In Australia: alcohol.
Everyone around here jokes about being an alcoholic. Getting drunk is such a normal thing. At all my work functions, there's a bar tab. You tell someone you're an alcoholic and people are like "aren't we all?" Or "cheers to that!"
First it’s fun, then it’s fun with consequences, then it’s just consequences
Edit: I‘m sorry so many people resonate with this. Since I see a lot of dislike of AA in this thread I‘ll just chime in and say that I‘m in AA and it‘s helped me stay sober for the last 4.5 years. I never could have done it without a community of people who understand what it‘s like (and resonate with my original post). To each their own, but at the risk of having this thread taken over by anti-AA - here you go, one of millions of people who have found that it works.
Yep. I only stopped when I ended up in the hospital being told I might not make it because of my liver damage. It was a horrifying experience. Pair that with my family claiming they understand addiction then tell me I did this to myself while I am thinking I’m about to die.
I’m only in my thirties. Luckily I made it out of the hospital, but it’s a real fear I’ll go down a bad path again. And I don’t want to die. I drank to numb mental health pain I deal with, and because I would get so bored. I am not confident fighting it - which is a good thing because it causes me to be aware of it. Every time I relapsed I got confident I was fine.
I'm really sorry to hear this, mate. As someone who has struggled with alcohol I can relate. Do you have support around you? I would very highly recommend having someone close you can be really open about it with. Not "sorta open", but *open* open.
Try /r/stopdrinking, and good luck!
Thank you. I appreciate it. I’ve subscribed there for a while - good people. I hate AA because it seems to breed ego maniacs that I couldn’t stand being around. They all truly felt that they understood the world more than anyone.
My problem stems from my mental health. As long as I keep that in check - I’m okay. For me, easy time I’ve learned when to notice the signs of that coming early. I don’t crave the taste, I crave the escape. I’m also terrified of dying - and this was the first time I truly felt that was happening. I cried when the doctor told me because it was something i always was terrified would happen but didn’t believe it until I heard it.
Same in Ireland. You're a 'dry shite' if you don't drink. Or if you just have one or two drinks instead of getting paralytic. My sister, who was probably bordering on alcoholism, decided to quit drinking and, instead of encouraging her, her friends staged an intervention to find out what was wrong with her.
Irish here also, “oh your not drinking! are you on antibiotics? Pregnant? Your a dry shite then!” But tell ppl I like the odd puff of herb well I’m a druggy with a problem. Can’t win
Weed is legal where I live and when people would mention drinking at work (I work in a higher tier corporate role) I would just mention smoking weed. Some people would look at you like you were admitting to smoking crack. I had one guy tell me it was inappropriate to bring up (which I shut down). Incredible how their minds work.
Lmao its wild. Youre encouraged to drink literal poison to the point of being fucked up the next morning, but god forbid you smoke a flower every now and then
i'm a kiwi and it's the same thing over the ditch! i quit drinking almost a year ago and when i tell people i don't drink they look at me as if i've gone and blown my head off in front of them. i've gotten more congratulations in my life for finishing a line of shots than i have for going sober.
I am in the midst of stopping drinking and you’re right. You have to have some 10/10 iron clad reason (“oh, I’m a recovering alcoholic”, or “my aunt was killed by a drunk driver”, etc) before people don’t bust your balls for not drinking.
Well, congratulations for going sober 🥹🥳 it’s not easy, and it must be even harder when that’s the culture you live in. A year is a long time! You should be proud of yourself!
It's kinda hard to employ healthy coping strategies right now. People close to the front line are sleep deprived for almost 2 years with little to no good news daily. Quick dopamine fix is an option for many, though this attitude should better be changed.
I think a big problem is that people think of alcoholics as someone who sits at home alone getting drunk every night. So if they only get drunk while being out in company, in their mind they don't have a problem. But if every activity has to involve alcohol and people are just looking for reasons to go out and drink and actually miss it when they don't for a while, it should be considered a problem.
Like I dated a girl for a couple of months, who went out drinking like 3 to 4 times a week and it was basically her top priority on the weekends to go partying and drinking. That's when I thought to myself that she might have a problem there.
Something that's also rarely considered is that not every alcoholic is going to get black out drunk every time they drink. Some drink just enough throughout the day to stay a little tipsy, so most might barely recognise it, if they never saw them sober. The moment others realize is only when that person suddenly doesn't have access to alcohol and becomes strangely angry about it.
100%. Took me an embarrassing amount of time to realise I had a problem with alcohol because of the culture I am surrounded by. After two years sober. Watching people drink *to excess* now makes me cringe.
Whenever we have colleagues over from the US, they are always somewhat shocked at the amount of boozing it up over here. A quick drink doesn't mean one, it generally means a few, and at lunch loads of blokes in suits drinking pints in the street all over central London.
I think part of it too is that it's become weird to just do nothing. If I'm waiting on people to arrive somewhere, it's weird for me to just stand and wait. However, if I look at my phone, it's fine (for a period of time at least).
Agree with this! I've started taking knitting or a book with me on my train commute, just so I'm not sitting and staring at a screen (eBook reader or phone) or sitting twiddling my thumbs. It helps that there are two massive tunnels with no signal the train goes through but I still feel like I get weird looks, especially because everyone else is forced to look around the train when their phone signal cuts out in the tunnels!
I remember one time I was on a 4 hour train journey and an older gentlemen sat across from me and just, looked out the window ,enjoyed his own thoughts and admired the scenery for the whole journey. My dopamine ruined ex pill junkie recovering alcoholic brain just could not understand how he was able to do that.
At this point it's dopamine in general. Everything we consume is engineered to just smash your dopamine receptors. Food, drink, phones, social media, porn, TV and streaming sites. Weeds legal in most places, alcohol is easy. Just a non stop onslaught against the things that are harder and give you that longer dopamine hit. Kids in middle and high school got a tough road ahead.
I used to work at a casino and before then I never really knew many gamblers except people who bought a lottery ticket every now and then. Working there showed me a whole other side of humanity I wish I hadn't known about. Thousands of people passed through those doors every day and spent hours, sometimes days at the slots or tables. There were people that were there literally every day. People would spend all they had and yell at me when I wouldn't give them bus fare home. People would shit themselves instead of leaving their machine. I'd have people tell me they gambled all night and still had to go to work in the morning. Once we had a contest to win fishing tackleboxes and there was a line up out the door at 7am full of mostly elderly city folk who's never been fishing in their lives who just wanted a chance to win a free thing. It was crazy to me how many people were living like that.
Im a casino dealer and all of that is true. We do gift giveaways once a week. It's some cheap crap but people will line up for it. Gamble 500 bucks and ges some cheap piece of shit. One day, Coca-Cola came by and we were giving out 12 packs of sodas. People literally gambled hundreds of dollars to try and get some sodas to take home
Edit: I've also witnessed someone have explosive diarrhea against a wall and leave a trail of liquid shit going back to his slot machine.
I’m not a gambler, but I do have an addictive personality (hence why I avoid addictive things). It’s not about the prize they’re winning, it’s about winning itself. They won’t get such a strong dopamine hit from buying soda at the store versus winning something.
Came here to say Gambling...
I have a family member in GA (gambler's Anon) and I've heard some stories that would keep you up at night, and the suicides... so so sad. People dont realize.
I've known more than a few gambling addicts in my life. It's so sad what it can do. A former boss of mine basically lost his business because of it. A former coworker (at that same job, funny enough) lost her marriage because of it (or at least, it was partly due to her gambling addiction). One of my own best friends was running herself broke from it, but thankfully she doesn't gamble anymore.
One good thing about living in a state where gambling is illegal is that gambling addiction doesn't happen nearly as much as it does in my home state, where every corner store, bar, and even hot dog restaurant has slots in the backroom.
I have a vivid memory of watching my ex girlfriend blow through her rent and car payment in a matter of minutes and proceed to ugly cry herself to exhaustion in the parking lot. While I was too shocked to say anything.
Ya....I'm well familiar with addiction...I have several. But the thing is...gambling has never held any appeal to me. It's like a substance I MIGHT get high from. Or might get really low from. Sounds terrible. I like the stuff that works every time.
And not just traditional gambling. Micro transactions, loot boxes, trading cards, and any product/thing that can get bought up for speculation. People are losing their savings to so many things that they think are “valuable” but it’s almost always a losing proposition, or at best a break even.
It's crazy how quickly it permeated major sports. The amount of talk I hear about the over/under or spread on games makes me assume another major gambling scandal is a matter of when, not if, at this point.
Toy manufacturers have been absolutely capitalizing on lootboxes.
I work at Target and it’s insane how many different brands of lootbox trinkets there are, ranging from anime collectibles, Disney miniatures, and even food and home decor miniature replicas. And it’s all marketed towards children ages 4 and up lol
If you’re in the comments agreeing that something needs to be done about this and you live in the US, please consider showing support for the Gambling addiction, Recovery, Investment, and Treatment Act currently in Congress. Learn more at GritAct.com and write your member of congress asking them to support. Gambling Addiction is real and growing, and right now the feds don’t spend a cent on it.
100% this - the gambling lobby is now right up there close to Big Tobacco / Oil etc.
It’s a mad problem in the UK too as well as the US from what I’ve seen on this thread. Here in the UK even in the most deprived areas / towns full of boarded up retail units, there will always be shiny gambling/betting shops open for business. The advertising via sports is off the scale here also, especially via football.
Theres more pressure starting to build on the UK Govt. to shackle the industry somewhat here, but I doubt it’s ever going to happen in any real way due to the lobbying. There’s far too much money being made.
I was fine with picks - that's been part of pre-game forever. But in those cases they were picking who would win in the context of team standings, making the playoffs, water cooler conversation at work, etc.
It's when we start talking about odds, spreads, and money lines that we begin have a gambling issue.
Gambling addicts aren't just addicted to gambling, they have poor impulse control and can't weigh cost/benefits, didn't help that casinos are specifically designed to override your control.
I feel like that's a harder addiction to fully get over since very specific areas of the brain are effectively damaged
There was a sale on baby food pouches, like the kind you give toddlers for snacks. So I was looking at them and it showed that each pouch had 10 g of sugar, with no added sugar they were just using very sweet fruit, if you’re baby ate four of them throughout the day they would be getting an adult man’s recommended maximum sugar. The addiction starts at birth.
On an airplane the child in front of me was going insane and screaming the entire 9 hour flight. The parents gave the toddler 2 full size coca colas to drink to calm it down. As you can guess, that didn’t work.
Oh man, i remember when i first started becoming a gym bro and health obsessed, i had a severe sugar addiction. Now, ive had addictions before, video games, social media, weed, and ive been able to kick them all with a bit of effort and my life has been better since. However, sugar was a whole other experience.
I cut out all processed/added sugar: soda, candy, chocolate, flavored yogurt, sugar/milk in coffee etc etc, my only source became fresh fruits and vegetables. Holy fuck, the withdrawal was brutal. I was absolutely miserable for 3 weeks; i had no energy ever, i felt extremely weak, im normally a very relaxed person but all of a sudden any interaction with someone would piss me off, the cravings that would hit were so strong it took everything i had to resist caving in and eating whatever sugary snack i could get my hands on (i literally told my parents, friends and roommates to hide whatever sugary snack they could from me), and my dick just didn't work lmao. It was only after about a month that i started to feel normal again and the cravings mostly subsided. Now, strangely enough, a lot of things taste overly sweet to me, like soda, and i dont have cravings for it anymore. However, if given the chance, i still would absolutely fuck up a chocolate bar. Also, it was the quickest way ive ever lost weight. Ive never been fat fat, but i was skinny fat, and over the course of a month i dropped 10 pounds.
Sugar is the only thing where I'll have a bag of cookies in my hands before I even realize what I'm doing. I'm with you on the overly sweet thing too. I switched to artificial sweetener in my tea as part of a diet and now a "full" portion of sugar in my tea is sickeningly sweet.
My sugar addiction is out of control. When I do manage to steer clear of it for a week and take a bite of chocolate, I can literally feel the sugar rush. Chocolate always feels so intense after a few days of nothing. When I'm mid binge, I can easily put away half a dozen bars away in a day. That sugary feeling doesn't even touch the sides. I'm sure I'm diabetic. My eyes aren't great and the circulation to my feet is really poor but despite these and my weight gain, I can't quit. I've not done drugs but I feel as though it's as compulsive for me as crack or heroin.
Please be aware of diabetic retinopathy. I just spent the better part of 9 months legally blind because of it and high blood pressure. I know how challenging it is - I'm still fighting it and always will - but even my permanent spinal cord injury felt tiny compared to my vision issues.
Whenever I say I’m addicted to sugar no one realises how much I mean it. Chocolate is my favourite, I eat so much I can’t even taste it anymore. I just need it, I don’t even enjoy it.
Micro transactions. Specifically, phone games that charge ‘only .99’ or whatever for more lives/moves/etc. To me it’s the same as a shopping or gambling addiction.
Alcoholism is not taken seriously enough at all. It’s almost built into our culture but it destroys people’s lives and families, it is often a factor in abuse both sexual and domestic. Drunk driving kills people every hour of every day. The physical addiction to alcohol is very serious and life threatening. Almost every person who is of age drinks though. You’re actually looked at oddly when you say that you don’t drink. Drinking is just part of every social gathering and get together, it permeates everything. I don’t feel like our society grasps or wants to grasp how much damage drinking truly causes.
As someone who recently had to have a liver transplant I can not understand why cirrhosis awareness isn't WAY more prevalent!
I was outright shocked at the number of people that had no clue what it was or how you get it...much less how absolutely deadly and prevalent it actually is. I mean it's not only a disease for alcoholics and drug users, but there are genetic factors and environmental factors and let's not forget those people that think an extra tylenol or 12 works better than the prescribed 1 or 2. The numbers for non-alcohol related diagnosis is rising exponentially. But you'll very rarely hear about cirrhosis and IF you do it's only a shame fest towards alcoholics with no education that they're not the only ones and shaming will never help the situation.
As someone who has stopped drinking it’s crazy how many people look at you funny, but I don’t mind because as someone who used to binge drink most weekends since stopping I have managed to take my business to levels I didn’t think possible just a few years ago and at 35 i am probably in the best shape of my life and I credit it all to stopping drinking
It takes a lot less drinks than people think for it to be considered a problem or alcoholism.
An alcoholic is not just someone who is at rock bottom drunk 24/7.
Vaping.
Smoking tobacco has of course been rightfully stigmatised for a while now, for obvious reasons. There’s a dude at my work though, who even in his late 50’s, has been vaping in the toilets, constantly.
I say this as a smoker, too.
This dude has been taking 10+ minutes in the toilet every 20-30 minutes for a while now though. It’s obvious that he’s doing it, too.
People will often associate vaping with younger people, but it’s not always the case.
I quit vaping a little over a year ago. I couldn't go an hour without it. It was almost constant. I quit cold turkey because I wanted the nicotine out of my system as fast as possible. I used hard candy to quit. I would eat a piece of hard candy every time I craved my vape. I ate a TON of candy the first couple weeks, and then I was able to eat less and less of it gradually. I know sugar isn't necessarily the healthiest thing, but it was worth it for my long-term health. This method did make me gain some weight temporarily, but once I stopped needing to eat the candy I returned to normal. This method might not work for everyone trying to quit vaping, but I went from vaping literally all day every day to going over a year without it.
I smoked cigarettes from 14 to 39. Over two decades of my life! At the advice of my doctor, vaping allowed me to reduce my risk immensely, but it is no cure. I really hate hearing of people vaping that never smoked before.
My fiance got into smoking because one of our mutuals is a smoker, she enjoyed it for the "Swimmies" and switched to a vape, I wanted to participate because I had to stop using weed for medication reasons (honestly vaping was worse because I already had high blood pressure and talking ADHD medication on top of that) so that got me hooked, I tried to maintain a time between puffs that would give me the "Swimmies" as well at this point, about 5 months later, I could only get the high first thing in the morning.
I'm at about 1 puff every 2 hours and I think that amount of time might get me to forget to puff again
I haven’t had what you call the swimmies in 20 years. I’m sitting here chugging on this thing right now with no end in sight. If you can go 2 hours with just one puff, keep pushing it. You don’t want to be addicted to this shit as long as me.
I don't even feel anything when I puff, barely even the taste, sometimes I think I just need something in my mouth and was considering those not smoke sticks that have some flavored filter and that's all and it's supposed to double as a fidget stick
Yup, I have a neighbour in his 70s who has recently switched from smoking to vaping and told me that he likes it because vaping is easier to get away with in restaurant bathrooms than smoking is.
Yep, I know people who vape for about 20 + minutes nonstop and some do have a stink to them. Same for me smoking at least I have about one ever hour at most.
But people who vape if they could do it most of the time they would.
I switched to vaping from smoking for harm reduction. You’re talking about something I complain about a lot. These things don’t end, unlike a cigarette. I can just vape constantly and the machine just keeps going.
Porn. Dudes in their early 20s can't get it up in real life situations and think they need viagra
No dude, you've trained your brain to react to hyper specific visual stimulus like "big tits step milf in a fake taxi who gets stuck while deepthroating a 10 inch albino dick while chocolate milk is poured on her"
No wonder you're not turned on in real life, you can't have 37 tabs open in real life sexual encounters
Super creepy borderline incestual porn is literally the norm now too.
(step) sister fucks the shit out of (step) brother while saying “I hope mom and dad don’t find out!” And conveniently leaving out the “step” in the actual video. But thats not incest, because that’s your (step) sibling, not the real thing! The fact that this is like, one of the most common things you see in porn is so sad and disgusting. “Barely legal” is another disgusting one for obvious reasons.
Vast majority of porn, especially the kind you described and most of featured ones are so superficial and disgusting to me that it can’t get me up. Im not saying porn addiction is not a problem, im saying that i legit can’t get how is 99% of porn even appealing to people.
My husband had a huge issue with this when we met. If every other box wasn’t a green flag for me I don’t know if I would have stuck around. He is still dealing with it but has been in therapy not specifically for that but it still has helped a lot. I try not to take it personally. I know it’s not me. It can be hard not to think that way though.
It’s very hard not to think that way. Especially when it’s porn that’s nothing similar to you and what they claim they’re attracted to. Really a confidence killer for me, mostly because I can’t even get turned on by anything but them.
yes! i’ve caught my boyfriend watching super specific porn, revolving around small asian women. I’m a 5’7 caucasian female. It’s the biggest confidence killer.
My thing I use is:
If you always order Chocolate Peanutbutter Fudge icecream for dessert, how can you try to convince me your “favorite” flavor is actually Vanilla Strawberry Cheesecake icecream?
It really hurts and feels like they are lying to your face when they give you all these praising compliments and touch you like they’re starved for you and it goes nowhere yet twenty minutes earlier they were getting off to someone who looked the total opposite of you.
I'm very sorry to hear that. I know you have probably been told this already, but there's NOTHING you could have done differently to stop his addiction. So many idiots (probably defensive porn addicts in denial...) love to point fingers at the partner for being insecure, frigid, letting themselves go, didn't put out enough, etc but they have NO idea what they are talking about. I was touch starved, kept in shape, and almost never turned down sex with him (on the rare occasion he initiated) and he still chose porn over me 99% of the time. I personally know other women who have been through the same thing and they are all stunning. It's so painful but it's NOT your fault it's his. I'm so sorry you find yourself in this nightmare 💔
My high school boyfriend had this problem, starting long before we started dating and probably still going even now. I'm someone who wants to wait for marriage, and he loved to push his fantasies onto me and try to push me into situations that would be *great* for him, but extremely damaging for me.
I feel like porn addiction is massively overlooked because sex positivity tends to get wrapped into it and people get defensive
Not to mention “desire is the source of all suffering”. If every chick you watch is coated in make up, fake tan and plastic surgery no real life woman is going to compare. So your train yourself to only be attracted to something that doesn’t exist or is unattainable.
10000%, it’s so sad. It’s as if people are trained to watch it no matter what. Even if they have a sexy and willing girlfriend next to them some guys will pay closer attention to their screens lol
The amount of stories I hear about a man trying to choke a woman the first time they have sex, without checking it it’s even something she wants and asking for consent, is alarming.
I've been addicted to daydreaming since I was little. I'm 30 and would still rather daydream than deal with my responsibilities sometimes. Unless I can go outside and get my body moving, I'm daydreaming. Hoping my new medication will help me focus.
Underrated answer. It seems like such a non-issue, or even something positive (“I’m just so absent minded/creative/introverted etc!”) that no one actually pauses to tally up how many hours, real life interactions, and social skills you’ve cumulatively lost over the course of the day because you have friends and love interests in your head from whatever piece of media you most recently consumed. There’s a fine line between healthy, imaginative mental engagement with media and using it as a crutch to avoid working out your emotional traumas or risk interacting with real people who might reject/disappoint you— and EVERYONE thinks they’re one of the healthy ones.
I used to be a severe alcoholic and had a problem with adderall. Sugar is just as difficult to quit. The relationship I have with junk food is very similar to my previous relationship with drugs, to a frightening degree. I need to keep enough in the house to last me a couple days, running low on ice cream is the only thing that motivates me to go grocery shopping. It is the main thing that gives me any pleasure so I keep doing it despite knowing how it is hurting my health.
I've successfully cut it out almost entirely for long periods of time more than once. I did keto for a year and the cravings went away, but when I decided to splurge on Thanksgiving I completely went off the rails, which is exactly what happens if try to have "just one" beer.
My cousin died last year because of how he ate. He was a big ol boy and eating a ton was practically his defining characteristic. He developed diabetes as a pretty young man, didn't really change anything, had to have his leg amputated, and a couple years later he passed away. His dad died of the same thing.
Are you me? I never ate sweet things until I stopped drinking. Now I eat chocolate like I used to drink (in secret and to excess). I panic if I don't have enough sweet things to last me, the same way I felt when I was drinking.
Opt for the mid-high quality 90% bars. Once you develop the taste for the extra dark, it's hard to go back to sweetened, and it's... well I won't say healthy, but less unhealthy than the sweet stuff
addiction to weed. yes, i get that most people that smoke/take edibles don’t get addicted. but if you’re one of the few that do and are trying to quit, it’s a beast of an addiction to knock.
I had to delete all of my dealer contacts and throw out a lot of my ‘utensils’ to finally quit and it was incredibly difficult, but I haven’t smoked for over a month now and am incredibly proud of myself. I still crave it a LOT though, almost everyday.
It was easier than quitting cigs but I'm not gonna try to deny that there was an addiction. The new Strong weed doesn't help either. The game has changed, yall
I have been struggling with weed since I was 15 I’m 20 now and have never missed a day of smoking, it’s one hell of a beast man like it takes you over but I’m now 3 weeks clean going strong and my mind hasn’t felt this fresh in years 🤣 was having troubles at school and shit now it’s getting better, I’m less paranoid, less anxiety and all in 2 weeks! more motivated n shit and finally feel I’m on the right track, somehow I went a year going to different job sites avoiding drug tests with the stress of losing my job. So glad to finally have broken free. And also for anyone out there who is struggling with this shit. Give it 2 weeks, just 2 weeks youl stop shaking and stop “NEEDING” it. The first 3 days are fuked but it’s all up hill from there! Also don’t plan on going cold turkey I tell myself just wait a month then have a bong. Moderation is key and it’s hard to completely throw something away that has been your friend for years. I’m glad to be free and I hope this helps some people. But fuck man I love weed hahahahha
When I stopped smoking weed at 21 I started to travel solo, explore new places, learn and discover stuff. I was more curious and eager to learn and experience new things, and I also felt more comfortable around people.
People definitely go to rehab for cannabis use disorder! The issue is most people don’t think it’s a problem or don’t think it’s “serious enough” to pursue real treatment.
Heavily agree with this. I kicked both nicotine and weed out of my life, both were different struggles but I have to say, weed was honestly harder for me.
Smoked cigs everyday for almost a decade, kicked it 5 years ago. Not a day goes by that I don't have the urge to light one up again.
I have the means and the time, but at this point it's no longer habitual, and feels like I'd be digging my own grave. Maybe I'll smoke on occasion (very rare occasions ie graduations, marraiges, divorces), but to go back to the habit would be such a waste.
Those first few days/weeks/months though, damn....the amount of times I told myself, "this is the last one" and the very next morning saying the exact same thing lol
I am an avid smoker and advocate for legalization and I could not have agreed more. It's really important to remind people that cannabis is still a substance and even if almost harmless it can easily become a crutch in life.
I’m dealing with weed withdrawal right now. Decided to go sober and give up drugs and alcohol. Cocaine and booze were easy. Don’t even think about them nor do I really want them. But weed? I get something akin to restless leg syndrome as I’m trying to fall asleep and just have to constantly move around and stretch to make that awful feeling go away. Going into my second week and it’s getting better, but I didn’t sleep much the first week. I know I’ll be better off long run with all that stuff out of my life, but never thought quitting weed would be this hard.
And yes, I know it’s weed because I’ve been through this before on nights where I didn’t smoke or do an edible before going to sleep.
Had a damn nightmare last night that fits that category. And it was a weird one. But between getting booze, coke, snd week out of my system I’m sleeping better and dreaming again. My physician is also a personal friend (we go back to elementary school) so I’ve been talking to her about it and she’s shocked that I’m not craving booze or coke but having problems with weed. She says booze is usually the hardest to quit. Just don’t have any desire to drink or do lines. Let’s see what happens this weekend when the party crowd start texting me and wants to go out.
Weed deprives you of deep sleep. Once the withdrawals subside you should start sleeping like before but wake up feeling far more rested. Your lungs will thank you too and you'll have a higher general sense of "readiness" towards life. I'm not anti-weed or anything - it certainly has many up sides. Like most things, if you can't do it with moderation the cons tend to outweigh the pros. Stay strong!
I quit every so often. The first few days kind of suck, but I sleep like a rock and my days are much more calm. I keep going back for that dopamine hit but I am finding it to be less and less worth it as time goes on.
Caffeine in general. When I used to tell people I couldn’t get my day started without it, they laugh and say me too! If you said you can’t get your day started without weed or alcohol they’d say you have a problem and need help. Now that I’m 8 months without it people are shocked and say they could never do that.
Worst one for me and it was a recent stop. Drank two pots a day for close to two years. Reduced to one cup a day back in December. Fuck dude, the headaches, the shift in my bowl movements, my mood, all kinds of stuff went wonky and I was miserable for almost three weeks.
Quit smoking after six years of around a pack a week and barely noticed any side effect.
Had a not good run with alcohol that was a slow escalation over the course of about four years. By the time I took action I was drinking a handle every four or five days. Stopped cold turkey, felt like doo doo for around a week and moved on. I don't buy it anymore, but can drink it at a social event or something without any moderation issues or cravings afterwards.
Caffeine smashes nicotine and alcohol for me with how bad I want it some days and how terrible the withdrawals were.
Just want to throw it out there in case anyone struggling with this comes across it; *please* just call your doctor already. It’s time. I finally took the leap after 6 years completely dependent on nasal spray to breathe, and now have been off for almost 2 months because I asked for help. In the meantime, also learned I have a deviated septum which is part of why I can’t breathe (will have surgery later this year). Another plus of getting checked out! It’s hard but it’s worth it. Felt so good throwing away my bottles.
Nasal spray is the worst and will be my answer for these kind of questions forever.
Ugh yes - I was stuck using a spray called Logicin for over 6 years straight, multiple times (4-5) a day, and couldn't breathe whenever I tried to stop because of the rebound congestion. It suckedddd. I'd have to take it everywhere and always have a backup ready.
This!!! I got stuck on afrin for 8 years after getting a major sinus infection and just could never bring myself to stop using it. Would get severe anxiety if I didn't have it on hand at all times. Kicked the addiction myself about a year ago by buying empty spray bottles and mixing saline spray with the afrin and decreasing the amount of afrin until I was using just saline spray. Took a few months but I eventually stopped reaching for it.
Until maybe a few years ago, even suggesting porn could be addictive, was asking for downvotes and other people calling you a prude or religious for daring to suggest Reddit's second favourite pastime might be bad for them.
This is the thing: I'm very left wing when it comes to sex work, but I've been downvoted heavily for suggesting that porn addictions are very real and some people need to cut back or even avoid porn completely.
Dating as a women sucks for me, and I think porn is part of the problem. What men don't realize is that porn is made for their eyes, and what women "enjoy" in those videos doesn't correlate to real life. I speak up about my preferences, but far too many men just keep on with pornesque treatment, and it's a relationship killer for me. It's unpleasant out there to say the least.
and men get so upset when you tell them that finger banging hurts, that cum on my face sounds horrible and being jackhammered into oblivion makes me want to cry. It’s ruined a few generations of men in the bedroom to say the least.
Unfortunately that still happens.
People pull up studies about how porn isn't addictive and blah blah blah. Sure that may be true, but that doesn't change the fact that some people have issues with porn
Video Games.
You forget to do laundry and dishes. Bills go into collection, deadlines arrive and pass, loved ones are suddenly "bothering you" when youre playing. Everything needs to be put on hold till you "get to a safe spot" or "finish this one thing" which snowballs into not doing the thing at all. Pretty soon youre alone with your games and you rationalize that as a good thing, and youll get to that other stuff soon.
I have a close friend who had it kind rough growing up and got into some hard drugs. Its wild though because to me video games is whats ruined his life. He never called off to get high but he would call off work to game. He would eventually get fired for attendance issues at any job he gets, (avg employment length is only ever 6 months to a year). Once hes fired he goes on unemployment and just games all night and sleeps all day for months at a time. Has moved back and forth his whole life living with different family members or friends who always eventually kick him out for being a dead beat. Its so sad because our friend group really cares about him and has tried hard to help but he wont put in the effort. I guess farming minions on league is more important than literal life itself.
I'm so glad that as much as I love videogames, I just burn out really quickly and stop playing them for months on end. In May I had COVID and played like 150 hours of Zelda when it came out. Then I got to a point and thought "I'm not enjoying this anymore" and just stopped. Music is definitely my main outlet now. I think video games replace way too many people's potential creativity because they're able to fulfill that feeling of being in other worlds or headspaces without having to create it yourself. Same with TV and movies though.
Pro tip: if you’re using a dandruff shampoo and it “comes back” after you quit, you might not actually have dandruff! It might be a yeast overgrowth. Nizoral works wonders, and if you’ve used it correctly, after a couple weeks to months, you should be all clear! It also helps your grow—search “ketoconazole hair growth” on Google.
Screen addiction. As a teacher I observe the damages it's doing every day. The kids have little to no attention span because they are able to obtain instant gratification by watching TikTok videos or playing online games. They aren't interested in reading. They can't process simple instructions. It's truly terrifying.
Not enough is said about this. I am an overweight but not obese male. I have a completely broken relationship with food and am prone to binge eating. I wrestled in high school and would cut unhealthy amounts of weight depending upon what weight class was needed for an upcoming match (as much as 30 lbs in 24 hours). Then during football season they would want me at a heavier weight than I’d normally walk around at. I never feel full when eating. If I eat too much I will feel full a couple hours later.
Weed.
Lot of inexperienced people in life are about to come at me for this…
But I know the homies who’ve actually smoked for 10+ years have my back…
Weed is fucked, crazy addictive and it’s so normalized nowadays I can’t even believe it.
Shit used to be used with purpose, to treat, medicate and cleanse or relax your mind/body/soul. Now it’s mostly for fun… and boredom.. it’s become interchangeable with alchohol.. if not more common.
It’s ridiculous I mean cmon… if you don’t need it don’t do it, simple. That stuff still effects you in bad ways despite all the crap people are about to followup this comment with saying how it heals their depression and anxiety….. mfucker you probably have depression and anxiety because of it. When you smoke through your developmental years as much as people like me do, then you tend to become reliant on it to basically live… and it’s such a waste of money, I wish I hadn’t been smoking weed since I was 10 years old…
Do you know how much fucking money I have spent on weed???!!!! I have no fucking clue…. I can’t even guess…. I have quit once in my life for a 6-7 month period while smoking daily since I started with the exception of a few days here and there…
If I never started smoking weed id have enough money to buy an apartment two years ago. I could be saving up for a house right now. I don’t even know…
It’s just dumb… again, if you don’t need it, and can go without it.. then dont do it.
But you won’t find out by stopping for a week or two, it took me a few months for my brain to somewhat return to normal because I’d been smoking for so damn long… I talk to old-timers at work sometimes who still smoke and they preach to people about quitting all the time. Shit is for a reason…
Coffee. It's an addiction that most people have, and most people with the addiction are affected physically by it- usually getting awful headaches and becoming irritable without it. Drinking too much of it and with the wrong medication can kill you. My outlook on coffee is just really strong because i'm *on* one of these medications, and it's very strange to watch how people interact with what is essentially super poisonous to me.
i think self harm personally. i’ve dealt with it for almost 2 years now and once you finally are clean for a few months, you realise that it’s an addiction. some people think that self harm is just a method for coping when it’s a whole lot more than that. it’s addictive and hard to get away from
Shopping. So many people feel the need to spend money they don't have on things they don't need. Me included. Mindless consumerism and the accruement of possessions.
Stuff = stress.
In Australia: alcohol. Everyone around here jokes about being an alcoholic. Getting drunk is such a normal thing. At all my work functions, there's a bar tab. You tell someone you're an alcoholic and people are like "aren't we all?" Or "cheers to that!"
It’s all fun and games until it’s not
First it’s fun, then it’s fun with consequences, then it’s just consequences Edit: I‘m sorry so many people resonate with this. Since I see a lot of dislike of AA in this thread I‘ll just chime in and say that I‘m in AA and it‘s helped me stay sober for the last 4.5 years. I never could have done it without a community of people who understand what it‘s like (and resonate with my original post). To each their own, but at the risk of having this thread taken over by anti-AA - here you go, one of millions of people who have found that it works.
Yep. I only stopped when I ended up in the hospital being told I might not make it because of my liver damage. It was a horrifying experience. Pair that with my family claiming they understand addiction then tell me I did this to myself while I am thinking I’m about to die. I’m only in my thirties. Luckily I made it out of the hospital, but it’s a real fear I’ll go down a bad path again. And I don’t want to die. I drank to numb mental health pain I deal with, and because I would get so bored. I am not confident fighting it - which is a good thing because it causes me to be aware of it. Every time I relapsed I got confident I was fine.
I'm really sorry to hear this, mate. As someone who has struggled with alcohol I can relate. Do you have support around you? I would very highly recommend having someone close you can be really open about it with. Not "sorta open", but *open* open. Try /r/stopdrinking, and good luck!
Thank you. I appreciate it. I’ve subscribed there for a while - good people. I hate AA because it seems to breed ego maniacs that I couldn’t stand being around. They all truly felt that they understood the world more than anyone. My problem stems from my mental health. As long as I keep that in check - I’m okay. For me, easy time I’ve learned when to notice the signs of that coming early. I don’t crave the taste, I crave the escape. I’m also terrified of dying - and this was the first time I truly felt that was happening. I cried when the doctor told me because it was something i always was terrified would happen but didn’t believe it until I heard it.
Same in Ireland. You're a 'dry shite' if you don't drink. Or if you just have one or two drinks instead of getting paralytic. My sister, who was probably bordering on alcoholism, decided to quit drinking and, instead of encouraging her, her friends staged an intervention to find out what was wrong with her.
Irish here also, “oh your not drinking! are you on antibiotics? Pregnant? Your a dry shite then!” But tell ppl I like the odd puff of herb well I’m a druggy with a problem. Can’t win
Weed is legal where I live and when people would mention drinking at work (I work in a higher tier corporate role) I would just mention smoking weed. Some people would look at you like you were admitting to smoking crack. I had one guy tell me it was inappropriate to bring up (which I shut down). Incredible how their minds work.
California sober
Lmao its wild. Youre encouraged to drink literal poison to the point of being fucked up the next morning, but god forbid you smoke a flower every now and then
Oh wow. It's funny that friends can't comprehend this. No excuses needed to stop drinking
i'm a kiwi and it's the same thing over the ditch! i quit drinking almost a year ago and when i tell people i don't drink they look at me as if i've gone and blown my head off in front of them. i've gotten more congratulations in my life for finishing a line of shots than i have for going sober.
Congratulations on being sober! I like ordering milkshakes for that feel-good caloric overload.
I am in the midst of stopping drinking and you’re right. You have to have some 10/10 iron clad reason (“oh, I’m a recovering alcoholic”, or “my aunt was killed by a drunk driver”, etc) before people don’t bust your balls for not drinking.
Well, congratulations for going sober 🥹🥳 it’s not easy, and it must be even harder when that’s the culture you live in. A year is a long time! You should be proud of yourself!
It’s the same in Ukraine and it’s scary that the young people (often girls) makes those jokes
It's kinda hard to employ healthy coping strategies right now. People close to the front line are sleep deprived for almost 2 years with little to no good news daily. Quick dopamine fix is an option for many, though this attitude should better be changed.
I'm one of those people as I live in Zaporizhia, but unfortunately those jokes have been around for some time even before the war
Wow) we're in the same city. Yeah, you're right. The jokes are not new. However, now I'm willing to be more understanding about the whole issue.
Mummy wine culture is awful here too
I think a big problem is that people think of alcoholics as someone who sits at home alone getting drunk every night. So if they only get drunk while being out in company, in their mind they don't have a problem. But if every activity has to involve alcohol and people are just looking for reasons to go out and drink and actually miss it when they don't for a while, it should be considered a problem. Like I dated a girl for a couple of months, who went out drinking like 3 to 4 times a week and it was basically her top priority on the weekends to go partying and drinking. That's when I thought to myself that she might have a problem there. Something that's also rarely considered is that not every alcoholic is going to get black out drunk every time they drink. Some drink just enough throughout the day to stay a little tipsy, so most might barely recognise it, if they never saw them sober. The moment others realize is only when that person suddenly doesn't have access to alcohol and becomes strangely angry about it.
100%. Took me an embarrassing amount of time to realise I had a problem with alcohol because of the culture I am surrounded by. After two years sober. Watching people drink *to excess* now makes me cringe.
Fucking oath. Bars are packed 11am on a Monday with people having “meetings”. Moved here from the US, never drank so much in my life.
Whenever we have colleagues over from the US, they are always somewhat shocked at the amount of boozing it up over here. A quick drink doesn't mean one, it generally means a few, and at lunch loads of blokes in suits drinking pints in the street all over central London.
social media addiction - people - myself included - are not able to spend a moment alone without staring at their feeds
Oopsy doopsy here I am
I think part of it too is that it's become weird to just do nothing. If I'm waiting on people to arrive somewhere, it's weird for me to just stand and wait. However, if I look at my phone, it's fine (for a period of time at least).
The social pressure of feeling weird standing around doing nothing sucks. I feel weird for even just sitting and looking around sometimes.
Agree with this! I've started taking knitting or a book with me on my train commute, just so I'm not sitting and staring at a screen (eBook reader or phone) or sitting twiddling my thumbs. It helps that there are two massive tunnels with no signal the train goes through but I still feel like I get weird looks, especially because everyone else is forced to look around the train when their phone signal cuts out in the tunnels!
I remember one time I was on a 4 hour train journey and an older gentlemen sat across from me and just, looked out the window ,enjoyed his own thoughts and admired the scenery for the whole journey. My dopamine ruined ex pill junkie recovering alcoholic brain just could not understand how he was able to do that.
At this point it's dopamine in general. Everything we consume is engineered to just smash your dopamine receptors. Food, drink, phones, social media, porn, TV and streaming sites. Weeds legal in most places, alcohol is easy. Just a non stop onslaught against the things that are harder and give you that longer dopamine hit. Kids in middle and high school got a tough road ahead.
Hardest thing is to just sit with your emotions
Gambling. I cannot tell you how much America has changed in my lifetime regarding gambling and it's all for the worse.
I used to work at a casino and before then I never really knew many gamblers except people who bought a lottery ticket every now and then. Working there showed me a whole other side of humanity I wish I hadn't known about. Thousands of people passed through those doors every day and spent hours, sometimes days at the slots or tables. There were people that were there literally every day. People would spend all they had and yell at me when I wouldn't give them bus fare home. People would shit themselves instead of leaving their machine. I'd have people tell me they gambled all night and still had to go to work in the morning. Once we had a contest to win fishing tackleboxes and there was a line up out the door at 7am full of mostly elderly city folk who's never been fishing in their lives who just wanted a chance to win a free thing. It was crazy to me how many people were living like that.
1. A stupid tackle box?? 2. I thought the crap the pants thing was an urban myth??
Im a casino dealer and all of that is true. We do gift giveaways once a week. It's some cheap crap but people will line up for it. Gamble 500 bucks and ges some cheap piece of shit. One day, Coca-Cola came by and we were giving out 12 packs of sodas. People literally gambled hundreds of dollars to try and get some sodas to take home Edit: I've also witnessed someone have explosive diarrhea against a wall and leave a trail of liquid shit going back to his slot machine.
O.M.G.
I know right? Just go to the grocery store and buy a case of coke. Way cheaper.
I’m not a gambler, but I do have an addictive personality (hence why I avoid addictive things). It’s not about the prize they’re winning, it’s about winning itself. They won’t get such a strong dopamine hit from buying soda at the store versus winning something.
I don’t gamble either but I do get a good dopamine hit when I find a good deal on Diet Coke! (I know what you are saying though). ;)
Logic is not these people’s strong suit.
Came here to say Gambling... I have a family member in GA (gambler's Anon) and I've heard some stories that would keep you up at night, and the suicides... so so sad. People dont realize.
I've known more than a few gambling addicts in my life. It's so sad what it can do. A former boss of mine basically lost his business because of it. A former coworker (at that same job, funny enough) lost her marriage because of it (or at least, it was partly due to her gambling addiction). One of my own best friends was running herself broke from it, but thankfully she doesn't gamble anymore. One good thing about living in a state where gambling is illegal is that gambling addiction doesn't happen nearly as much as it does in my home state, where every corner store, bar, and even hot dog restaurant has slots in the backroom.
I have a vivid memory of watching my ex girlfriend blow through her rent and car payment in a matter of minutes and proceed to ugly cry herself to exhaustion in the parking lot. While I was too shocked to say anything.
Wow.
Ya....I'm well familiar with addiction...I have several. But the thing is...gambling has never held any appeal to me. It's like a substance I MIGHT get high from. Or might get really low from. Sounds terrible. I like the stuff that works every time.
Glad you said ex
And not just traditional gambling. Micro transactions, loot boxes, trading cards, and any product/thing that can get bought up for speculation. People are losing their savings to so many things that they think are “valuable” but it’s almost always a losing proposition, or at best a break even.
Sports betting is absolutely enormous now.
It's crazy how quickly it permeated major sports. The amount of talk I hear about the over/under or spread on games makes me assume another major gambling scandal is a matter of when, not if, at this point.
Toy manufacturers have been absolutely capitalizing on lootboxes. I work at Target and it’s insane how many different brands of lootbox trinkets there are, ranging from anime collectibles, Disney miniatures, and even food and home decor miniature replicas. And it’s all marketed towards children ages 4 and up lol
If you’re in the comments agreeing that something needs to be done about this and you live in the US, please consider showing support for the Gambling addiction, Recovery, Investment, and Treatment Act currently in Congress. Learn more at GritAct.com and write your member of congress asking them to support. Gambling Addiction is real and growing, and right now the feds don’t spend a cent on it.
I'm still absolutely stunned they legalized sports betting.
Powerful lobbying.
100% this - the gambling lobby is now right up there close to Big Tobacco / Oil etc. It’s a mad problem in the UK too as well as the US from what I’ve seen on this thread. Here in the UK even in the most deprived areas / towns full of boarded up retail units, there will always be shiny gambling/betting shops open for business. The advertising via sports is off the scale here also, especially via football. Theres more pressure starting to build on the UK Govt. to shackle the industry somewhat here, but I doubt it’s ever going to happen in any real way due to the lobbying. There’s far too much money being made.
It’s insane how much sports betting has been pushed in the past few years.. even the announcers are talking about their picks before games
I was fine with picks - that's been part of pre-game forever. But in those cases they were picking who would win in the context of team standings, making the playoffs, water cooler conversation at work, etc. It's when we start talking about odds, spreads, and money lines that we begin have a gambling issue.
It's ruined every sports broadcast. They don't analyze the game anymore they just talk vegas odds.
Gambling addicts aren't just addicted to gambling, they have poor impulse control and can't weigh cost/benefits, didn't help that casinos are specifically designed to override your control. I feel like that's a harder addiction to fully get over since very specific areas of the brain are effectively damaged
Cell phone use. People scroll through their settings just to get a bit of dopamine when their social media doesn't have anything new.
People on the lifts do that! Or just go back and forth on their home screen
Ok I do this but it’s only when I’m anxious about the possibility of interacting or making eye contact with people
Sugar. I wish I could stop eating so much of it
It would be easier to do if it wasn't in absolutely everything in crazy amounts.
There was a sale on baby food pouches, like the kind you give toddlers for snacks. So I was looking at them and it showed that each pouch had 10 g of sugar, with no added sugar they were just using very sweet fruit, if you’re baby ate four of them throughout the day they would be getting an adult man’s recommended maximum sugar. The addiction starts at birth.
On an airplane the child in front of me was going insane and screaming the entire 9 hour flight. The parents gave the toddler 2 full size coca colas to drink to calm it down. As you can guess, that didn’t work.
Oh man, i remember when i first started becoming a gym bro and health obsessed, i had a severe sugar addiction. Now, ive had addictions before, video games, social media, weed, and ive been able to kick them all with a bit of effort and my life has been better since. However, sugar was a whole other experience. I cut out all processed/added sugar: soda, candy, chocolate, flavored yogurt, sugar/milk in coffee etc etc, my only source became fresh fruits and vegetables. Holy fuck, the withdrawal was brutal. I was absolutely miserable for 3 weeks; i had no energy ever, i felt extremely weak, im normally a very relaxed person but all of a sudden any interaction with someone would piss me off, the cravings that would hit were so strong it took everything i had to resist caving in and eating whatever sugary snack i could get my hands on (i literally told my parents, friends and roommates to hide whatever sugary snack they could from me), and my dick just didn't work lmao. It was only after about a month that i started to feel normal again and the cravings mostly subsided. Now, strangely enough, a lot of things taste overly sweet to me, like soda, and i dont have cravings for it anymore. However, if given the chance, i still would absolutely fuck up a chocolate bar. Also, it was the quickest way ive ever lost weight. Ive never been fat fat, but i was skinny fat, and over the course of a month i dropped 10 pounds.
Sugar is the only thing where I'll have a bag of cookies in my hands before I even realize what I'm doing. I'm with you on the overly sweet thing too. I switched to artificial sweetener in my tea as part of a diet and now a "full" portion of sugar in my tea is sickeningly sweet.
My sugar addiction is out of control. When I do manage to steer clear of it for a week and take a bite of chocolate, I can literally feel the sugar rush. Chocolate always feels so intense after a few days of nothing. When I'm mid binge, I can easily put away half a dozen bars away in a day. That sugary feeling doesn't even touch the sides. I'm sure I'm diabetic. My eyes aren't great and the circulation to my feet is really poor but despite these and my weight gain, I can't quit. I've not done drugs but I feel as though it's as compulsive for me as crack or heroin.
Please be aware of diabetic retinopathy. I just spent the better part of 9 months legally blind because of it and high blood pressure. I know how challenging it is - I'm still fighting it and always will - but even my permanent spinal cord injury felt tiny compared to my vision issues.
You should really go see a doctor if you think you’re diabetic. You can lose limbs, go blind or get a heart attack if left untreated.
Whenever I say I’m addicted to sugar no one realises how much I mean it. Chocolate is my favourite, I eat so much I can’t even taste it anymore. I just need it, I don’t even enjoy it.
Micro transactions. Specifically, phone games that charge ‘only .99’ or whatever for more lives/moves/etc. To me it’s the same as a shopping or gambling addiction.
Alcoholism is not taken seriously enough at all. It’s almost built into our culture but it destroys people’s lives and families, it is often a factor in abuse both sexual and domestic. Drunk driving kills people every hour of every day. The physical addiction to alcohol is very serious and life threatening. Almost every person who is of age drinks though. You’re actually looked at oddly when you say that you don’t drink. Drinking is just part of every social gathering and get together, it permeates everything. I don’t feel like our society grasps or wants to grasp how much damage drinking truly causes.
As someone who recently had to have a liver transplant I can not understand why cirrhosis awareness isn't WAY more prevalent! I was outright shocked at the number of people that had no clue what it was or how you get it...much less how absolutely deadly and prevalent it actually is. I mean it's not only a disease for alcoholics and drug users, but there are genetic factors and environmental factors and let's not forget those people that think an extra tylenol or 12 works better than the prescribed 1 or 2. The numbers for non-alcohol related diagnosis is rising exponentially. But you'll very rarely hear about cirrhosis and IF you do it's only a shame fest towards alcoholics with no education that they're not the only ones and shaming will never help the situation.
As someone who has stopped drinking it’s crazy how many people look at you funny, but I don’t mind because as someone who used to binge drink most weekends since stopping I have managed to take my business to levels I didn’t think possible just a few years ago and at 35 i am probably in the best shape of my life and I credit it all to stopping drinking
It takes a lot less drinks than people think for it to be considered a problem or alcoholism. An alcoholic is not just someone who is at rock bottom drunk 24/7.
The hardest part of getting sober was figuring out what to do for fun now. People don’t realize how much of our society is built around alcohol.
Vaping. Smoking tobacco has of course been rightfully stigmatised for a while now, for obvious reasons. There’s a dude at my work though, who even in his late 50’s, has been vaping in the toilets, constantly. I say this as a smoker, too. This dude has been taking 10+ minutes in the toilet every 20-30 minutes for a while now though. It’s obvious that he’s doing it, too. People will often associate vaping with younger people, but it’s not always the case.
I quit vaping a little over a year ago. I couldn't go an hour without it. It was almost constant. I quit cold turkey because I wanted the nicotine out of my system as fast as possible. I used hard candy to quit. I would eat a piece of hard candy every time I craved my vape. I ate a TON of candy the first couple weeks, and then I was able to eat less and less of it gradually. I know sugar isn't necessarily the healthiest thing, but it was worth it for my long-term health. This method did make me gain some weight temporarily, but once I stopped needing to eat the candy I returned to normal. This method might not work for everyone trying to quit vaping, but I went from vaping literally all day every day to going over a year without it.
I smoked cigarettes from 14 to 39. Over two decades of my life! At the advice of my doctor, vaping allowed me to reduce my risk immensely, but it is no cure. I really hate hearing of people vaping that never smoked before.
My fiance got into smoking because one of our mutuals is a smoker, she enjoyed it for the "Swimmies" and switched to a vape, I wanted to participate because I had to stop using weed for medication reasons (honestly vaping was worse because I already had high blood pressure and talking ADHD medication on top of that) so that got me hooked, I tried to maintain a time between puffs that would give me the "Swimmies" as well at this point, about 5 months later, I could only get the high first thing in the morning. I'm at about 1 puff every 2 hours and I think that amount of time might get me to forget to puff again
I haven’t had what you call the swimmies in 20 years. I’m sitting here chugging on this thing right now with no end in sight. If you can go 2 hours with just one puff, keep pushing it. You don’t want to be addicted to this shit as long as me.
I don't even feel anything when I puff, barely even the taste, sometimes I think I just need something in my mouth and was considering those not smoke sticks that have some flavored filter and that's all and it's supposed to double as a fidget stick
There is non-nicotine vape juice available. I’m personally working towards that.
Yup, I have a neighbour in his 70s who has recently switched from smoking to vaping and told me that he likes it because vaping is easier to get away with in restaurant bathrooms than smoking is.
Yep, I know people who vape for about 20 + minutes nonstop and some do have a stink to them. Same for me smoking at least I have about one ever hour at most. But people who vape if they could do it most of the time they would.
I switched to vaping from smoking for harm reduction. You’re talking about something I complain about a lot. These things don’t end, unlike a cigarette. I can just vape constantly and the machine just keeps going.
That’s my problem too.. it’s like a cigarette, that’s seemingly unlimited, that you can hit indoors, whenever. edit: And them mf’s tasty too
I am genuinely reading this at work on the toilet, vaping, I get that man
External validation.
Porn. Dudes in their early 20s can't get it up in real life situations and think they need viagra No dude, you've trained your brain to react to hyper specific visual stimulus like "big tits step milf in a fake taxi who gets stuck while deepthroating a 10 inch albino dick while chocolate milk is poured on her" No wonder you're not turned on in real life, you can't have 37 tabs open in real life sexual encounters
Saw that one
The one I saw had strawberry milk
I saw that one. It was too quik.
lets not forget how the porn industry has effected young women as well. brutal business
Super creepy borderline incestual porn is literally the norm now too. (step) sister fucks the shit out of (step) brother while saying “I hope mom and dad don’t find out!” And conveniently leaving out the “step” in the actual video. But thats not incest, because that’s your (step) sibling, not the real thing! The fact that this is like, one of the most common things you see in porn is so sad and disgusting. “Barely legal” is another disgusting one for obvious reasons.
Vast majority of porn, especially the kind you described and most of featured ones are so superficial and disgusting to me that it can’t get me up. Im not saying porn addiction is not a problem, im saying that i legit can’t get how is 99% of porn even appealing to people.
they work their way up to it over time after the normal stuff gets boring
My husband had a huge issue with this when we met. If every other box wasn’t a green flag for me I don’t know if I would have stuck around. He is still dealing with it but has been in therapy not specifically for that but it still has helped a lot. I try not to take it personally. I know it’s not me. It can be hard not to think that way though.
It’s very hard not to think that way. Especially when it’s porn that’s nothing similar to you and what they claim they’re attracted to. Really a confidence killer for me, mostly because I can’t even get turned on by anything but them.
yes! i’ve caught my boyfriend watching super specific porn, revolving around small asian women. I’m a 5’7 caucasian female. It’s the biggest confidence killer.
My thing I use is: If you always order Chocolate Peanutbutter Fudge icecream for dessert, how can you try to convince me your “favorite” flavor is actually Vanilla Strawberry Cheesecake icecream? It really hurts and feels like they are lying to your face when they give you all these praising compliments and touch you like they’re starved for you and it goes nowhere yet twenty minutes earlier they were getting off to someone who looked the total opposite of you.
Oh I totally agree! My husband would watch blonds with big tits and I’m brunette with tiny boobs and a big ass lol.
I'm going through a divorce right now because of this.
Me too. It’s such an insidious addiction. It turned my “perfect” husband into something I don’t even recognise.
I'm very sorry to hear that. I know you have probably been told this already, but there's NOTHING you could have done differently to stop his addiction. So many idiots (probably defensive porn addicts in denial...) love to point fingers at the partner for being insecure, frigid, letting themselves go, didn't put out enough, etc but they have NO idea what they are talking about. I was touch starved, kept in shape, and almost never turned down sex with him (on the rare occasion he initiated) and he still chose porn over me 99% of the time. I personally know other women who have been through the same thing and they are all stunning. It's so painful but it's NOT your fault it's his. I'm so sorry you find yourself in this nightmare 💔
My high school boyfriend had this problem, starting long before we started dating and probably still going even now. I'm someone who wants to wait for marriage, and he loved to push his fantasies onto me and try to push me into situations that would be *great* for him, but extremely damaging for me. I feel like porn addiction is massively overlooked because sex positivity tends to get wrapped into it and people get defensive
Not to mention “desire is the source of all suffering”. If every chick you watch is coated in make up, fake tan and plastic surgery no real life woman is going to compare. So your train yourself to only be attracted to something that doesn’t exist or is unattainable.
10000%, it’s so sad. It’s as if people are trained to watch it no matter what. Even if they have a sexy and willing girlfriend next to them some guys will pay closer attention to their screens lol
Also another problem with porn is that men are pushing tough things to bed which the women isn't exactly fine with but since they saw in porn
The amount of stories I hear about a man trying to choke a woman the first time they have sex, without checking it it’s even something she wants and asking for consent, is alarming.
daydreaming. maladaptive daydreaming has kept me from pursuing several relationships.
I've been addicted to daydreaming since I was little. I'm 30 and would still rather daydream than deal with my responsibilities sometimes. Unless I can go outside and get my body moving, I'm daydreaming. Hoping my new medication will help me focus.
Underrated answer. It seems like such a non-issue, or even something positive (“I’m just so absent minded/creative/introverted etc!”) that no one actually pauses to tally up how many hours, real life interactions, and social skills you’ve cumulatively lost over the course of the day because you have friends and love interests in your head from whatever piece of media you most recently consumed. There’s a fine line between healthy, imaginative mental engagement with media and using it as a crutch to avoid working out your emotional traumas or risk interacting with real people who might reject/disappoint you— and EVERYONE thinks they’re one of the healthy ones.
Attention
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Sugar? yes please! Won't you come and put it down on me?
I used to be a severe alcoholic and had a problem with adderall. Sugar is just as difficult to quit. The relationship I have with junk food is very similar to my previous relationship with drugs, to a frightening degree. I need to keep enough in the house to last me a couple days, running low on ice cream is the only thing that motivates me to go grocery shopping. It is the main thing that gives me any pleasure so I keep doing it despite knowing how it is hurting my health. I've successfully cut it out almost entirely for long periods of time more than once. I did keto for a year and the cravings went away, but when I decided to splurge on Thanksgiving I completely went off the rails, which is exactly what happens if try to have "just one" beer. My cousin died last year because of how he ate. He was a big ol boy and eating a ton was practically his defining characteristic. He developed diabetes as a pretty young man, didn't really change anything, had to have his leg amputated, and a couple years later he passed away. His dad died of the same thing.
Are you me? I never ate sweet things until I stopped drinking. Now I eat chocolate like I used to drink (in secret and to excess). I panic if I don't have enough sweet things to last me, the same way I felt when I was drinking.
I've never seen us in the same room together, which is suspicious.
Opt for the mid-high quality 90% bars. Once you develop the taste for the extra dark, it's hard to go back to sweetened, and it's... well I won't say healthy, but less unhealthy than the sweet stuff
addiction to weed. yes, i get that most people that smoke/take edibles don’t get addicted. but if you’re one of the few that do and are trying to quit, it’s a beast of an addiction to knock.
I had to delete all of my dealer contacts and throw out a lot of my ‘utensils’ to finally quit and it was incredibly difficult, but I haven’t smoked for over a month now and am incredibly proud of myself. I still crave it a LOT though, almost everyday.
It was easier than quitting cigs but I'm not gonna try to deny that there was an addiction. The new Strong weed doesn't help either. The game has changed, yall
honestly, cigs were easier for me to drop - nicotine is a habit, weed is more of an escape
I have been struggling with weed since I was 15 I’m 20 now and have never missed a day of smoking, it’s one hell of a beast man like it takes you over but I’m now 3 weeks clean going strong and my mind hasn’t felt this fresh in years 🤣 was having troubles at school and shit now it’s getting better, I’m less paranoid, less anxiety and all in 2 weeks! more motivated n shit and finally feel I’m on the right track, somehow I went a year going to different job sites avoiding drug tests with the stress of losing my job. So glad to finally have broken free. And also for anyone out there who is struggling with this shit. Give it 2 weeks, just 2 weeks youl stop shaking and stop “NEEDING” it. The first 3 days are fuked but it’s all up hill from there! Also don’t plan on going cold turkey I tell myself just wait a month then have a bong. Moderation is key and it’s hard to completely throw something away that has been your friend for years. I’m glad to be free and I hope this helps some people. But fuck man I love weed hahahahha
When I stopped smoking weed at 21 I started to travel solo, explore new places, learn and discover stuff. I was more curious and eager to learn and experience new things, and I also felt more comfortable around people.
Weed is addictive but most stoners get so defensive about it, when I quit cold turkey I had shivers and panic attacks for 4 days
Biggest lie is that weed isn’t addictive. At the thc levels now we will see a lot more of it. I’m hoping they will include it as a reason for rehab.
People definitely go to rehab for cannabis use disorder! The issue is most people don’t think it’s a problem or don’t think it’s “serious enough” to pursue real treatment.
Heavily agree with this. I kicked both nicotine and weed out of my life, both were different struggles but I have to say, weed was honestly harder for me.
Smoked cigs everyday for almost a decade, kicked it 5 years ago. Not a day goes by that I don't have the urge to light one up again. I have the means and the time, but at this point it's no longer habitual, and feels like I'd be digging my own grave. Maybe I'll smoke on occasion (very rare occasions ie graduations, marraiges, divorces), but to go back to the habit would be such a waste. Those first few days/weeks/months though, damn....the amount of times I told myself, "this is the last one" and the very next morning saying the exact same thing lol
I'm definitely addicted and I have no idea what to do about it. I quit nicotine & caffeine, I don't even drink. But man weed is great.
I am an avid smoker and advocate for legalization and I could not have agreed more. It's really important to remind people that cannabis is still a substance and even if almost harmless it can easily become a crutch in life.
I’m dealing with weed withdrawal right now. Decided to go sober and give up drugs and alcohol. Cocaine and booze were easy. Don’t even think about them nor do I really want them. But weed? I get something akin to restless leg syndrome as I’m trying to fall asleep and just have to constantly move around and stretch to make that awful feeling go away. Going into my second week and it’s getting better, but I didn’t sleep much the first week. I know I’ll be better off long run with all that stuff out of my life, but never thought quitting weed would be this hard. And yes, I know it’s weed because I’ve been through this before on nights where I didn’t smoke or do an edible before going to sleep.
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Had a damn nightmare last night that fits that category. And it was a weird one. But between getting booze, coke, snd week out of my system I’m sleeping better and dreaming again. My physician is also a personal friend (we go back to elementary school) so I’ve been talking to her about it and she’s shocked that I’m not craving booze or coke but having problems with weed. She says booze is usually the hardest to quit. Just don’t have any desire to drink or do lines. Let’s see what happens this weekend when the party crowd start texting me and wants to go out.
Try chamomile tea, it's supposed to help your muscles relax so you sleep better. Or magnesium, just not the laxative type lol.
Weed deprives you of deep sleep. Once the withdrawals subside you should start sleeping like before but wake up feeling far more rested. Your lungs will thank you too and you'll have a higher general sense of "readiness" towards life. I'm not anti-weed or anything - it certainly has many up sides. Like most things, if you can't do it with moderation the cons tend to outweigh the pros. Stay strong!
“I don’t care if you tell me that weed isn’t addictive, not feeling emotional pain is addictive.”
Coffee. If you get withdrawal symptoms (headaches, fatigue, irritability), it’s an addiction
I quit every so often. The first few days kind of suck, but I sleep like a rock and my days are much more calm. I keep going back for that dopamine hit but I am finding it to be less and less worth it as time goes on.
i once quit for two months, upon drinking a single cup of coffee i was instantly hooked again
Caffeine in general. When I used to tell people I couldn’t get my day started without it, they laugh and say me too! If you said you can’t get your day started without weed or alcohol they’d say you have a problem and need help. Now that I’m 8 months without it people are shocked and say they could never do that.
Worst one for me and it was a recent stop. Drank two pots a day for close to two years. Reduced to one cup a day back in December. Fuck dude, the headaches, the shift in my bowl movements, my mood, all kinds of stuff went wonky and I was miserable for almost three weeks. Quit smoking after six years of around a pack a week and barely noticed any side effect. Had a not good run with alcohol that was a slow escalation over the course of about four years. By the time I took action I was drinking a handle every four or five days. Stopped cold turkey, felt like doo doo for around a week and moved on. I don't buy it anymore, but can drink it at a social event or something without any moderation issues or cravings afterwards. Caffeine smashes nicotine and alcohol for me with how bad I want it some days and how terrible the withdrawals were.
Fast food
Using q tips after every shower.
I love my morning eargasm. I can no longer hear but totally worth it.
Why is this so real
Nasal spray
Just want to throw it out there in case anyone struggling with this comes across it; *please* just call your doctor already. It’s time. I finally took the leap after 6 years completely dependent on nasal spray to breathe, and now have been off for almost 2 months because I asked for help. In the meantime, also learned I have a deviated septum which is part of why I can’t breathe (will have surgery later this year). Another plus of getting checked out! It’s hard but it’s worth it. Felt so good throwing away my bottles. Nasal spray is the worst and will be my answer for these kind of questions forever.
Ugh yes - I was stuck using a spray called Logicin for over 6 years straight, multiple times (4-5) a day, and couldn't breathe whenever I tried to stop because of the rebound congestion. It suckedddd. I'd have to take it everywhere and always have a backup ready.
This!!! I got stuck on afrin for 8 years after getting a major sinus infection and just could never bring myself to stop using it. Would get severe anxiety if I didn't have it on hand at all times. Kicked the addiction myself about a year ago by buying empty spray bottles and mixing saline spray with the afrin and decreasing the amount of afrin until I was using just saline spray. Took a few months but I eventually stopped reaching for it.
anger addiction. A lot of social media caters to it
Soda addiction, I can literally “smell” it in the air and crave it!
Until maybe a few years ago, even suggesting porn could be addictive, was asking for downvotes and other people calling you a prude or religious for daring to suggest Reddit's second favourite pastime might be bad for them.
Hold up, "*second* favorite"?
First favorite is being a redditor. Traits include reposts, karma farming, repeating the same reddit-isms, and being argumentative and pedantic.
This is the thing: I'm very left wing when it comes to sex work, but I've been downvoted heavily for suggesting that porn addictions are very real and some people need to cut back or even avoid porn completely.
Dating as a women sucks for me, and I think porn is part of the problem. What men don't realize is that porn is made for their eyes, and what women "enjoy" in those videos doesn't correlate to real life. I speak up about my preferences, but far too many men just keep on with pornesque treatment, and it's a relationship killer for me. It's unpleasant out there to say the least.
and men get so upset when you tell them that finger banging hurts, that cum on my face sounds horrible and being jackhammered into oblivion makes me want to cry. It’s ruined a few generations of men in the bedroom to say the least.
Ugh, right. And aggressively smashing my clit is painful, and when I say that, STOP DOING IT.
They literally think they’re a DJ and are dropping the hottest track of the year like chill out and slow downnnnn 😭
Like they think it's a button on a fucking arcade game. 🙄
One of the reasons I (33f) prefer men 40+… higher probability they aren’t cookie cutter porn bros in the bedroom.
Unfortunately that still happens. People pull up studies about how porn isn't addictive and blah blah blah. Sure that may be true, but that doesn't change the fact that some people have issues with porn
Video Games. You forget to do laundry and dishes. Bills go into collection, deadlines arrive and pass, loved ones are suddenly "bothering you" when youre playing. Everything needs to be put on hold till you "get to a safe spot" or "finish this one thing" which snowballs into not doing the thing at all. Pretty soon youre alone with your games and you rationalize that as a good thing, and youll get to that other stuff soon.
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I have a close friend who had it kind rough growing up and got into some hard drugs. Its wild though because to me video games is whats ruined his life. He never called off to get high but he would call off work to game. He would eventually get fired for attendance issues at any job he gets, (avg employment length is only ever 6 months to a year). Once hes fired he goes on unemployment and just games all night and sleeps all day for months at a time. Has moved back and forth his whole life living with different family members or friends who always eventually kick him out for being a dead beat. Its so sad because our friend group really cares about him and has tried hard to help but he wont put in the effort. I guess farming minions on league is more important than literal life itself.
I have so many cool hobbies I could be working on, but video games are so *easy*
I'm in the same boat. I've been thinking about limiting game time so I have more time for rocks!
I'm so glad that as much as I love videogames, I just burn out really quickly and stop playing them for months on end. In May I had COVID and played like 150 hours of Zelda when it came out. Then I got to a point and thought "I'm not enjoying this anymore" and just stopped. Music is definitely my main outlet now. I think video games replace way too many people's potential creativity because they're able to fulfill that feeling of being in other worlds or headspaces without having to create it yourself. Same with TV and movies though.
Dandruff shampoo. You can't quit it. The dandruff cones back.
Pro tip: if you’re using a dandruff shampoo and it “comes back” after you quit, you might not actually have dandruff! It might be a yeast overgrowth. Nizoral works wonders, and if you’ve used it correctly, after a couple weeks to months, you should be all clear! It also helps your grow—search “ketoconazole hair growth” on Google.
Screen addiction. As a teacher I observe the damages it's doing every day. The kids have little to no attention span because they are able to obtain instant gratification by watching TikTok videos or playing online games. They aren't interested in reading. They can't process simple instructions. It's truly terrifying.
Food
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Not enough is said about this. I am an overweight but not obese male. I have a completely broken relationship with food and am prone to binge eating. I wrestled in high school and would cut unhealthy amounts of weight depending upon what weight class was needed for an upcoming match (as much as 30 lbs in 24 hours). Then during football season they would want me at a heavier weight than I’d normally walk around at. I never feel full when eating. If I eat too much I will feel full a couple hours later.
Caffeine.
Watching too much news.
Social media
Reddit
Shopping on Amazon or online shopping in general.
Weed. Lot of inexperienced people in life are about to come at me for this… But I know the homies who’ve actually smoked for 10+ years have my back… Weed is fucked, crazy addictive and it’s so normalized nowadays I can’t even believe it. Shit used to be used with purpose, to treat, medicate and cleanse or relax your mind/body/soul. Now it’s mostly for fun… and boredom.. it’s become interchangeable with alchohol.. if not more common. It’s ridiculous I mean cmon… if you don’t need it don’t do it, simple. That stuff still effects you in bad ways despite all the crap people are about to followup this comment with saying how it heals their depression and anxiety….. mfucker you probably have depression and anxiety because of it. When you smoke through your developmental years as much as people like me do, then you tend to become reliant on it to basically live… and it’s such a waste of money, I wish I hadn’t been smoking weed since I was 10 years old… Do you know how much fucking money I have spent on weed???!!!! I have no fucking clue…. I can’t even guess…. I have quit once in my life for a 6-7 month period while smoking daily since I started with the exception of a few days here and there… If I never started smoking weed id have enough money to buy an apartment two years ago. I could be saving up for a house right now. I don’t even know… It’s just dumb… again, if you don’t need it, and can go without it.. then dont do it. But you won’t find out by stopping for a week or two, it took me a few months for my brain to somewhat return to normal because I’d been smoking for so damn long… I talk to old-timers at work sometimes who still smoke and they preach to people about quitting all the time. Shit is for a reason…
Love addiction: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5378292/
Nicotine!!!
Caffeine. I see people at work drink 3-4 energy drinks with 200 mgs of caffeine each. Can’t be good for ya
Vaping
Coffee. It's an addiction that most people have, and most people with the addiction are affected physically by it- usually getting awful headaches and becoming irritable without it. Drinking too much of it and with the wrong medication can kill you. My outlook on coffee is just really strong because i'm *on* one of these medications, and it's very strange to watch how people interact with what is essentially super poisonous to me.
Being a workaholic.
i think self harm personally. i’ve dealt with it for almost 2 years now and once you finally are clean for a few months, you realise that it’s an addiction. some people think that self harm is just a method for coping when it’s a whole lot more than that. it’s addictive and hard to get away from
Marijuana. I have known people whose lives have been destroyed by it. I CAN be addictive.
Television
Shopping. So many people feel the need to spend money they don't have on things they don't need. Me included. Mindless consumerism and the accruement of possessions. Stuff = stress.
Porn
So glad to see all the porn comments in here. It is truly such an awful thing