Are you "addicted" to e-cigarettes?

[Shay.Babe15]

I'm currently pregnant-so no vaping for me for a few months.
However, for me it's more about the oral fixiation. I'm okay with not having it right now, does the nicotine feel good-yes it does. However, without my mod, I've been spending a lot of money on Gum and find myself chewing on the weirdest things haha. So, am I addicted? I'm a sense. Am I addicted to the nicotine sense more so than I was on cigarettes? Not in the slightest.

 

[coolerat]

I've lived in a world of addiction since I was a pre-teen. Lets say several decades.

I've been able to quit, with considerable difficultly, some things generally considered to be super addictive.

Nicotine is the monster that can't be killed. I opened a Pandora's box that fateful day back in the 70's that has controlled my life on at least some level ever since.

I am very much addicted to vaping. In no meaningful way whatsoever am I free of nicotine and I am very much still a shivering denizen of its mad realm.

People that had a heavy habit for a long time and are either completely clean or vaping 0mg are people I respect and envy.

People using nic are addicts like me, no better no worse.

 

[Troll from behind]

As my understanding goes, dependence is a physiological state whereas addiction is a psychological state. Users of alcohol or narcotics will develop a physical dependence on having the particular drug in their system as a matter of normalcy; take the drug away and they will suffer real, physical symptoms of withdrawal. Addiction is an established behavioral pattern that has endless multitudes of forms, symptoms and impact, with many possible causes for the addiction to develop. Addicts believe that they "need" whatever fulfills their addiction in order to feel "normal"; addicts can experience real physiological symptoms when removed from the addictive behavior though those symptoms are usually psycho-sematic in nature. To complicate matters, addiction and dependence often co-exist, which leads to the confusion over the application of the terms.

Dependence can be broken by eliminating the presence/intake of the drug; the body will eventually adjust to the lack of the drug in the system and return to normal. Addiction is harder to break as it usually requires isolating the triggers for the cause and sustaining of the addictive behaviors, and behavioral and cognitive changes by the addict away from being susceptible to triggering circumstances. There is also evidence that people are genetically predisposed to addictive behaviors, which make the "breaking" of acquired behaviors all the more difficult.

In light of that, yeah, I'm addicted to vaping. I broke my dependence on cigarettes by exchanging the behavior of smoking with vaping. I'm still addicted to the habit of having something for my mouth and hands to do which smoking filled, and now vaping has taken that place. I've cut my nicotine levels down to 3mg for the majority of what I vape and would like to be at 0mg by this time next year. But I will probably still want to vape to fill that habitual need for the smoking action.

Very well said.
A friend of mine ones said, that the difference is that the other makes one feel like dying where as the second actually CAN kill you.
Naturally it really isn't that simple, nothing rarely is.

 

[jQuack]

Just wondering, did you not get satisfactory answers from your previous thread on the subject?
Is nicotine a necessity for you?

Hmmm, some interesting undercurrents in this stream. It appears he has a fetish for this type of thread.

 

[DC2]

As my understanding goes, dependence is a physiological state whereas addiction is a psychological state. Users of alcohol or narcotics will develop a physical dependence on having the particular drug in their system as a matter of normalcy; take the drug away and they will suffer real, physical symptoms of withdrawal. Addiction is an established behavioral pattern that has endless multitudes of forms, symptoms and impact, with many possible causes for the addiction to develop. Addicts believe that they "need" whatever fulfills their addiction in order to feel "normal"; addicts can experience real physiological symptoms when removed from the addictive behavior though those symptoms are usually psycho-sematic in nature. To complicate matters, addiction and dependence often co-exist, which leads to the confusion over the application of the terms.

Dependence can be broken by eliminating the presence/intake of the drug; the body will eventually adjust to the lack of the drug in the system and return to normal. Addiction is harder to break as it usually requires isolating the triggers for the cause and sustaining of the addictive behaviors, and behavioral and cognitive changes by the addict away from being susceptible to triggering circumstances. There is also evidence that people are genetically predisposed to addictive behaviors, which make the "breaking" of acquired behaviors all the more difficult.

In light of that, yeah, I'm addicted to vaping. I broke my dependence on cigarettes by exchanging the behavior of smoking with vaping. I'm still addicted to the habit of having something for my mouth and hands to do which smoking filled, and now vaping has taken that place. I've cut my nicotine levels down to 3mg for the majority of what I vape and would like to be at 0mg by this time next year. But I will probably still want to vape to fill that habitual need for the smoking action.

This post needs a lot more likes.

Because it is spot on for many, if not most, vapers.
Even those who don't realize this yet.

But I never want to leave our "truly addicted" brethren in the cold.
So yeah, some of you might be truly addicted.

That is a good topic for unbiased scientific study.
And some day, maybe that will happen.

I don't think you're addicted to nicotine in the true sense of the word. It seems as if you're dependent on nic since you were able to wean yourself by systematically stepping down your nic level.
If you were really addicted, you'd have a compulsive need to vape, even at the expense of your everyday responsibilities.
I'm sick of people misusing the word "addiction" as a way to demonize the "other" because the "addicts" have a habit the ANTZ don't like.

Oh hell yeah.

Truly "addictive" drugs build tolerance, and one requires more and more of them.
This doesn't happen with nicotine.

Never has, never will.

 

[Douggro]

This post needs a lot more likes.

Because it is spot on for many, if not most, vapers.
Even those who don't realize this yet.

But I never want to leave our "truly addicted" brethren in the cold.
So yeah, some of you might be truly addicted.

That is a good topic for unbiased scientific study.
And some day, maybe that will happen.

Well, I wasn't trying to be a Like-..... with it, but thank you. It could use some more definition and refinement, but it serves the purpose.

For me, figuring out what it is that I'm addicted to with vaping was just a matter of being honest with myself and putting aside the justifications: it keeps me from smoking, I like the taste, I need the nicotine, etc. I'm addicted to the action, the motions and mechanics of vaping. That was a big part of what kept me smoking after I KNEW and really had no choice but to quit if I wanted to live to see 60. That, and the cravings for the stuff they put in the cigs to keep us hooked. So the addiction is still there, just in a form that's not going to certainly kill me nearly as fast by orders of magnitude.

 

[Rabbit Slayer]

Because people lie to themselves even more than they lie to eachother

 

[Douggro]

Because people lie to themselves even more than they lie to eachother

You will never know how much you are being dishonest everywhere in your life until you understand how much you are dishonest with yourself.

 

[BreSha6869]

Only when I have a few drinks. Then my house looks like something from a Cheech and Chong movie.

I don't care though as I haven't had a smoke going on two months. If I need to chain vape a bit once every couple of weeks with 3mg or 6mg juice, that is still better than smoking.

Most of the time, I have a short vape and put it down and at work I may go all day without vaping. I naver did that when I smoked.

 

[WillyZee]

Whenever I ask people why they vape its never cause they are addicted and need the nicotine. Nobody wants to admit being an addict. Its always something else such as they like the flavors or think it looks cool.

Do you think The Fonz would have vaped?

 

[inspects]

Like others have stated, I too can go hours without even thinking about vaping if I'm busy doing something.

The complete opposite of smoking. At times, I would plan how I could smoke in different situations. I made sure before driving home I had enough cigarettes to last until morning. Although several times I would drive to a convenience store at 2:00 AM to buy a pack of Marlboros because my cig-count was off.

When I first quit smoking, 24 mg nicotine was the only thing I could vape to stop the cravings. After a year now I'm vaping 3-12 mg nic. Using up the 12 mg I had purchased about six months ago so it doesn't go to waste, I don't need 12 mg to satisfy any bizarre cravings. Which is the complete opposite when smoking.

Been thinking about buying some zero nic juice for a mental health test on myself. I'm strongly suspicious if I placed the same flavored 3 mg and zero in the same type atty's, mixed them so I couldn't determine which was zero and which was 3 mg, I believe I could vape zero nic and not feel any differently.

After a year off the smokes, I think it's just the habit of hand to mouth, and the feeling of inhaling and exhaling something different than normal air that keep me vaping. Although I do like fiddling around with the various mods wires atty's I've acquired in the past 12 months as well.

I think if all my vaping gear vanished overnight, I could do without. Unlike smoking.

Happy New Year everyone....

 

[WattWick]

I feel this debate (OP) is founded on a puritan perspective. Is it a Bad Thing that we enjoy doing things that are - to us - enjoyable? To what extent should we deprive ourselves of the things we enjoy - to test whether they may or may not qualify as an "addiction"?

It is commonly accepted that physical exercise is a Good Thing. Some people get "addicted" to exercise to a degree where it's bad for their health. Does this make exercise a Bad Thing - based on a potential of being "addictive"?

Aside from carrying a shipload of negative connotation - does the label "addictive" serve any purpose on its own?

I want a cup of coffee. I think I'll go enjoy one. Some times I don't want a cup of coffee.

 

[AndriaD]

As my understanding goes, dependence is a physiological state whereas addiction is a psychological state.

Actually it's just the reverse -- addiction is a physical problem, such as that experienced by narcotic users, or even alcoholics. Dependence is psychological, though there could be minor physical elements. The latter is actually harder to overcome -- the mind is far more powerful than any part of the body, including the brain. Which is probably why smoking is so hard to overcome -- there's definitely a physical addiction going on, but it's mostly psychological dependence. And just to judge from what I've seen around here, nicotine isn't the "physical addiction" that is strongest with cigarettes, but all the other stuff -- the other alkaloids, and the agents used to speed the whole cocktail to the brain at lightspeed. And it seems much easier to reduce nicotine, than for even 0mg users to discontinue vaping -- that psychological component.

Andria

 

[AndriaD]

I feel this debate (OP) is founded on a puritan perspective. Is it a Bad Thing that we enjoy doing things that are - to us - enjoyable? To what extent should we deprive ourselves of the things we enjoy - to test whether they may or may not qualify as an "addiction"?

It is commonly accepted that physical exercise is a Good Thing. Some people get "addicted" to exercise to a degree where it's bad for their health. Does this make exercise a Bad Thing - based on a potential of being "addictive"?

Aside from carrying a shipload of negative connotation - does the label "addictive" serve any purpose on its own?

I want a cup of coffee. I think I'll go enjoy one. Some times I don't want a cup of coffee.

I agree with you that the words "addiction" and "addict" have had negative associations tacked onto them for far too long. I'm an addict -- alcohol, cigarettes, hard drugs -- though I no longer use any of those -- that doesn't make me any less an addict, which is just a fact, nothing "negative" about it. The only thing negative would be if I was in denial that I am an addict, and tried to keep using any of that stuff -- the outcome would very definitely be negative!

Andria

 

[curiousJan]

I believe addiction requires following through with the behavior regardless of harm to self or others, while dependence is physical (withdrawl symptoms when substance is removed), psychological (craving when substance is removed), or both.

 

[Douggro]

Actually it's just the reverse -- addiction is a physical problem, such as that experienced by narcotic users, or even alcoholics. Dependence is psychological, though there could be minor physical elements. The latter is actually harder to overcome -- the mind is far more powerful than any part of the body, including the brain. Which is probably why smoking is so hard to overcome -- there's definitely a physical addiction going on, but it's mostly psychological dependence. And just to judge from what I've seen around here, nicotine isn't the "physical addiction" that is strongest with cigarettes, but all the other stuff -- the other alkaloids, and the agents used to speed the whole cocktail to the brain at lightspeed. And it seems much easier to reduce nicotine, than for even 0mg users to discontinue vaping -- that psychological component.

Andria

Very rarely have I had cause to disagree with you Andria, but there's a first time for everything.
Addiction and Dependency, at least as Wikipedia sees them.

 

[ReigntheGamer]

Nope not addicted at all, but if you try to take my vape I'll punch you.

 

[YoursTruli]

I think I am addicted to the "act" of vaping versus the nicotine, I am at 1.5 to 3 mg/ml, or to flavors, I vape a lot of unflavored or very low % of flavoring eliquid. At this point I could easily go without nicotine and not miss it but I won't because it has been proven to be beneficial to MS patients and I have a similar autoimmune condition. Even though I do not vape very many ml per day I constantly have an ecig in my hand or close by, I find I get a lot of stress relief, comfort or whatever from the act of vaping itself.

 

[AndriaD]

Very rarely have I had cause to disagree with you Andria, but there's a first time for everything.
Addiction and Dependency, at least as Wikipedia sees them.

I tend to trust my own 20+ yrs of recovering alcoholism/addiction over wikipedia.

Andria

ETA: I thought curiousJan's definition was very good -- though I've experienced that sometimes "craving" is a physical need for which the brain has no other mechanism to notify you that something is needed -- post-appendectomy, then post-relapse to smoking -- I had NO desire to smoke whatsoever -- but my body had needs that just nicotine wasn't filling -- first I went with cigarettes, but even after coming back to smoke-free a month later, then cravings returned, despite my total lack of any desire to smoke -- WTA fixed it just fine.

 

[Douggro]

I tend to trust my own 20+ yrs of recovering alcoholism/addiction over wikipedia.

Understand the lack of trust in Wikipedia.
How about the National Institutes of Health?
Addiction
Dependency