Becoming Addiction-Free (2017)
> The insidious thing about addictions is that all addictions weaken the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of your brain associated with self-discipline and willpower. The more addictions you have, the weaker your self-regulation abilities become
Is there any science to back that claim up? First time I've heard that and it very much sounds like pseudo-science made up by "war on drugs" people.
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EDIT: There seems to be a similar claim made in some review papers[0][1], though those primarily focus on hard drug abuse. Would be interesting to get the opinion of someone more qualified on the topic.
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Either way, interesting article and at least that interconnection of weak addictions is nothing I thought about like that before. I think I might even try out that advice, as I'm currently struggling with strong procrastination (hence me commenting here) while coincidentally my weak addictions recently all had a bit of an uptick.
What if you never consumed salt, oil, or sugar again? Within about 30 days, your taste buds would adapt and become more sensitive, and food would taste just as good as it did before, except that it would be less addictive, so you’d probably eat less of it. You’d also be less likely to develop heart disease.
This is 100% true in my experience. In 2013 I gave up obvious sources of refined sugar and artificial sweetener due to an elevated triglycerides report. After two weeks all sweet cravings ended. Fruit started to taste amazing. Now I have dessert of any kind at most once per week and I probably haven’t had a soda of any kind in over five years.
Oh and my triglycerides went from 232 to 113.
I'd wager that 80% of the people reading this are addicted to checking sites like HN.
One additional reason for reducing addiction is that addictions like video games can make your baseline of 'fun' too high, so doing productive things doesn't feel fun even though it would otherwise.
> It’s the nature of addiction to treat pleasure and happiness as one. The less of an addict you become, the more you’ll realize how separate and distinct these are, and the more weight you’ll place on long-term happiness.
The means someone achieves pleasure or long term happiness can in fact be the same. And I see see no reason to believe why a video gaming community (what he refers to as a shallow connection) can't provide both. Are you enjoying yourself presently? Great, that's pleasure. Is this a sustainable way to enjoy yourself? Great, you are on your way to long term happiness.
> We also expose the shallowness of connections that don’t really serve us. What does it say about a connection that isn’t as good without gaming or coffee? What does it say about the quality of a relationship if going orgasm-free for a while leaves you feeling hollow and empty instead of deeply in love and grateful? Addictions so often mask substantial weaknesses that we don’t feel ready to face.
We have a wide variety of needs, and it is unreasonable to think there is a magic bullet. Different social groups (or activities, hobbies) meet different needs. If you remove whatever was meeting your need, then you will naturally feel a sense of loss, whether the relationship was a healthy one (what he calls intimate) or an addictive one. I would imagine the loss of my dog or a loved one would leave me grieving for some time and I would enjoy parts of my life less. This doesn't mean those less enjoyable things were bad.
I haven't read the article, but the title of the post stood out to me because of this thought that I've been having today, "do I struggle with substance abuse?"
The day/s after drinking alcohol tend to be down days for me. I'm more depressed, sad, and have lots of anxiety. I'm currently experiencing one of those days and it is starting to seriously concern me.
I know It would be better for me to stop drinking alcohol completely. I've done it before and was able to be around alcohol without letting myself consume any.
But at the moment I've been struggling with self-control and haven't been able to keep myself from drinking.
So back to my original thought, I think the answer is yes.
I've wondered if one of the problems with quitting an addictive substance is a loss of memory. Memory is often tied to setting, and being under the influence is part of setting. Remove the setting and the memories associated with it won't surface as often. (There is a common memory hack used to remember facts which is to envision a room or place you know well and "place" objects in it that correspond to what you want to remember. When you want to recall the facts you visit your memory room and the objects you've placed in it trigger recall.) So it seems like removing the "setting" of an addictive substance might also reduce the memories associated with it. In essence you would lose a part of your life, a piece of the person you were. That could be a net good thing for some people, but a net bad thing for others. If I remember correctly science has also shown that people who drink alcohol are more forgiving of others, which implies that people who quit drinking become meaner. There has been some theorizing that some addictive substances can (at least temporarily until physical side effects become detrimental) improve the creative output of artists.
This is all just conjecture on my part, but it does seem possible that there are ramifications to quitting addiction that medical science has not considered yet and which may have an important influence on peoples ability to quit.
> Would you like to be addiction-free? If so, then a good place to start is to paint a picture of what your life could be like with no addictions.
That life would be very empty and boring.
> What if you never had another orgasm for the rest of your life?
I might as well be dead :)
> Of course we could live happy and fulfilling lives without these short-term pleasures. When we think otherwise, we’re confusing pleasure with happiness. It’s the nature of addiction to treat pleasure and happiness as one.
I'm addicted to a few things, but I don't consider them a source of happiness. You also can't really have happiness without short term pleasures, whatever they might be.
> You can’t have a relationship with the addiction. There is no moderation for an addict. The standard you aim to reach is being permanently alcohol-free.
Oh yes you can. The important question is that whether this relationship is disruptive, neutral or positive (like being addicted to training). Drinking isn't inherently bad, but the author thinks so. My impression is that there are equal number of studies on pro/contra moderate alcohol consumption.
I think the link title needs a (2017) based on the publication date of this blog post.
For what it may be worth, our Church also has a very good, free 12-step program for overcoming addictions, with a bunch of online materials: https://addictionrecovery.churchofjesuschrist.org/steps?lang.... I think even just reading it, watching some videos, is worthwhile, but the complete program can be effective.
overall good write-up yet I get a strong sensation of black VS white and there is no gray.
either you're addicted or you're free, no middle ground, no gray areas, no better days in which is easy to overcome one's compulsions and no worse days in which it's much harder.
simplistic "all or nothing" ideas which diminish nunace are also dopamine inducing, this is why memes are so popular. they are the refined sugar of information and understanding.
Are all addictions bad? I’m addicted to coffee. I have been caffeine free many times before however I prefer the coffee addiction.
I'm glad he stopped shoplifting or whatever, but that he did it himself (and just by moving...) means it wasn't even a serious problem, much less an addiction. If someone with a serious problem tried to view this as guidance, they'd get nowhere.
this guy is basically addicted to productivity xD
Recently I came across a device that claims it can help you break addictions via voluntary electric shocks: https://pavlok.com
It seems plausible that it could work, but it's suspicious that the site doesn't address the most obvious question: Wouldn't I just stop shocking myself? Curious if any HNers have tried this thing.
> daily coffee ... (which is actually a poison)
[citation needed]
I like that this takes the subject seriously- at least in America, people are very resistant to the notion that coffee is an addiction. Even if they do agree, it’s felt as pedantic to point out. So I’m glad it’s included here.
My take on this revolves around the part where you’ll supposedly forge deeper connections etc. I just don’t see it. I suspect our connections are what they are. They’re all we have, but also in most cases not that strong really. And it’s just part of life.
Since that is so unsatisfying, it makes sense to find it unacceptable and fixate on removing some contaminant, something that’s in the way of the real thing.
Wow, people are still taking Steve Pavlina seriously all those years later. OK....
P.S. To be clear, I am not a hater. I've learned about Steve when he was a game developer, having developed one marginally successful shareware game. That was more than ten years ago. He then decided to teach others how to become successful game developers and launched game publishing business. Which went nowhere. He blogged all along. Then Steve got interested in personal development, polyamory, polyphase sleep, etc. becoming 'an expert' in these topics, just like he has in successful game development and game publishing.
This is a guy who believes in spirit guides (yes, really) - https://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2020/05/better-than-spirit... and for a low price of $299 can teach you that your reality is subjective - https://www.stevepavlina.com/submersion/
No. Just no. Addiction is a serious matter which is well studied by actual scientists and mental health professionals. You can't just give advices about addiction unless you have been properly trained. Your affirmations on such subjects have to be backed by scientific evidence and having a big audience does not qualify for scientific evidence. Please, if you are interested about addiction or think you have a problematic relationship with a substance or a behavior, go and see the work of Dr. Andrew Tatarsky at https://www.centerforoptimalliving.com/ for instance. Or ask a mental health professional which have an actual Ph.D. in psychology or medicine. You could also read actual scientific evidence if you know how to, just not that. This is just wrong.