoms within a week, here it is 6 years after I quit cigs and still get he urge from time to time.
What about alcoholism? Any issues with quitting that? How's it compare to heroin?
Please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying one or the other is right or wrong, what I am trying to say is misconceptions can be dangerous. Going by what is legal and illegal, my colleague is presently going through treatment for colon cancer and suffering from nausea
and loss of appetite yet due to misconceptions, not getting the relief he could be getting.
In extreme cases, people die from heroin withdrawal. It can causes seizures which can result in death. That is often why methadone is incorporated into a treatment plan.
The choice is only in using a drug in the first place. It was said that someone can't become addicted after one use. This is probably true, but for certain people, using only a few times is all it takes. Also, some people become addicted to certain substances, some don't. I know plenty of "social smokers". It is all in the brain chemistry of the individual. For one person to project their experience on others with statements like, "if I was able to quit, so can anyone" is somewhat ignorant in my book.
I view drug addiction as a disease not too dissimilar from depression. Some people are cured easily, for some it is much harder and some are never cured and die. It all comes down to the individual and their brain chemistry. Character and will aren't the only factors involved.
ScottySkis
Well-known member
+2
o3jeff
New member
Lots of ignorance in this thread. I don't even know where to start. I guess first is that people are talking about two different things in this thread, addiction and habit. Simply put, with a habit you are in control of your choices, with an addiction you are not in control of your choices. Lots of drugs are pretty addictive and after a couple uses the rest is history.
Quiting a lot of times is not as easy as a lot of you think, depending on what the addiction is, sometimes detox is necessary with some drugs and even alcohol since quiting cold turkey can wreck havoc on the body and the withdrawl symptoms can cause health issues since essential your body has become dependent on the drug/toxins(have you ever seen how meth is made, they freaking use the insides of a battery) you've been putting in it and needs to be slowly rid of them by use of other drugs such as suboxone and others in a controlled environment.
*So people don't get the wrong idea, essentially my info comes from having dated a detox nurse and was my understanding of what she was telling me.
Quiting a lot of times is not as easy as a lot of you think, depending on what the addiction is, sometimes detox is necessary with some drugs and even alcohol since quiting cold turkey can wreck havoc on the body and the withdrawl symptoms can cause health issues since essential your body has become dependent on the drug/toxins(have you ever seen how meth is made, they freaking use the insides of a battery) you've been putting in it and needs to be slowly rid of them by use of other drugs such as suboxone and others in a controlled environment.
*So people don't get the wrong idea, essentially my info comes from having dated a detox nurse and was my understanding of what she was telling me.
o3jeff
New member
I guess yes you do make the choice the first time to use a drug, but after that it may or may not be your choice.
ctenidae
Active member
I don't think how difficult it is to quit has any bearing on whether you're addicted or not. Nor does legal/illegal.
According to Stedman's Medical Dictionary, the definition is "Habitual psychological or physiologic dependence on a substance or practice that is beyond voluntary control."
I think the part where it's within voluntary control qualifies as a dependency instead.
I'm addicted to oxygen. I'm dependent on coffee.
According to Stedman's Medical Dictionary, the definition is "Habitual psychological or physiologic dependence on a substance or practice that is beyond voluntary control."
I think the part where it's within voluntary control qualifies as a dependency instead.
I'm addicted to oxygen. I'm dependent on coffee.
andyzee
New member
I like coffee and oxygen 
I'm addicted to one, not the other
I'm addicted to one, not the other
andyzee
New member
Can you be addicted to skiing?
Well, there are treatment programs for sex addiction, so yeah I'm sure.
I wonder where a skiing addiction treatment center would work out? Mountain Creek on busy Friday nights? :lol:
darent
Active member
had a friend that was told to quit drinking coffee by his doctor, had horrible headaches for a week coming off coffee.might not have been as intense as the muscle pains coming off herion but a physical pain all the same
andyzee
New member
Yep my experience as well.
ScottySkis
Well-known member
I notice a while ago that coffee gave me anxiety so now i mostly drink black tea still has good amount of caffeine and if its a sleepless day then I might have a small coffee. Plus working in my town a crappy small cup of coffee cost usually 2 dollars and change a good lg cup of coffee could daily coffee person like near 10$, tea cost me set up of five dollars for glass measure cup, then maybe five dollars for box of twenty i like the varietys they have.
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