Are you addicted... and is addiction in and of itself wrong?

[ShannonA]

We kind of touched on this in another thread. I noticed we have some very different points of view concerning this issue. I'm interested in hearing what the ECF community thinks.

Are we addicts or is it something else?
If we are addicts are coffee and soda drinkers addicts also?
Is addiction wrong even if it harms no one?
If so why is that?

What do you think ECF?

 

[permafrying]

having been threw several treatment facilities i have to say addiction is bad and wrong! oh wait im not in a meeting i dont have to say that
i think were addicts. i know i am atleast. and once an addict always an addict it's just a matter of what you replace it with, not all addictions are bad ones unless you let them run your life. if your addicted to spending money on e-cigarettes and mods and messing around with it or puffing on it all the time, but if your not putting yourself in a financial hole or ignoring your loved ones because of it i don't see why it would be considered bad. especially considering your doing something that has the potential to make you live longer, in the long run giving you more time to be around others.. this is all opinion of course but ive seen and been around addiction my whole life there's good and theres bad you cant group it all into one thing and you cant get rid of it you can only replace it, even if you think its gone if you really look at your life youll find something else you've replaced it with, if not several things

 

[Noodoggy]

from my practical point of view, an addiction is fine as long as it doesnt harm you or others. and with human nature, harm to yourself is all in the eye of the beholder. each person has their own tolerance or threshhold for pain or harm.

oh yeah...yes we are addicts if you use nicotine. or caffiene.

 

[Juicehead]

from my practical point of view, an addiction is fine as long as it doesnt harm you or others. and with human nature, harm to yourself is all in the eye of the beholder. each person has their own tolerance or threshhold for pain or harm.

oh yeah...yes we are addicts if you use nicotine. or caffiene.

I agree with this 100% It's fine as long as it doesn't harm you or others. However, there's very little in this world that doesn't harm you haha

Yes, I am addicted to ecigs and the nicotine it provides. Yes, I feel that is WAY better than regular cigs. Yes, I'm addicted to coffee. My whole plan that I've been on is completely cut out regular cigs and ween down my nicotine levels. So far it's going great and I'm down to 6mg! Within a month I plan on buying some 0mg and mixing it into my routine.

Long story short, take the lesser of two evils

 

[krykiett]

Addiction can also be viewed as a continued involvement with a substance or activity despite the negative consequences associated with it. Pleasure and enjoyment would have originally been sought, however over a period of time involvement with the substance or activity is needed to feel normal. [1] Some psychology professionals and many laymen now mean 'addiction' to include abnormal psychological dependency on such things as gambling, food, sex, pornography, computers, internet, work, exercise, idolizing, watching TV or certain types of non-pornographic videos, spiritual obsession, self-injury and shopping.


I know wikipedia isn't always the best source of info, but this is from there.

I would say I fit that description and I am going to assume most here do. I can say I was addicted to cigarettes and I changed the medium I used to simulate the same effect.

I would say many things changed when I went from smoking to vaping and the people who take some time to understand vaping generally see it as a positive change. My addiction has not curbed, just the substance of which I ingest has changed.

The outcome has been beneficial, but at the core, not much is different.

 

[bjannr]

I am a food, horse, nicotine, caffeine addict. My horse addiction helps with controlling the others. Some addictions are not looked down upon, others are. No one criticized my when I was obese, but they would talk about my 3 pack a week smoking habit. I guess everything in moderation is a wise thing. Just because something could become addictive, doesn't necessarily mean its bad. A glass of wine daily is supposed to be good for you. If something causes you to not be able to function, or have health issues, I think that is where you should draw the line. I still struggle with my food addiction on a daily basis, but I still have to eat. I hope this rambling made some sort of sense to someone.

 

[ShannonA]

Where does one cross the line from habiit (or hobby) to addiction? Any thoughts?

 

[permafrying]

Where does one cross the line from habiit (or hobby) to addiction? Any thoughts?

according to drug counsalers its when it becomes an obssession or it becomes something you HAVE to do on a consistant bases. i guess i can agree with that i think it goes a little further in it being something that you can't really go without otherwise it leads you into depression. but everyone sees it differently. if you yourself consider it an addiction it probably is. if someone else that knows you really well thinks your addicted to something.. you might be... depends on the person and what your doing. only problem with this subject is most people are blind to there own addictions and allot of people have no idea what a real addiction is like so they don't know how to judge one when they see it.

 

[John Phoenix]

having been threw several treatment facilities i have to say addiction is bad and wrong! oh wait im not in a meeting i dont have to say that

LOL !!!!

i think were addicts. i know i am atleast. and once an addict always an addict it's just a matter of what you replace it with, not all addictions are bad ones unless you let them run your life. if your addicted to spending money on e-cigarettes and mods and messing around with it or puffing on it all the time, but if your not putting yourself in a financial hole or ignoring your loved ones because of it i don't see why it would be considered bad.

Great example.. you don't pull any punches do ya.. that's right, go right for the jugular. I wonder how many housewives are on this forum read that and suddenly ran to hide the hubby's credit card then went and ate a half gallon of Ben & Jerry's to hide the guilt. LOL

Sorry ShannonA, didn't mean to go off topic.

 

[JohnnyKozo]

Yes, we are all addicts. But fortunately most of us realized that when we smoked analogs and that's why we switched to something at least a little healthier.

Is addiction bad? Is it wrong? That's tough to answer. Firstly, You have to answer what the meaning to life is. Is it to be productive at work? Is it to make a change in the world? Is to just live happily and comfortably?

For me, I want to make a beneficial change in the world. Can I do that while being addicted to nicotine and caffeine? I can. Could I do that while addicted to .... or coke or .........? I'm not sure. I know some have, but I know a lot more people whose addictions have ruined their lives.

Is life as comfortable while addicted to caffeine or nicotine? I'd say no. I'd rather be able to wake up without coffee or having to worry about my PV's battery all day. In another sense, though, being hopped up on C+N does help me stay more productive and crank more hours out of the day. I'm sure being hopped up on coke 24/7 is really painless and comfortable, but there's no better comfort than a secure future, I think.

Most addictions shorten your lifespan. Too much of anything is a bad thing. A glass of wine a day, and they say you'll live longer, but a bottle (or 3) a day will kill your liver. Cigarettes used to kill us quickly, now our PV/nicotine is just hurting our veins and our hearts. But hopefully less.

I'd love to sit here and say it's not a bad thing, but somethings not right about saying an addiction is OK. Maybe because that's what I've heard in the media/church/school/from my parents, but I don't think so.

My wife doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't do any drugs, and only drinks caffeinated beverages sparingly. She calls it straight-edge. But I just call it freedom.

To further reiterate my point, if my wife and I were stranded on a deserted island, she would crack open a coconut, start a fire, and layout on the beach. I, on the other hand, would have a panic attack that my PV is water damaged and I'd start frantically trying to smoke every leaf and steep every root into coffee that I could find to try and curb my addictions. Which of us is truly free?

 

[permafrying]

Yes, we are all addicts. But fortunately most of us realized that when we smoked analogs and that's why we switched to something at least a little healthier.

Is addiction bad? Is it wrong? That's tough to answer. Firstly, You have to answer what the meaning to life is. Is it to be productive at work? Is it to make a change in the world? Is to just live happily and comfortably?

For me, I want to make a beneficial change in the world. Can I do that while being addicted to nicotine and caffeine? I can. Could I do that while addicted to .... or coke or .........? I'm not sure. I know some have, but I know a lot more people whose addictions have ruined their lives.

Is life as comfortable while addicted to caffeine or nicotine? I'd say no. I'd rather be able to wake up without coffee or having to worry about my PV's battery all day. In another sense, though, being hopped up on C+N does help me stay more productive and crank more hours out of the day. I'm sure being hopped up on coke 24/7 is really painless and comfortable, but there's no better comfort than a secure future, I think.

Most addictions shorten your lifespan. Too much of anything is a bad thing. A glass of wine a day, and they say you'll live longer, but a bottle (or 3) a day will kill your liver. Cigarettes used to kill us quickly, now our PV/nicotine is just hurting our veins and our hearts. But hopefully less.

I'd love to sit here and say it's not a bad thing, but somethings not right about saying an addiction is OK. Maybe because that's what I've heard in the media/church/school/from my parents, but I don't think so.

My wife doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't do any drugs, and only drinks caffeinated beverages sparingly. She calls it straight-edge. But I just call it freedom.

To further reiterate my point, if my wife and I were stranded on a deserted island, she would crack open a coconut, start a fire, and layout on the beach. I, on the other hand, would have a panic attack that my PV is water damaged and I'd start frantically trying to smoke every leaf and steep every root into coffee that I could find to try and curb my addictions. Which of us is truly free?

i agree with most of what you said. but i don't think most addictions will shorten your life.. you have to consider addiction spreads allot farther then just into drugs ( including nicotine and caffiene, or any chemical a drug here). people are addicted to sex, unless your having unprotected sex and catch something it's not going to shorten your life, if anything all the cardio will make you live longer people are addicted to cars, tv, money, socialization, exercising, and hundreds if not thousands of other things this world has to offer.
living without addiction is deffinetaly a freedom though. unfortunetaly allot of people will never get to experience it
and before any aa or na members jump down my throat for what i said about only being able to replace an addiction and saying they beat there addiction with aa/na. aa/na itself is nothing more then a replacement. weather its your sponsor, the meetings, the socialization,the religious aspect or just the support group take your pick

 

[meems]

No question I have an addictive personality..it's a matter of channeling it to something productive! When I first quit smoking I threw myself into super couponing...now I super coupon & vape...if one is good, ten is great! On the up side of vaping, nicotine is good for Ulcerative colitis, so I really do have a medical reason to ingest nicotine.

 

[wrigleyvillain]

There is much more to a smoking/vaping addiction but as far as I know nicotine is one of the few true physically addictive substances with physical urges and withdrawal symptoms second only to opiates in it's severity. Yes people can develop physical symptoms and such with things like alcohol (e.g. the shakes) or coke can change one's brain chem so much that it can't function right without it but that is waaay down a hardcore road and still not really the same thing.

 

[Winkos]

I am an addict. I used to smoke analogs before that got socially unacceptable. Then I switched to various hobbies that I took to extremes (such a pond building but that is another thread entirely), next to overeating and gaining 40 lbs and then to 2 glasses of wine a night and daily gym workouts. I always need something. If and when the FDA regulates E-cigs I will get ticked an move on to the next thing. I wish I was not this way but I believe I was born this way.

 

[stillalive]

I've said it before and I'll say it again... despite being fairly reckless with the nicotine/vaping (for me) during a really stressful past few weeks, I can't seem to end up addicted to nicotine. Now, keep in mind that I have a hard time getting addicted to *anything* besides video games, but I really think there may be something more addictive than nicotine in the analogs.

Now, I AM a little addicted to upgrading/improving my ecig and buying new things for it, but that's more of a shopoholic thing than a nicotine addiction thing. So I'm addicted to e-cigs, just not in the way you would suspect...

 

[Ande]

I can't answer the question of "are we addicts?"

I don't know most of you at all, and I can't assume we are all the same. Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. It's for each individual, if interested, to find an answer to that question.

I am an addict.

I have been addicted to a number of things in my life, but cigarettes underlay them all.

After numerous attempts to END my addiction to cigarettes, which didn't work, I found that the best thing for me was to change, rather than end, the addiction.

Would it be better to not be addicted? Depends on what "better" means, I guess.

I don't look in the mirror and wish I was someone else, ya know? And the person I see; a well-thought-of colleague, a loving husband, a helluva cook, not a bad mountain climber, a reasonably good drinker, pretty okay rock guitarist, awful yet persistent singer...that's me. And that person is an addict. Pretty much always has been.

I don't know if addicts are born, or made. It's too late in the game for me to be reborn, or unmade, into a non-addict. And anyway, I wonder how many things that are "me" would go with it?

I'd just as soon not die from it anytime soon, hence the electronic cigarettes.


Ande

PS- I know that a LOT of people think that addiction, in and of itself, is wrong and bad. Fcuk them- I do not have time for their ....

 

[melloyello]

everyone is addicted to something....fact. it may be work, internet,money, nicotine, cars, weather channel, shoes, caffeine, music, purses, high speeds...whatever it may be...but everyone has an addiction. if your addiction takes over the necessities of life, its something to try to get away from. if you are controlled by your addiction, you are addicted. so...yes, nicotine controls me, im addicted. having said that, is it bad? maybe in the long run it is...we dont know. but its certainly not bad as long as its not at the expense of the family.

 

[Stevew443]

I find that I am 100% addicted to breathing and eating. I tried to give both up at one time. I did without breathing for about 1 minute. I made it without food for about a day. Not all addictions are bad.

 

[John Phoenix]

I'd like to repost here what I said in the other thread if ShannonA doesn't mind.

"We have been taught that once your addicted your always addicted.. such as in drinking alcohol. I think this can be true for many but not for all. People speak of the laws of addiction. I say bah humbug. There are no laws governing addiction, only perceptions. These are just a bunch of words that were made up and written down to try to help people with a problem, but it is only one way of looking at addiction. What holds true for some, does not necessarily have to follow for everyone.

I used to drink a lot of beer. I loved beer. I would get drunk often because I enjoyed it. People would tell me I had an addiction to alcohol and once an addict always an addict. They would tell me, not one drink.. you cannot have just one drink or you would become a drunk all over again. If this is what you need to believe to not get drunk and act stupid, then your welcome to believe it.. just don't tell me it has to apply to me. Several years ago I decided getting drunk wasn't fun anymore and so now If I drank it was only going to be to enjoy the beer and not get drunk. I can do that just fine. I still drink now and then, but I don't get drunk. I don't feel I have to drink any more than a couple of beers and I don't desire to. I have no desire to be drunk. I maintain I am not now, nor ever have been an alcoholic. Addiction "experts" will say I'm in denial. I say they are wrong. They may need to tell themselves such things to keep them from reaching for a drink that will start them on a slippery slope, but it does not apply to me.

Many of these addiction camps make you feel that relapse is the most horrible thing you can do. You get shunned and looked down on. They fail to realize that's not healthy and can harm the person more. It's all about perceptions and how you choose to look at a given situation.

I think you guys got it - that what applies to one does not apply to all. Those folks [some other folks we were discussing] seem to want to force their opinion of how addiction should be thought of, on you and don't consider for a second that it may not apply to you personally. That's just Rude. It's ingrained indoctrination at the fullest. They have more than an addiction problem, they have a mental thinking process problem. It's doing them more harm than good. I really feel for those folks that they can't see it.

I've cut down my nicotine so much that i don't crave it like I did when I was smoking. They fail to consider that the addictiveness of nicotine is only as bad as it is with cigarettes because of all the other chemicals that work with nicotine to get you hooked. Now, I don't vape because I need the nicotine, I vape because I enjoy the nicotine. Just as I enjoy my coffee. Is it wrong to enjoy nicotine? Hell No, Not when your not abusing it. That's the difference they fail to see.

I enjoy the act of vaping, the inhale and exhale, the different PV's mods flavors. I simply Love to do it. No one can tell me this is wrong. No one can give me a good reason why I should not enjoy something that's not killing me. "

 

[permafrying]

I'd like to repost here what I said in the other thread if ShannonA doesn't mind.

"We have been taught that once your addicted your always addicted.. such as in drinking alcohol. I think this can be true for many but not for all. People speak of the laws of addiction. I say bah humbug. There are no laws governing addiction, only perceptions. These are just a bunch of words that were made up and written down to try to help people with a problem, but it is only one way of looking at addiction. What holds true for some, does not necessarily have to follow for everyone.

I used to drink a lot of beer. I loved beer. I would get drunk often because I enjoyed it. People would tell me I had an addiction to alcohol and once an addict always an addict. They would tell me, not one drink.. you cannot have just one drink or you would become a drunk all over again. If this is what you need to believe to not get drunk and act stupid, then your welcome to believe it.. just don't tell me it has to apply to me. Several years ago I decided getting drunk wasn't fun anymore and so now If I drank it was only going to be to enjoy the beer and not get drunk. I can do that just fine. I still drink now and then, but I don't get drunk. I don't feel I have to drink any more than a couple of beers and I don't desire to. I have no desire to be drunk. I maintain I am not now, nor ever have been an alcoholic. Addiction "experts" will say I'm in denial. I say they are wrong. They may need to tell themselves such things to keep them from reaching for a drink that will start them on a slippery slope, but it does not apply to me.

Many of these addiction camps make you feel that relapse is the most horrible thing you can do. You get shunned and looked down on. They fail to realize that's not healthy and can harm the person more. It's all about perceptions and how you choose to look at a given situation.

I think you guys got it - that what applies to one does not apply to all. Those folks [some other folks we were discussing] seem to want to force their opinion of how addiction should be thought of, on you and don't consider for a second that it may not apply to you personally. That's just Rude. It's ingrained indoctrination at the fullest. They have more than an addiction problem, they have a mental thinking process problem. It's doing them more harm than good. I really feel for those folks that they can't see it.

I've cut down my nicotine so much that i don't crave it like I did when I was smoking. They fail to consider that the addictiveness of nicotine is only as bad as it is with cigarettes because of all the other chemicals that work with nicotine to get you hooked. Now, I don't vape because I need the nicotine, I vape because I enjoy the nicotine. Just as I enjoy my coffee. Is it wrong to enjoy nicotine? Hell No, Not when your not abusing it. That's the difference they fail to see.

I enjoy the act of vaping, the inhale and exhale, the different PV's mods flavors. I simply Love to do it. No one can tell me this is wrong. No one can give me a good reason why I should not enjoy something that's not killing me. "

when people say once an addict always an addict it doesnt mean once your addicted to something your always addicted to that... well when programs say it thats what it tends to mean but they say allot of things that are completely bull**** in my opinion. but when i said it im talking about just being an addict in general. your addicted to herion, you get off it, but now your addicted to something else kind of thing. i've been addicted to oxy, and after i quit ive taken vicodin after a dental surgery and didn't have any problems with it, even after it was gone i never thaught back about it. i've gotten over all of my drug addictions with the exception of being a part time alcoholic but i still have addictions in general, im addicted to sex, money, and my pv. all of these have just replaced my drug habbits which is the trend with allot of drug addicts. this is all opinion and maybe im wrong and it doesn't apply to everyone, but ive been arround drug addicts my entire life and been one and its the same thing more or less everytime especially people with an addictive personality.