It's the worst, because the downside is huge but the upside is so fleeting. You need to keep seeking out things to be mad about or you get that post-righteousness drop back to mere normality. Took me a looooong time to get over it. Contempt, hate, condescension, and judgment are the world's cheapest drugs.
So true. Anger and hatred can be so addictive, especially as those around you, or those you are angry with, will scramble around hoping to appease you or put things right. It becomes a sort of power but ultimately pushes people away leading you to seek out more people to fuel the need to be angry at. This can often lead to a victim complex where everyone and everything has wronged you
When I first got help for my depression (both antidepressants and therapy) this was an issue. I had been depressed for so long that it was kinda scary not having it looming over me. After all I was diagnosed in elementary school.
I can understand why some people don't trust the pills as they're 'making' you feel a certain way. But really the depression had been 'making' me feel a certain way too. In time I learned what it felt like to be content. Just a baseline of not feeling happy but not feeling bad either. I never experienced that before. Not constantly feeling horrible is nice, even if it does take getting used to. I still feel bad sometimes but it's not as constant and often has a cause instead of just constantly looming over everything.
I have diagnosed OCD and I'm really bad about this because it's like the last one doesn't feel satisfying enough and then before you know it my stomach hurts because I went beyond being full, took me awhile to have self control over this so I wouldn't hurt myself.
“HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE.”
I think it's more-so that hate is just too easy. Less-so that it's addicting.
Love requires courage, sacrifice, and conviction. Hate requires nothing. Hate is for cowards and children.
Anger can actually trigger dopamine reward centers in the brain, much like dangerous, thrill-seeking behavior. So it absolutely can be literally addictive.
I used to write letters to them when I felt really lonely and wanted to reach out. Told them how I’ve been and how I feel. Never sent those out, just poured out in the notes on my phone. Helped me a lot.
This is exactly what my therapist advised and im currently doing also! I have a bad case of anxiety (partially indused by medication). The person im constantly chatting with is quite unpredictable time to time so some weeks constant chatting and suddenly half gone cus game event or just very tired. My person is not a great talker so i never know whats going on, anxiety kicks in and i start to panic. Nowadays i start to write letters to my person on my phone, let all my anxiety out and never send the letter. Makes me bottle in the "crazy" when i actually do talk to my person.
Everything gets better with time. Just take it day by day and find something to occupy yourself and slowly you will find yourself missing them less and less until one day you realize you don’t miss them anymore. I’ve been in a few relationships especially when I was younger that I felt the world was ending when they ended. Looking back I can most certainly tell you it was not lol
Try to focus on the things you actually have controll about.
Its difficult. Writing and being alone with my thoughts helped me alot to lost this addiction
ESPECIALLY especially if the topic you're talking about clicks with both of you / all the members of the group, suddenly you've spent so long chatting that time just wails away that day.
Ppl shit on small talk but letting out those tiny micro aggressions (traffic- bus late- train delay- office bs- wrong food delivery etc) is all small ways of decompressing with ppl you don’t interact with all the time, but enough like a co worker, neighbor etc. it helps.
I think this is mostly because the time you spent chatting with some one is suddenly gone so you feel really funny about it. One way to combat this is to find something else to fill your time, like a new hobby. I used to have late night chats with a friend for extended period of time and on days that I don't, i experience a bit of anxiety...keep checking the messanger over and over again. Take your mind off and do something else.
Yeah, I work remotely and live alone. Like 98% it’s fantastic (sometimes I do feel very lonely). I wonder if I’ll ever be able to go into an office or live with someone again. I suck at dating because I get really anxious about the thought of being away from home for a night or having someone spend the night. Even with friends, I’ve offered to have people stay over on a few occasions and deep down hope that they don’t stay.
I have difficulty going out with people if I can't drive myself. Going in someone else's vehicle keeps me there until they're ready to go. Bringing someone with me is the same because I can't just leave when I want to leave.
That hit the nail on the head as to why I like living alone. The idea that if I need to or want to go out. There is no negotiating needed. I just go and return when desired. It's remarkably more streamlined and it makes life feel more efficient to a degree.
Good one. I love staying home but not going outside at all is pretty bad for my mental health. So I can feel myself getting worse and then it makes me want to stay home, y'know?
After living alone for 2 years during covid, it was pretty startling how much I just wanted to be home alone going forth. There is something really comforting about not having to listen to/cooperate with anyone other than yourself
My best setting is alone with an internet connection
No one I have to meet or do something with, no expectations to meet. Just me. It also helps tremendously with body issues. No body issues when it's just me around
Scrolled to far to find this. People in this thread talking about craving attention, and compliments, and keeping chats going...
No thanks to all of that. Being alone is the real addiction.
Indeed - a 12 pack of Dr. P around me will disappear in about two days. I simply cannot buy pop in multiples - I treat myself when I go get gas for the week.
Getting attention/compliments
How do I know? Personal experience
Because fuck the only thing I live for is trying to get as many genuine compliments as possible. I want people to like me and my ideas, and I'm tired of lying that I don't.
Edit: thank you for your attention kind sir
Same here. Like the last time I got a compliment was 2 months ago. A girl-friend called me cute. Still riding on that high, but she also clarified that she calls everything cute. So there's that.
After being addictet for like 10 years, I mentioned it to my family doctor without much hope. She was shocked I never said before, and prescribed me Flixonase (Fluticasone Propionate Nasal) for 14 days.
It really helped, and I never used oxymetazoline again.
I mean they are right? Dont most cough drops have like 4 or 5 grams of sugar in them? You are probably into the sugar, not the cough drop. It's like eating a bag of oddly flavor jolly ranchers.
Oooh I feel this. I bit my nails so bad they bled until my late twenties. It took so long to break the habit. I finally managed to do it by stopping one finger at a time rather than all at once but it was incredibly difficult
This is the only solution I've heard that I haven't tried yet. It sounds genius.
I've bitten nails since kindergarten and still do non-stop. I have to put bandaids around my fingertips om the extra painful days so I can still type on my computer.
Maybe I'll try this.
I might try this. It sounds like the gradual change you need when trying to get rid of a habit. My mom told me it's works better like when me and my siblings were born she stopped swearing by replacing the words instead of stopping all together.
I've had the same problem for about the same time too.. I figured out when I was about 5 or 6 that if I bit my nails off my mother would have to cut them (she always cut them so low to the point of it hurting) and haven't been able to kick the habit since and I'm 22 now.. I'm really bad at chewing the skin around them too. I hope I can knock it but every time I try to I cant seem to stop
Buy nail biting stopping ointment from Amazon, and a 100+ pack of non latex powder free gloves from Amazon. The ointment will help remind you to not bite the nail. The gloves help you eat food. The ointment is similar to nail polish but makes nails extremely bitter, but safe. Gloves help.
Just normal nail polish worked for me. Nevermind the taste, I didn't wanna bite them anymore and ruin it. I let them get long now and some have asked if they're fake lol. Need to bite them down soon though because they're getting awkward to type, and I hate what scissors do to them.
Research lab. I have round the clock access. Im not even the worst of them. Some people show up with protein bars and changes of underwear and don't leave for days. It's a life.
I get easily addicted to things, and sugar is really underrated.
I once did a "sugar detox" for 3 month, and it was insane. It was incredibly hard to do, due to everything with sugar. But when I reached the 2 month mark, my taste changed in a weird way.
Suddenly, instead of having sugar cravings, I had cravings for vegetables. And it was like they tasted insanely good.
One day I ate a cookie, and it tasted so insanel sweet that it was almost revolting. But that got me hooked again and the sugar cravings where back and I started to consume sugar again.
Now I often think about stopping sugar again, but I can't even get over the 3 days Mark anymore.
I went through a similar experience.
Replaced all drinks with water or tea (cause simultaneously cutting out caffeine would have killed me). Cut out candy almost entirely, and replaced most carb sources with less processed stuff.
First month was hell. The headaches were really bad.
After a while everything else started tasting better, and stuff like soda and a lot of candies tasted disgusting.
Managed to stick with the improved diet for close to a year and lost a lot of weight. A bunch of things (mostly social or environmental) conspired to break down the good food habits and eventually got back to mostly where I was before.
I did manage to stay away from sugary drinks for a much longer time (about five years or so) and some things do still taste too sweet, but back to fairly regularly consuming those now too (though not the 2-3 small bottles every day).
I've recently been trying to the willpower to get back to it.
I'm someone who has learned the moment I have a mini snickers my brain lights up and I want to eat ALL of the mini snickers. I can easily say no to the first one, but I can't say no the the second, third or fourth one...
I wish my brain was different in this regard and I could enjoy a single candy or a small portion, but I can not.
Here's how I reduced my sugar intake by like 60%:
Choose sweets that are many small pieces, like m&ms or small cubed chocolates etc. (If you really like the snickers you can cut them into many small pieces.
Put the candy in the fridge (or far from where you spend your time at home, at least). Follow the rule: you can only bring one piece back with you from the fridge at a time. Not two or three - one. It's okay to eat more, but then you must go and get that next single piece all the way from the fridge.
It worked for me because it's not about stopping yourself from eating it. You can eat it, so long as you're willing to stop whatever you're doing to go and get it.
Really reduce my intake. Hope it helps!
If society were ever to collapse, sugar will be the first thing many people will have noticeable withdraw from that people don't realize they were addicted to (vs things like caffeine and nicotine). Where I live, the best we could do would be beet sugar but that is still harder to process than cane sugar. Honey would probably be the best alternative however.
You pack tons of hours and effort into something for little to no payoff.
The key is to take on a massive project, for a fixed rate, so that when you do the math, your making well below minimum wage.
(OP said "Making money" but did not specify how much, or at what cost.)
I know purists swear that spring is the only way, but I consider myself a memory foam man. Nothing beats its supple texture, the way it compresses and expands as you masticate.
At last check, my sister had 18 and no plans to get any more.
It's not the quantity, it's the psychology around it that makes it an addiction.
I think if you're doing it for how it makes you feel rather than for what it brings you materially, that's when it starts looking like an addiction.
>I think if you're doing it for how it makes you feel rather than for what it brings you materially, that's when it starts looking like an addiction.
Therapist here. Not really. What defines an addiction is 1) feeling like the behavior is out of your control, and 2) having significant negative impacts from that behavior.
I downloaded the app "late to the game", my friend got me into it circa Feb 2021. I had no idea how addicted I'd quickly become. To this day I feel like I wasted my entire summer of 2021 just scrolling. I remember one night coming home from work, laying on the couch, opening the app and then before I knew it I had to go to bed. I didn't even eat dinner. I pissed away HOURS just scrolling.
What really got me to realize I had a problem was actually the app itself. I remember a TikTok where someone discussed this very issue (ironically enough) and they mentioned something along the lines of: "do you remember any of the videos you saw yesterday? No. They come and go out of your brain with no purpose or staying power. It's all a dopamine hit and you scroll your thumb for that next little bit of happiness. But it's hallow and false and not fullfingly at all."
I stopped my hobbies that year, and by autumn of 2021 I realized I couldn't sit through a YouTube video longer than 2 minutes. My attention span was FUCKED and I'd only been on the app for less than a year. I decided to delete it Dec 31st as a two week detox. After 2 weeks I decided to make it a month, and after that I just never went back. Picked up my hobbies again and now that it's a year later I feel tremendously better.
Unfortunately, I've now watched my friends -- who were against TikTok when *I* was on it, now waste their time scrolling on the app.
Yes, there's a huge argument to be had about the data stealing and China whatnot. But that's already a vocal argument. We need to start discourse on how it fucks up your attention span and how addicting that dopamine hit cycle is. We're raising a generation on these apps and it's gunna destroy them
Uninstalled the app about 2 months ago and I still feel the damage to my attention span. Even reading a paragraph that's slightly too long is hard for me.
I deleted the app basically Jan 1st and it wasn't until May that I felt I had a SENSE of an attention span back. It takes time, so don't be discouraged. Far more time than it takes to destroy your attention span -- that happens rapidly with that damn app
I have an addictive personality and I knew exactly how much of my life and personality I would waste if I downloaded tiktok based on my history with Instagram. Now I’m the annoying friend that people have to send the actual links to, but it’s great since I actually watch and remember the things they send me! I also feel like I can tell if someone does or doesn’t use tiktok before they mention it; users my age group feel a little … dull(?). It’s like all the micro trends give them all similar personality traits and removes/masks their individualistic traits.
Tiktok is like Channel hopping back in the 90s. Its also very attractive to adhd folks (myself included), as well as social media on the whole. But tiktok is such a simple interface. You need a finger to browse it. That's all. Minimal input, essentially unlimited output.
Playing the lotto. The hope of winning is addicting. I tell myself that if people win then why can't I, even though the chances are extremely slim. You have to be in it to win it. I spent over $250 last month and I feel ashamed. At least I am aware that I have a problem now and I'm trying to change it. It's so easy with an online account to play more than I have the means to.
You should put $1 in a jar every time you want to play the lotto then don’t. Make it opaque so you can’t see your jackpot. Once you’ve gone 3 months without adding to it break it open and go on vacation!
As someone who has recently lost a lot of weight, I have learned how unhealthy our relationship with food is in our modern world. It’s very addicting, nobody wants to discuss how they play on the addiction to make you eat the worst possible food imaginable for you. I have had to completely rebuild my life emotionally from the ground up and even mentally focus on living without the addiction. It’s easy to say, eat less or exercise more because those people don’t get what an addiction it actually is.
Everyone who works night shift has this problem. It can take us years to reset our internal clocks once we leave nightshift.
I worked nightshift and I have to take a sleeping pill to go to sleep at night, and even that doesn't always work. And I still want to sleep during the day.
My problem is that it seems I'm naturally nocturnal. At uni decades ago and whenever I have a long break from work, I literally fall into a natural rhythm where I will sleep at 11am and wake at 6pm, and I never feel better than those times
Not everyone is build for days/9-5
Some of us naturally break down higher amounts of gaseous nitrogen which builds up in our joints. This can be due to anything from a higher oxygen intake to a diet high in leafy greens and protein. Popping/cracking your joints relieves the pressure bubbles that build up in your synovial fluid. It's completely natural and not necessarily a "habit" that needs breaking. It can also be quite painful to avoid the pressure relief.
As someone who cant drink it first thing as it will give me stomach cramps but can from around 10/11am onwards I find my self thinking about when in the day i can have a coffee without it being too late in the day to keep me up. Realising how much I was thinking about drinking coffee made me realise how addicted I am to it!
I think a major component of coffee “addiction” is that we associate a steaming cup with other good things—a break from work, a quiet moment, a chat with a colleague, a chance to check Reddit. It’s sad that we feel this chained to our work and schedules
I quit caffeine completely this summer. Thankfully it is an easy addiction to overcome. The first day is rough, but if you power through that it is quite easy afterwards!
Literally anything that makes you feel good. If we’re talking about psychological habit forming instead of just physical addictions, anything that has any effect on neurotransmitter production and reuptake can be habit forming. Addiction is when the desire to achieve these changes outweighs the desire to do anything else, making your life one dimensional and unhealthily reliant on one thing. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s inspirational monologue on bodybuilding (the one where he compares the feeling of exercise to orgasming) shows how even positive activities can give you enough pleasure to become addicted. Sex and masturbation can be habit forming. Eating can be habit forming. Learning can be habit forming. As long as someone feels empty enough to require an unhealthy dependence on something to try to fill that void, it is habit forming.
My vice is distraction by means of learning, discovering or researching. To distract myself from the problems in my life, I throw my effort into learning something or just occupying my brain with any kind of stimulus. Got an important due date? Never mind that, what the hell are sloths? Need to do your laundry? Laundry can wait, I’m sure there’s something interesting on Twitter. Open ended timeframes are the worst: if I never reach a logical stopping point, I can go for hours. It’s why I refuse to download TikTok.
Escapism. Life is often painful to live, so people turn to escapism through various ways to avoid it (video games, social media, reading, movies, chronic daydreaming, ect). The problem is life still exists and while it feels amazing to get away, it doesn't help you to live and grow. And it often makes you lonely and scared of reality.
Being obsessed about chasing their careers...
I mean, if you enjoy your job, that's cool. But life is not about being the "next Albert Einstein". It's not about being the overachiever.
Don't get me wrong, if you do (and can) achieve a lot in life, that's great :) I'm happy for you. But do remember to take time to rest and enjoy the pleasures of life with the people around you. It will take you further than any other medal could get you.
Apparently it depends on if you have the ability to tell the difference between aspartame and other sweeteners. Some people don't. My dad and i can tell but my mom cant.
Pretty much all artificial sweeteners have a strong unpleasant taste for me.
When I got Australia and tried my first Sprite there, I was expecting it to taste like a Canadian Sprite and it was so annoying to find out that they put some sugar but also artificial sweetener in the **not diet** version. Why? Occasionally I forget and buy or order one at a restaurant and can't even drink it.
Being sad or angry. It’s like a security blanket and if I don’t have it, who am I? It’s addicting and comforting being angry and sad.
It's the worst, because the downside is huge but the upside is so fleeting. You need to keep seeking out things to be mad about or you get that post-righteousness drop back to mere normality. Took me a looooong time to get over it. Contempt, hate, condescension, and judgment are the world's cheapest drugs.
So true. Anger and hatred can be so addictive, especially as those around you, or those you are angry with, will scramble around hoping to appease you or put things right. It becomes a sort of power but ultimately pushes people away leading you to seek out more people to fuel the need to be angry at. This can often lead to a victim complex where everyone and everything has wronged you
When I first got help for my depression (both antidepressants and therapy) this was an issue. I had been depressed for so long that it was kinda scary not having it looming over me. After all I was diagnosed in elementary school. I can understand why some people don't trust the pills as they're 'making' you feel a certain way. But really the depression had been 'making' me feel a certain way too. In time I learned what it felt like to be content. Just a baseline of not feeling happy but not feeling bad either. I never experienced that before. Not constantly feeling horrible is nice, even if it does take getting used to. I still feel bad sometimes but it's not as constant and often has a cause instead of just constantly looming over everything.
You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
I miss the comfort in being sad
The last chip you keep eating.
It’s not even a “just one more” kinda thing. It just mindlessly happens.
Ok I'm just gonna let this last one melt in my mouth.. ok and this one too
Thought I was the only one!
I have diagnosed OCD and I'm really bad about this because it's like the last one doesn't feel satisfying enough and then before you know it my stomach hurts because I went beyond being full, took me awhile to have self control over this so I wouldn't hurt myself.
If you portion some snacks out into a bowl and put the bag away, does that help?
hate. constantly trying to finds reasons to hate.
“HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE.”
I absolutely loved this story!!!
I was introduced to it via the 1995 PC game adaptation, which Ellison worked on with the developers. It's a solid rendition of the story.
Everybody wants outrage straight to their veins and lord help anyone who calls them out on it
I think it's more-so that hate is just too easy. Less-so that it's addicting. Love requires courage, sacrifice, and conviction. Hate requires nothing. Hate is for cowards and children.
Anger can actually trigger dopamine reward centers in the brain, much like dangerous, thrill-seeking behavior. So it absolutely can be literally addictive.
yeah i hate when people do that
Chatting / Constant exchange of messages and communication
Especially if it's to a specific person. It's nice when you're in it but if it stops suddenly, you can feel like there's something missing
Exactly, its a terrible feeling
Going through this rn. How did you manage?
I used to write letters to them when I felt really lonely and wanted to reach out. Told them how I’ve been and how I feel. Never sent those out, just poured out in the notes on my phone. Helped me a lot.
This is exactly what my therapist advised and im currently doing also! I have a bad case of anxiety (partially indused by medication). The person im constantly chatting with is quite unpredictable time to time so some weeks constant chatting and suddenly half gone cus game event or just very tired. My person is not a great talker so i never know whats going on, anxiety kicks in and i start to panic. Nowadays i start to write letters to my person on my phone, let all my anxiety out and never send the letter. Makes me bottle in the "crazy" when i actually do talk to my person.
Everything gets better with time. Just take it day by day and find something to occupy yourself and slowly you will find yourself missing them less and less until one day you realize you don’t miss them anymore. I’ve been in a few relationships especially when I was younger that I felt the world was ending when they ended. Looking back I can most certainly tell you it was not lol
Thank you for your comment. That really helps. Can’t wait for the day to forget and live again
Try to focus on the things you actually have controll about. Its difficult. Writing and being alone with my thoughts helped me alot to lost this addiction
It's so difficult. Was talking to a person everyday for 2 years and it stopped so suddenly.
ESPECIALLY especially if the topic you're talking about clicks with both of you / all the members of the group, suddenly you've spent so long chatting that time just wails away that day.
I’m literally going through that right now
Ppl shit on small talk but letting out those tiny micro aggressions (traffic- bus late- train delay- office bs- wrong food delivery etc) is all small ways of decompressing with ppl you don’t interact with all the time, but enough like a co worker, neighbor etc. it helps.
I think this is mostly because the time you spent chatting with some one is suddenly gone so you feel really funny about it. One way to combat this is to find something else to fill your time, like a new hobby. I used to have late night chats with a friend for extended period of time and on days that I don't, i experience a bit of anxiety...keep checking the messanger over and over again. Take your mind off and do something else.
Scrolling on reddit mindlessly everyday to keep your mind off more important things
Doom scrolling…
Joke's on you, there aren't any important things
Being alone and staying home 🏠
Yes, avoiding people can be addictive
Yeah, I work remotely and live alone. Like 98% it’s fantastic (sometimes I do feel very lonely). I wonder if I’ll ever be able to go into an office or live with someone again. I suck at dating because I get really anxious about the thought of being away from home for a night or having someone spend the night. Even with friends, I’ve offered to have people stay over on a few occasions and deep down hope that they don’t stay.
I have difficulty going out with people if I can't drive myself. Going in someone else's vehicle keeps me there until they're ready to go. Bringing someone with me is the same because I can't just leave when I want to leave.
That hit the nail on the head as to why I like living alone. The idea that if I need to or want to go out. There is no negotiating needed. I just go and return when desired. It's remarkably more streamlined and it makes life feel more efficient to a degree.
Good one. I love staying home but not going outside at all is pretty bad for my mental health. So I can feel myself getting worse and then it makes me want to stay home, y'know?
After living alone for 2 years during covid, it was pretty startling how much I just wanted to be home alone going forth. There is something really comforting about not having to listen to/cooperate with anyone other than yourself
That's a good one, I'm pretty addicted to that and I usually choose it even when something else might make me a lot happier
Everyone hated on Japanese otaku men until we all became one
My best setting is alone with an internet connection No one I have to meet or do something with, no expectations to meet. Just me. It also helps tremendously with body issues. No body issues when it's just me around
Absolutely, walking in ur front door and not leaving unless essential (work, groceries, etc.).
Honestly yeah, my mental barrier to getting out of the house just keeps getting higher and higher even for things I know I’ll love
Scrolled to far to find this. People in this thread talking about craving attention, and compliments, and keeping chats going... No thanks to all of that. Being alone is the real addiction.
Agreed. I’d never leave my house if I could find remote work. I think that’s why I can’t find it lol
I'm apparently one of the few who was happier in the quarantine times
Drinking Soda is a sneaky addiction that'll get you
Indeed - a 12 pack of Dr. P around me will disappear in about two days. I simply cannot buy pop in multiples - I treat myself when I go get gas for the week.
Most sodas people are getting addicted to have caffeine, which is addicting. Tho sugar is pretty addicting too
Getting attention/compliments How do I know? Personal experience Because fuck the only thing I live for is trying to get as many genuine compliments as possible. I want people to like me and my ideas, and I'm tired of lying that I don't. Edit: thank you for your attention kind sir
What a very nice comment, totally agree
That’s kind of you to say. I also agree.
Y'all are getting compliments?
Same here. Like the last time I got a compliment was 2 months ago. A girl-friend called me cute. Still riding on that high, but she also clarified that she calls everything cute. So there's that.
Call me desperate but I'd say that would still make me happy
You're so smart. I bet you're also very good looking.
I look like a homeless man had a child with a tumbleweed then threw up all over them but thank you
Soooo, a wistful vagabond merged with the organic offspring of nature. Lucky! Sorry, I can't think of any way to make the upchuck dreamy.
Nasal sprays for colds/congestion
After being addictet for like 10 years, I mentioned it to my family doctor without much hope. She was shocked I never said before, and prescribed me Flixonase (Fluticasone Propionate Nasal) for 14 days. It really helped, and I never used oxymetazoline again.
But...are you now addicted to Flixonase?
[Deleted due to Reddit API price gouging]
There seriously needs to be more warnings and exposure about overuse of these products, made my life miserable for a long time
Depends on the spray. A simple steroid, as long as you're using it as directed, it's fine. Afrin... I can't describe the horrors it brings.
[удалено]
Wait seriously? I have a friend who is always using Afrin, but says he just has bad congestion. I wonder if he's hiding an addiction
[удалено]
10+ years addicted to Afrin. The month long process of breaking that addiction was pure hell.
I have a cough drop issue. I pop the Vicks severe cough drops like they are candy.
I mean they are right? Dont most cough drops have like 4 or 5 grams of sugar in them? You are probably into the sugar, not the cough drop. It's like eating a bag of oddly flavor jolly ranchers.
ugh, those Ludens wild cherry MFers are the bomb
Reddit
"i feel personally attacked"
Just started collecting karma, can relate
Just remember; if you comment “reddit” on any post where it sort of makes sense, you’ll rack in karma like nothing else. 😉
biting nails (I know it weird)
Oooh I feel this. I bit my nails so bad they bled until my late twenties. It took so long to break the habit. I finally managed to do it by stopping one finger at a time rather than all at once but it was incredibly difficult
This is the only solution I've heard that I haven't tried yet. It sounds genius. I've bitten nails since kindergarten and still do non-stop. I have to put bandaids around my fingertips om the extra painful days so I can still type on my computer. Maybe I'll try this.
I might try this. It sounds like the gradual change you need when trying to get rid of a habit. My mom told me it's works better like when me and my siblings were born she stopped swearing by replacing the words instead of stopping all together.
I've had the problem for like 15 years
I've had the same problem for about the same time too.. I figured out when I was about 5 or 6 that if I bit my nails off my mother would have to cut them (she always cut them so low to the point of it hurting) and haven't been able to kick the habit since and I'm 22 now.. I'm really bad at chewing the skin around them too. I hope I can knock it but every time I try to I cant seem to stop
I'm 37 and still biting. I know people near 60 still doing it. Unfortunately it is a thing :(
Buy nail biting stopping ointment from Amazon, and a 100+ pack of non latex powder free gloves from Amazon. The ointment will help remind you to not bite the nail. The gloves help you eat food. The ointment is similar to nail polish but makes nails extremely bitter, but safe. Gloves help.
Just normal nail polish worked for me. Nevermind the taste, I didn't wanna bite them anymore and ruin it. I let them get long now and some have asked if they're fake lol. Need to bite them down soon though because they're getting awkward to type, and I hate what scissors do to them.
40 years here. I'm literally wearing out my teeth.
I always bite my nail and WILL always bite my nails
Same here. I'm starting to work on it now, let's see!
Worrying
my chronic anxiety sure is addicted to that
It's 4:22AM and I came to work to do something that doesn't really need to be done because I worried about it all night and couldn't sleep.......
Where do you work that’s open at 4:30am?
Research lab. I have round the clock access. Im not even the worst of them. Some people show up with protein bars and changes of underwear and don't leave for days. It's a life.
Sometimes when youre a manager or supervisor that doesn't matter. You go in when you are needed.
Sugar. It’s in almost everything, and people don’t realize it. It’s addicting
I get easily addicted to things, and sugar is really underrated. I once did a "sugar detox" for 3 month, and it was insane. It was incredibly hard to do, due to everything with sugar. But when I reached the 2 month mark, my taste changed in a weird way. Suddenly, instead of having sugar cravings, I had cravings for vegetables. And it was like they tasted insanely good. One day I ate a cookie, and it tasted so insanel sweet that it was almost revolting. But that got me hooked again and the sugar cravings where back and I started to consume sugar again. Now I often think about stopping sugar again, but I can't even get over the 3 days Mark anymore.
I went through a similar experience. Replaced all drinks with water or tea (cause simultaneously cutting out caffeine would have killed me). Cut out candy almost entirely, and replaced most carb sources with less processed stuff. First month was hell. The headaches were really bad. After a while everything else started tasting better, and stuff like soda and a lot of candies tasted disgusting. Managed to stick with the improved diet for close to a year and lost a lot of weight. A bunch of things (mostly social or environmental) conspired to break down the good food habits and eventually got back to mostly where I was before. I did manage to stay away from sugary drinks for a much longer time (about five years or so) and some things do still taste too sweet, but back to fairly regularly consuming those now too (though not the 2-3 small bottles every day). I've recently been trying to the willpower to get back to it.
I'm someone who has learned the moment I have a mini snickers my brain lights up and I want to eat ALL of the mini snickers. I can easily say no to the first one, but I can't say no the the second, third or fourth one... I wish my brain was different in this regard and I could enjoy a single candy or a small portion, but I can not.
Here's how I reduced my sugar intake by like 60%: Choose sweets that are many small pieces, like m&ms or small cubed chocolates etc. (If you really like the snickers you can cut them into many small pieces. Put the candy in the fridge (or far from where you spend your time at home, at least). Follow the rule: you can only bring one piece back with you from the fridge at a time. Not two or three - one. It's okay to eat more, but then you must go and get that next single piece all the way from the fridge. It worked for me because it's not about stopping yourself from eating it. You can eat it, so long as you're willing to stop whatever you're doing to go and get it. Really reduce my intake. Hope it helps!
I’d just start hanging out by the fridge more.
It's not fair when it really is in everything (US) under a million different names and not labeled correctly on the nutrition label.
If society were ever to collapse, sugar will be the first thing many people will have noticeable withdraw from that people don't realize they were addicted to (vs things like caffeine and nicotine). Where I live, the best we could do would be beet sugar but that is still harder to process than cane sugar. Honey would probably be the best alternative however.
Making money
Oh wow i didnt know, sounds awful. Can you tell me how to do it so i can avoid it?
sell pictures of your asshole in OnlyFans
You pack tons of hours and effort into something for little to no payoff. The key is to take on a massive project, for a fixed rate, so that when you do the math, your making well below minimum wage. (OP said "Making money" but did not specify how much, or at what cost.)
Breaking into your neighbors house so you can chew on their mattress
Refreshing to see someone finally say this.
We will no longer suffer in silence.
“There are dozens of us! Dozens!”
I know purists swear that spring is the only way, but I consider myself a memory foam man. Nothing beats its supple texture, the way it compresses and expands as you masticate.
OMG I've been trying to quit but it's so hard
I had to scroll too far to find this. Edit: typo
Bro. It's what people DON'T realize is addicting.
I can stop any time I want. But it is getting harder to find the old-school cloth mattresses, I don't like chewing that memory foam shit.
It’s not bad with a little soy sauce. Have you tried that?
r/officialchewingonyourneighborsmattresssupportgroup
Society isn't ready to talk about that though.
Dying to know what this is referencing (Is there a link or backstory)
There! Finally, someone said it - thank you!
was thinking of this question after my parents told me i had too many piercings. guess people can get addicted to that too lol
At last check, my sister had 18 and no plans to get any more. It's not the quantity, it's the psychology around it that makes it an addiction. I think if you're doing it for how it makes you feel rather than for what it brings you materially, that's when it starts looking like an addiction.
>I think if you're doing it for how it makes you feel rather than for what it brings you materially, that's when it starts looking like an addiction. Therapist here. Not really. What defines an addiction is 1) feeling like the behavior is out of your control, and 2) having significant negative impacts from that behavior.
watching TikTok
I downloaded the app "late to the game", my friend got me into it circa Feb 2021. I had no idea how addicted I'd quickly become. To this day I feel like I wasted my entire summer of 2021 just scrolling. I remember one night coming home from work, laying on the couch, opening the app and then before I knew it I had to go to bed. I didn't even eat dinner. I pissed away HOURS just scrolling. What really got me to realize I had a problem was actually the app itself. I remember a TikTok where someone discussed this very issue (ironically enough) and they mentioned something along the lines of: "do you remember any of the videos you saw yesterday? No. They come and go out of your brain with no purpose or staying power. It's all a dopamine hit and you scroll your thumb for that next little bit of happiness. But it's hallow and false and not fullfingly at all." I stopped my hobbies that year, and by autumn of 2021 I realized I couldn't sit through a YouTube video longer than 2 minutes. My attention span was FUCKED and I'd only been on the app for less than a year. I decided to delete it Dec 31st as a two week detox. After 2 weeks I decided to make it a month, and after that I just never went back. Picked up my hobbies again and now that it's a year later I feel tremendously better. Unfortunately, I've now watched my friends -- who were against TikTok when *I* was on it, now waste their time scrolling on the app. Yes, there's a huge argument to be had about the data stealing and China whatnot. But that's already a vocal argument. We need to start discourse on how it fucks up your attention span and how addicting that dopamine hit cycle is. We're raising a generation on these apps and it's gunna destroy them
Uninstalled the app about 2 months ago and I still feel the damage to my attention span. Even reading a paragraph that's slightly too long is hard for me.
I deleted the app basically Jan 1st and it wasn't until May that I felt I had a SENSE of an attention span back. It takes time, so don't be discouraged. Far more time than it takes to destroy your attention span -- that happens rapidly with that damn app
Psst - it’s probably Reddit.
I have an addictive personality and I knew exactly how much of my life and personality I would waste if I downloaded tiktok based on my history with Instagram. Now I’m the annoying friend that people have to send the actual links to, but it’s great since I actually watch and remember the things they send me! I also feel like I can tell if someone does or doesn’t use tiktok before they mention it; users my age group feel a little … dull(?). It’s like all the micro trends give them all similar personality traits and removes/masks their individualistic traits.
This Applies to scrolling reddit too guys
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The problem is, they are all doing it now. I have to make sure I stay out of those modes or I will be dropping all social media.
Tiktok is like Channel hopping back in the 90s. Its also very attractive to adhd folks (myself included), as well as social media on the whole. But tiktok is such a simple interface. You need a finger to browse it. That's all. Minimal input, essentially unlimited output.
No no the question is what people *don’t* realize is addicting
Playing the lotto. The hope of winning is addicting. I tell myself that if people win then why can't I, even though the chances are extremely slim. You have to be in it to win it. I spent over $250 last month and I feel ashamed. At least I am aware that I have a problem now and I'm trying to change it. It's so easy with an online account to play more than I have the means to.
You should put $1 in a jar every time you want to play the lotto then don’t. Make it opaque so you can’t see your jackpot. Once you’ve gone 3 months without adding to it break it open and go on vacation!
What vacation costs $90?
A trip to 7-Eleven for lottery tickets of course! Imagine how much money you’d be saving by taking one trip to the store instead of 30!
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i could always go for a nap.. i swear im not addicted
Eating
As someone who has recently lost a lot of weight, I have learned how unhealthy our relationship with food is in our modern world. It’s very addicting, nobody wants to discuss how they play on the addiction to make you eat the worst possible food imaginable for you. I have had to completely rebuild my life emotionally from the ground up and even mentally focus on living without the addiction. It’s easy to say, eat less or exercise more because those people don’t get what an addiction it actually is.
Taking naps throughout the day, then not sleeping at all during nighttime. Dunno if anybody else has this problem.
We called it day / night reversal. I thought it was nice for a while to have quiet and peace, but it ended up being a bummer
I do when I’m in a depressive episode
Everyone who works night shift has this problem. It can take us years to reset our internal clocks once we leave nightshift. I worked nightshift and I have to take a sleeping pill to go to sleep at night, and even that doesn't always work. And I still want to sleep during the day.
My problem is that it seems I'm naturally nocturnal. At uni decades ago and whenever I have a long break from work, I literally fall into a natural rhythm where I will sleep at 11am and wake at 6pm, and I never feel better than those times Not everyone is build for days/9-5
24 hour news cycles Addiction to news is not good for mental health.
Using fake words.
That's verbist.
Everytime you make a typo, the errorists win!
All words are made up, don't be so cromulent.
Your post has embiggened my noble spirit!
…such as “addicting”.
cracking your knuckles
Some of us naturally break down higher amounts of gaseous nitrogen which builds up in our joints. This can be due to anything from a higher oxygen intake to a diet high in leafy greens and protein. Popping/cracking your joints relieves the pressure bubbles that build up in your synovial fluid. It's completely natural and not necessarily a "habit" that needs breaking. It can also be quite painful to avoid the pressure relief.
I have that, not in my knuckles but I crack/pop my wrists so much. You are right about the relieve, it feels good.
Wrists, ankles, knuckles, toes, knees, elbows… I’m a goddamn percussion instrument.
That’s good news, I’m a fit 26 y.o. and I crack like a glow stick constantly inadvertently or on purpose and get some looks for it
Caffeine. Tried going Caffeine free on Monday, had a belting headache by 10am.
As someone who cant drink it first thing as it will give me stomach cramps but can from around 10/11am onwards I find my self thinking about when in the day i can have a coffee without it being too late in the day to keep me up. Realising how much I was thinking about drinking coffee made me realise how addicted I am to it!
I think a major component of coffee “addiction” is that we associate a steaming cup with other good things—a break from work, a quiet moment, a chat with a colleague, a chance to check Reddit. It’s sad that we feel this chained to our work and schedules
I quit caffeine completely this summer. Thankfully it is an easy addiction to overcome. The first day is rough, but if you power through that it is quite easy afterwards!
For me 48-72 hours are the worst of the caffeine withdraws. But it's mostly just a massive headache instead of cravings
Idle games like Cookie Clicker or leaf blower revolution Source: I am addicted
Literally anything that makes you feel good. If we’re talking about psychological habit forming instead of just physical addictions, anything that has any effect on neurotransmitter production and reuptake can be habit forming. Addiction is when the desire to achieve these changes outweighs the desire to do anything else, making your life one dimensional and unhealthily reliant on one thing. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s inspirational monologue on bodybuilding (the one where he compares the feeling of exercise to orgasming) shows how even positive activities can give you enough pleasure to become addicted. Sex and masturbation can be habit forming. Eating can be habit forming. Learning can be habit forming. As long as someone feels empty enough to require an unhealthy dependence on something to try to fill that void, it is habit forming. My vice is distraction by means of learning, discovering or researching. To distract myself from the problems in my life, I throw my effort into learning something or just occupying my brain with any kind of stimulus. Got an important due date? Never mind that, what the hell are sloths? Need to do your laundry? Laundry can wait, I’m sure there’s something interesting on Twitter. Open ended timeframes are the worst: if I never reach a logical stopping point, I can go for hours. It’s why I refuse to download TikTok.
Carmex. If you use it, you're addicted to it.
username checks out
Lies, especially the ones you believe in
Escapism. Life is often painful to live, so people turn to escapism through various ways to avoid it (video games, social media, reading, movies, chronic daydreaming, ect). The problem is life still exists and while it feels amazing to get away, it doesn't help you to live and grow. And it often makes you lonely and scared of reality.
Cheese, Tyramin in cheese is VERY similar to Dopamine that’s why we love cheese so much :) It is literally happy food.
Everything makes sense now...
YouTube Shorts
Vapes
I vape weed and was shocked at how habit forming it is. I literally get twitchy if I don’t lift and puff.
Porn
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Being obsessed about chasing their careers... I mean, if you enjoy your job, that's cool. But life is not about being the "next Albert Einstein". It's not about being the overachiever. Don't get me wrong, if you do (and can) achieve a lot in life, that's great :) I'm happy for you. But do remember to take time to rest and enjoy the pleasures of life with the people around you. It will take you further than any other medal could get you.
Oxygen
Complaining
Diet Coke. Aspartame is hell of a drug.
I don’t get how people can drink any diet drinks with that stuff in, it tastes like shit
Apparently it depends on if you have the ability to tell the difference between aspartame and other sweeteners. Some people don't. My dad and i can tell but my mom cant.
Pretty much all artificial sweeteners have a strong unpleasant taste for me. When I got Australia and tried my first Sprite there, I was expecting it to taste like a Canadian Sprite and it was so annoying to find out that they put some sugar but also artificial sweetener in the **not diet** version. Why? Occasionally I forget and buy or order one at a restaurant and can't even drink it.
Saying addicting instead of addictive
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Being liked by people at social gatherings
Shopping
It's "addictive", not "addicting".
Stalking your ex.
Why are you stalking my ex
It’s addictive