Incredible facts

People with addiction have no control over what they do, take, or use.

Everyone knows about types of addiction such as drugs and alcohol, which can significantly worsen the quality of life and lead to dire consequences.

However, today, the list of types of addiction has expanded significantly, and any thing, from chocolate to computer games, can be physically and psychologically addictive.

1. Workaholism

Workaholics often deserve respect in modern world, where every minute means you can earn more. But excessive dedication to work drains all the energy from a work-obsessed person. The line between hard work and workaholism is beginning to blur. Workaholics, like other people suffering from addiction, only return to reality when something serious happens to their health or relationships.

In Japan, there is a term "karoshi" or "death from workaholism". This phenomenon caused quite a stir in the 1980s, when several Japanese officials died without any medical history. Overwork from working long hours without a break has led to death at work.

2. Love addiction

After breaking up with your spouse, significant other, and the love of your life, you may try to remain friends with your ex-partners by gradually reducing contact and gradually getting rid of the last relic of your relationship. However, one thing remains inevitable: you will have to move on. However, for some people, breaking up a relationship is especially difficult. While it's natural to mourn the loss of a relationship, some people may take it too far.

Psychologists have found that blind infatuation causes the production of phenylethylamine, a neurological chemical substance, which gives a feeling of euphoria when you fall in love. People who experience infatuation experience the same symptoms, such as insomnia and loss of sense of time, as those who abuse cocaine. Some people experience a real withdrawal syndrome, they urgently need the boost of love, on which they begin to depend.

3. TV addiction

It is known that on average a person spends about 3-4 hours a day sitting in front of the TV, which is half of all rest time. This means that by age 65, a person will have spent about 9 years glued to the TV. Some TV lovers can spend up to 8 hours a day watching TV. People suffering from TV addiction experience clinical symptoms such as helplessness to stop watching TV, using the TV to calm their nerves, and irritability when forced to stop watching TV.

During laboratory experiments Scientists studied people's reactions to television by monitoring brain waves using an electroencephalogram. Participants who watched TV were in a relaxed and passive state, and the EEG showed less mental stimulation. It turned out that even after stopping watching TV, people remained relaxed and uninitiative, since watching TV caused numbing effect similar to taking tranquilizers. The person actually disconnects from real life, immersing yourself in what is shown on the screen, which in turn leads to compulsive TV watching.

4. Dependence on physical exercise

We all know that physical activity is good for your health. When we perform physical exercise The body produces endorphins - hormones Have a good mood. For some people, the intense pleasure of exercise can turn into an addiction.

People addicted to exercise have a variety of motivations for their behavior, including a desire to control their weight and shape or a feeling of inexplicable fear when they stop exercising. Such people often have a very busy schedule dedicated to physical activity. They will exercise even when they are sick or injured, which can lead to even more problems. They may miss work, school, and other obligations just to exercise.

Most common exercise addiction associated with eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia.

5. Shopaholism

Shopaholism, or scientifically oniomania, is one of the socially reinforced behavioral types of addiction. We are surrounded by advertising that tells us we need to buy new things to be happier, and consumerism has become the measure of our social worth.

Despite the fact that shopaholism has spread in last years, it is not a truly new violation, since it considered a psychiatric disorder back at the beginning of the 20th century.

Shopaholism or compulsive shopping often coexists with other disorders such as anxiety disorder, substance abuse, eating disorder, impulse control disorder and others.

With this addiction, symptoms such as excessive spending of money, compulsive shopping, inability to stop shopping, lies about spending money, and conflicts with loved ones about shopping are observed.

6. Tanorexia (tanning addiction)

Doctors are concerned about the passion of many people for solariums. Scientists have found that tanning salon lovers exhibit behavior similar to the behavior of alcoholics and drug addicts. The study found that when solarium tanners were exposed to ultraviolet rays, they experienced increased blood flow in certain areas of the brain associated with drug and alcohol addiction. When the researchers stopped exposure to ultraviolet rays without telling the participants, these areas of the brain became less active.

Tanning addiction, mainly in solariums, is more common among women. A 2006 study found that tanning salons promote the release of endorphins, and stopping tanning can cause withdrawal symptoms similar to other types of addiction.

7. Sexual addiction

The thirst for sexual satisfaction is as old as the world. But in the modern world, this desire often turns into compulsive behavior, and access to the Internet has added problems.

Sexual addiction is often described as a sexual disorder characterized by compulsive actions and thoughts of a sexual nature. As with other types of addiction, it can have a negative impact on relationships. For some, the addiction never grows further compulsive masturbation or excessive use of pornography and telephone sex services. For others, it may include illegal activities such as exhibitionism, obscene phone calls, child molestation and rape. However, people suffering from sex addiction are not necessarily rapists.

The increasing sexual provocation in society has led to an increase in the number of people who engage in unusual or illegal sexual practices such as phone sex, computer pornography, virtual sex, escort services, etc.

8. Internet addiction

If you are online for many hours without a break and surf aimlessly, not wanting to turn off your computer, then you may be fine. But if this is repeated day after day, and turning off your computer irritates you, then you may be suffering from Internet addiction.

Today, psychiatrists from all over the world are beginning to recognize such types of Internet addiction as online pornography, addiction computer games, passion social networks, addiction to virtual dating, etc. In some countries, Internet addiction has become real. social problem. Thus, according to a survey in 2007, in South Korea, 30 percent of people under the age of 18 suffered from Internet addiction.

A person suffering from Internet addiction can spend hours wandering around Internet sites, without searching for information, but simply absorbing everything he comes across on the Internet.

9. Addiction to plastic surgery

Negative body image causes many people to go under the knife. Small enlargement, correction, lifting and similar operations are done for the sake of one thing - to become even closer to the ideal.

In 2006 British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons warned doctors about patients suffering from body dysmorphic disorder or “imaginary deformity syndrome.” For such people, aesthetic surgery is a never-ending procedure and they will never be satisfied with the results.

Man with dysmorphophobia may have an obsessive idea that he has some kind of physical defect and spend a lot of time hiding this defect with the help of cosmetics, clothing and operations. Often these people have unrealistic expectations from plastic surgery, thinking that it will lead to the relationship they want or a high-paying job. Even if they are satisfied with one procedure, they may find another defect that needs to be corrected.

10. Drug addiction

Many people take medications for medical reasons because their doctor prescribes them for them. But about 20 percent of people may use medications for non-medical purposes. This is called drug abuse and is a serious problem. The most common medications people start abusing are narcotic painkillers, sedatives and tranquilizers, and stimulants.

Experts don't know why the number of people becoming addicted to drugs is rising. But possible reason is the availability of drugs. Also, doctors today prescribe more drugs than before, and many more drugs can be obtained from pharmacies without a doctor's prescription.

What are the causes of human addictions?

Causes of human addictions

The word “dependency” means lack of independence, the inability to achieve satisfaction in healthy ways.

Psychologists highlight following reasons human addictions:

single-parent family;

busy parents, lack of communication with the child;

absence of other children in the family;

poor relationships between parents (misunderstanding, fights, scandals, violation of gender roles);

excessive parental care.

As a result, the child may develop depression and, as a result, the search for accessible pleasures, which turns into a vicious addiction. In a relationship alcohol addiction The influence of heredity has also been proven.

Main types of dependencies

The types of human addiction are numerous, their list expands with each stage of development of society. Today the main ones are the following:

Narcotic. The need to take drugs causing disorder psyche.

Alcoholic. Its danger is that a person drinks first to lift his spirits, for company. As a result, he ceases to control the situation and can no longer exist normally without alcohol. Today in our country this is the main dependence of a person.

Smoking. This type of addiction is dangerous because it has both a physical component (nicotine is involved in metabolism) and a mental component (often it is this that does not allow you to give up the habit).

Gambling addiction. Gambling become of great importance to humans. Addiction can lead to the loss of huge sums and debts.

Internet addiction. The painful need to constantly be online.

Medicinal. Occurs as a result of long-term consumption of medications. Over time, a person takes them all in large doses.

Sexy. Promiscuity leads to the fact that sex becomes the basis of existence.

Binge eating. People suffering from bulimia lose control over their eating. Addiction leads to mental illness and nervous system disorders.

Workaholism. Making money and career growth become a priority in a person’s life.

Each of the unhealthy addictions brings a lot of problems both to the addict himself and to his loved ones. It is often impossible to solve this problem on your own, but there is still a solution.

How to deal with addiction?

A person must show fortitude and determination to end addiction once and for all. In most cases, you have to resort to the help of specialists. Basic human addictions are eliminated using traditional methods:

psychotherapy;

• group therapy;

  drug support.

There are no harmless dependencies.

If a person has any addiction, he is deprived of the opportunity to express own will, so you need to understand that any type of addiction must be fought.

The path to giving up addiction is long and difficult, it takes more than one year. However this the only way gain freedom and true happiness, build harmonious relationships.

habituation) P., or habituation, is a relatively stable decrease in response after continuous or (in most cases) repeated stimulation, which is not accompanied by reinforcement. For some research. P. is an empirical result, while for others it acts as a hypothetical construct, which is determined by the depth and nature of its study. Fatigue, reaction to drugs and drugs, adaptation and damage, although they cause a decrease in reaction, are not covered by this term and are considered completely independent phenomena. However, other terms are also used to denote P.-related phenomena in other contexts. The indicative reaction reveals the typical characteristics of the P phenomenon. When an alien, unidentified noise alarms a wild animal, it usually stops any activity, freezes and, using its senses, examines the surroundings in search of the source of this noise, ready to run away at any second. If nothing else happens and the animal hears only ordinary rustling noises, it interprets this as the absence of danger and soon resumes the interrupted activity. Subsequent similar noises, if they do not have important consequences for the animal, will cause similar, but increasingly weaker and shorter reactions of alertness, perhaps until the final disappearance of the animal. external signs anxiety. This basic reaction or its rudiments can be observed in most biologists. species, up to flatworms, and some researchers claim the existence of P. (habituations) in coelenterates and even protozoa. Most likely, to explain such similarities in the results, it will be necessary to resort to different mechanisms. The second example, although significantly different in some respects, is essentially similar in others. As a result of repeated strong cooling of one finger, a gradual weakening of the pain associated with the cold occurs. Environmental physiologists know this phenomenon as specific habituation, where the response is limited to the affected organ (in this case, the finger). General habituation is a change in physiology. "installations", which leads to a decrease in the response to a repeated stimulus. Acclimatization refers to functional compensation that occurs over several periods. days or weeks in response to a complex of environmental factors, as in the case of seasonal or climatic changes. Acclimatization refers to the same kind of adaptation, but to k.-l. one environmental condition, as in the case of controlled experiments. The habituation of the orienting reaction is the most widely studied type of P., represents the theory. interest because it represents the most primitive type of learning: a sustainable change in behavior in response to acquired experience. TO the most important characteristics P. include the following: a) after a sufficiently long absence of initial stimulation. a strong, but now weakened reaction will again appear in full force (spontaneous recovery); b) the more frequent and regular the stimulation that causes a reaction, the faster P. occurs; c) the stronger the stimulation, the slower the P., although certain near-threshold stimuli may not cause P., and very strong stimuli can cause defensive reactions that differ in their properties from the indicative ones; d) additional stimulation beyond that completely cancels the initial reaction (negative habituation), further prolongs habituation and delays spontaneous recovery; e) addiction can spread (generalize) to other similar stimuli; f) the presentation of another, usually stronger (and sometimes even weaker) stimulus than the one to which the P. occurred, can restore the original reaction (as in the case of “dishabituation”). It was done several times. attempts to shed light on the nature of the neural mechanisms underlying short-term P. According to the model of synaptic depression, sensory input activates small intermediate (interneurons) neurons in the peripheral part of the reticular formation. In turn, they activate those neurons in the central region of the reticular formation, which cause excitation in the cerebral cortex of higher mammals. However, it is first necessary to prove that synaptic depression is possible in principle, and for this purpose it is better to use more primitive animals as a working model. The sea hare (Aplysia) has only a few. easily identifiable ganglia. Research habituations show that repeated stimulation of a single sensory neuron causes a gradual decrease in the amplitude of excitatory potentials in the postsynaptic membrane. In this case, no changes occur in the postsynaptic membrane itself. The weakening of the postsynaptic response is associated with a progressively decreasing number of neurotransmitter (acetylcholine) quanta released by each subsequent action potential into the synaptic cleft. Presumably something similar to the synaptic depression observed in the neural model sea ​​hare, also occurs in the reticular formation of higher animals. E. N. Sokolov proposed a coincidence-mismatch model to explain P. on the assumption that in higher mammals the stimulus causes its own neural representation, which is of a relatively stable nature (being essentially an engram). The neural traces of subsequent stimuli are compared with the engram of the stimulus that caused the initial concentration reaction; if these subsequent stimuli correspond to the previous stimulus, excitation of the reticular formation does not occur and P occurs. In the experiment. works often reveal that the first reaction to an alarming stimulus is not the strongest; the value of the following several. reactions may exceed the value of the first, and only in subsequent trials the strength of the reaction begins to decrease. In addition, it often turns out that a faded reaction can be restored by using another, usually strong, stimulus. Original it was assumed that this dishabituation represents simply the removal of P., but now it is considered as a completely different process - the process of sensitization that underlies the increased response. Accordingly, the response curve is usually complex, showing first a rise and then a decline. Its form is due to the combined effect of sensitization and P. P. begins to dominate after several. stimulation, while sensitization remains at a constant level or decreases. A number of data indicate the existence of neurons, which give only P.'s reaction and - according to some - exhibit noticeable sensitization. See also Accommodation, Adaptation, Fatigue A. Riepell

People are not born drug addicts, they become them, even through negligence. By ignoring the advice of doctors, people can become substance abusers in just a couple of weeks - a time during which some drugs can develop a strong attachment to them.

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What does addiction to a medicine mean, what is it called?

Adaptation to drugs is a phenomenon that is manifested by a decrease in the effects of recurrent effects on the body of medicinal substances and poisons. This is one of the cases of general biological adaptation of a person or animal to external stimuli. This phenomenon occurs in individual cells or organs. All this can occur when various types drug therapy.

If a person himself exposes the body to chemical, biological and medicinal drugs that are not included in the list of narcotic drugs, while consciously abusing them, then this phenomenon is called substance abuse. The influence of substance abuse on the central nervous system, personality changes, social life the same as with drug addiction. The difference lies in the socio-legal factor and medical symptoms.

Drug dependence is a type of substance abuse. It is determined by the abuse of sedatives and sleeping pills. Substance abuse is very difficult to diagnose, as it is similar to many pathologies in the functioning of the whole body.

What drugs are addictive

Many diseases can be overcome by taking medicines, which are available in pharmacies in a wide range and freely available. Often a person prescribes a course of treatment for himself, without thinking about the composition of the medications and the fact that many drugs are addictive. There is drug addiction and non-drug addiction. The second type is more common. Addictive drugs are divided into several groups:

• Laxatives - when used for the purpose of losing weight - Guttalax, Picobax and other irritating laxatives.
• Nasal drops - when used, drug-induced vasomotor rhinitis occurs - Naphthyzin, Galazolin, Otrivin and other vasoconstrictor drugs.
• Antihistamines - almost all of them, among which one of the most common is Suprastin.
• Tranquilizers, sleeping pills and antidepressants - Benzodiazepine, Diazepam, Lorazepam, Alprazolam.
• Analgesics - for example, Nurofen, Spazmalgon, Tramadol.
• Antitussives – Codeine, Codterpine.

Time to get used to medications

There is a slow and fast addiction to medications. The first type occurs when using barbiturates, laxatives, analgesics, antihypertensive drugs, phenamine and many other components. It is caused by increasing doses of medications to achieve the same treatment effects.

Rapid addiction (tachyphylaxis) occurs from the use of drugs that contain serotonin, catecholamine, histamine, oxytocin, vasopressin and angiotensin. Rapid addiction develops based on a decrease in alkaline blood reserves, receptor desensitization, and depletion of norepinephrine reserves.

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