What is it that you enjoy? Do you think of it often? Do you feel anxious when you can not participate in an activity, take a certain drug, or eat a snack?
5a.m. and even before the first cup of coffee, you hit the button on the computer. The screen's glow lights the dark room, taking what seems to be "forever" for the welcome screen to appear, finally offering the ability to check your email. It seems nothing can bring on anxiety more than waiting for those words, "you've got mail." Could you be addicted?
Is it weakness that brings on addiction? That seems to be the most common reaction by many, it is just a way to escape from responsibility, but in reality it is more complicated than that. Addiction, up until the late 20th century referred almost solely to drug addiction, to include nicotine. Society and medical community used to consider these the only acceptable causes of addiction.
With the development of technology, and how the world affects an individual person, the idea of what is an addiction has expanded, by leaps and bounds. Support groups exist for everything from overeating, sex, crime and gambling.
Contrary to what many believe, anyone can develop an addiction; it does not discriminate between age, race, IQ or social class. Addiction impacts society with many ethical, legal and social issues. Many will tell you that if you use drugs during your teens, or in some cases even younger, there is a greater chance you will become addicted throughout your life.
What many find hard to believe is that addiction is not a class problem, those in all economic classes are susceptible to addiction. Is that really possible? Of course - how many movie stars are addicts? One would think, "Well, they have everything, why do they need to turn to drugs?" "Their life is perfect, what do they have to be miserable about?" While this is true, the reality is - they are sometimes some of the most miserable people, living their lives in a "fish bowl," drugs and alcohol are a way to make it "go away," takes away the anxiety and frustration.
Each of these reasons are common knowledge and somewhat acceptable to society, but there is an addiction that many find difficult to accept or believe, the idea of addiction when it comes to mental illness and technology. In the case of mental illness, doctors are challenged to treat two separate brain disorders, with one increasing the severity of the other. Take the case of someone who suffers from severe depression, medication and therapy do not seem to alleviate the symptoms, so they turn to drugs and alcohol to replace the "good feeling" they are missing. In the same way, technology has brought on a whole new addiction problem, which can coincide with mental illness. For many the idea of living with a mental illness keeps them from being active in society, so they turn to the "virtual world." Turning on the computer opens up access to a larger world and the ability to find someone who feels the same, to can relate to you and accept you for who you are, all things which are difficult to find in "real world" scenarios.
Is it possible that we, as a society, can cause addictions in others? Think about it.
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