Addiction.
Even the definition of the condition clarifies it to be dependence on a particular activity or substance, we know it runs much deeper in the grooves of the human psyche. Some things are addictive because they have external stimuli which result in the reaction that they get. Like Alcohol in beer and Nicotine in Cigarettes. And some things are addictive without the presence of chemicals because our brains are wired to be excessively attached to things.
Here are a few things you use on a daily basis very innocently but had no idea they’re potentially a bad habit.
1. Smartphones
It’s your shortcut to everything else that is addictive i.e the social media and by that logic the internet. Although it was supposed to make our lives easier, it has quite easily laid the ground for the destruction of our social life by rendering it meaningless unless it’s cataloged in your profile online. Smartphones are enablers and open a big can of worms.
About 80% of the people have experienced false vibrations and around 30% have heard ringing that simply did not exist.
2. Sugar
There might be some chemical play going on in your brain in it because if you’ve observed, every time you feel sad, you turn to sugar for primary comfort and support and hence it can become addictive to crave sugary delectables every time of the day. As researchers have studied that sugar hits a similar euphoric buzz as cocaine in their subject rats, it’s not difficult to explain why you cannot get off sugar as easily as you’d like to.
Heroin addicts experience sweet cravings if heroin is not available. This means that our central nervous system may be affected similarly – by heroin and sugar.
3. Video Games and Online Gaming
Video games are a great way to vent out, but when it takes over your day and your personality and you find yourself relating too easily with the characters, that’s when you know it’s addiction. It’s worse when it is online gaming forum, where the addiction takes over on a real time level along with others who are equally far in as you are.
People start throwing tantrums and show severe signs of restlessness if kept away from their systems for video games. They miss out on social interaction and lose a lot of money on expensive equipment.
4. Soda
That bottle of soda that is so beloved to you when you’re out for dinner with your friends, over which people fight even! It might seem fun at the time or in the commercials, but these drinks with all the air in ’em have high levels of caffeine content too, which is definitely something that parties too close with cocaine, alcohol, and nicotine.
Sodas can make you lose your weight, lose sleep, tooth decay, diabetes and the worst of all, can put you under the risk of osteoporosis.
5. Lip Balms
Chapsticks are a regular necessity for all women and especially those who do not like lipstick. Some chapsticks contain phenol, menthol, and camphor, which may be the reason for the buzz you get when you put it on. It’s so addictive that there is a website which helps people get over it.
Addicts begin compulsively licking their lips and chewing the inside of their mouths until it bled.
6. Negativity
Negativity takes a toll on you. And it has a habit of becoming a habit. Self-ridicule is addictive in its own twisted ways. It strips you off of your confidence and personality and surprisingly you start wanting the hurt more and more until it exhausts you.
Bad behavior could be as strong a drug as heroin.
7. Paint
A lot of people love the smell of paint! But it definitely is not worth the downsides it comes with vomiting, skyrocketing heart rate, pneumonia, liver damage, cardiac arrest and much more I guess if it is used purposefully for consumption.
55% of deaths linked to inhalant abuse are caused by “Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome.” SSDS can occur on the first use or any use due to the heart beating rapidly and erratically, resulting in cardiac arrest.
8. Glue
Glue is notorious for being a cheap high for school kids to whom it’s pretty easily available and sniffing it excessively has actually been reported to be the reason for a lot of deaths.
Long term effects include depression, serious and sometimes irreversible damage to the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs and brain, memory impairment, diminished intelligence hearing loss and bone marrow damage.
9. Nasal Spray
The chemicals in the nasal spray to decongest your nose when you have a cold which just doesn’t let your breathe at all is an alpha androgenic agonist which basically narrows your swollen vessels. It is suggested to avoid usage more than four times a day which makes sense that they’ll give you some kind of buzz after overuse. Also, if you overuse it, your nose ends up choking your nose again or for worse.
The nasal lining may become atrophied over time. Atrophy is scarring of the inside lining of the nose, which may cause irritation, bleeding and over drying.
10. Adventure Sports
The adrenaline rush adventure sports can give you is nothing short of euphoric and that’s what attracts a lot of people to adventure sports because once you’re in, you’re in.
Always overwhelmed, adrenaline junkies seem to have a constant need for urgency, even panic, to get them through the day. They cannot grasp the race driver’s motto: you have to slow down to go fast. Instead, they keep their foot on the pedal at full throttle, convinced that any deceleration is a lost opportunity.