We’ve all been warned about the dangers of becoming addicted to nicotine, drugs and alcohol. But just because something doesn’t come with a warning on the label doesn’t mean it can’t be just as addictive.
Reddit users have recently been discussing some of the most common behaviors that can turn into sneaky addictions people don’t even realize they have, so we’ve gathered their most insightful responses below. Keep reading to also find a conversation with Dr. Kimberly S. Benson LMHC, CAP, of Sarasota Addiction Specialists, and be sure to upvote the responses that some people really need to hear.
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Food. People often eat far more often than necessary. They eat out of habit and not out of necessity.
To gain more insight on addictions and how they can sneak up on us, we got in touch with Dr. Kimberly S. Benson LMHC, CAP, from Sarasota Addiction Specialists. Dr. Benson says that "there are many kinds of behaviors that could qualify as an addiction, however, behaviors do not always indicate addiction because addiction manifests itself differently in everyone."
"Some of the most common behaviors are: the inability to stop and stay stopped; they continue to use with negative internal and or external consequences; they are psychologically preoccupied with substance use; changes in behavior, doing things that are out of character; increasing the use of a substance; [and] experiencing withdrawal symptoms which can manifest physically and or psychologically," the expert explained.
Misery. Drama. The spikes become normal to the brain so those in toxic relationships for example, crave those dysfunctional patterns .they crave the rush of the fights and the drama . They pull it from around them without even noticing it .
Misery loves company is not just a saying. It’s science
That's so true! I was so much like my mom, because I was raised in almost constant drama, so I couldn't live without it. And in perfect chill day with my boyfriend I would start a drama out of nowhere and start crying. It was awful. Thank God I've changed! My mom is still addicted to the drama.
Phone addiction.
StarryMind322:
This. I didn’t want to admit it until I would be agitated when I didn’t have it, until my daily average of screen use exceeded 12 HOURS every single day, and even worse, I would toss and turn at night because I constantly checked my phone.
It sucks because we need phones to keep up with this world now, yet it’s slowly killing us in subtle ways.
Ok that's it, bye guys I've gone to do something productive!
"The baffling thing about addiction is the only person who truly knows they have a problem is the person with the problem," Dr. Benson continued. "Looks can be deceiving, and behavior doesn't always equal addiction but it is certainly a red flag so to speak."
"Addiction is happening internally within an individual, and that cannot be seen by the naked eye," she explained. "The definition I like most when defining addition is 'an outward reach for inner security.' This is the internal process that only can be known by the individual locked into the process. This process is encapsulated by psychological isolation and further wrapped up with denial."
Alcohol.
Many people are alcoholics and won't realize. Just because you don't get drunk every day doesn't mean you're not an alcoholic.
Shopping is a big one.
benim972:
I work with delivering packages to consumers and you have no idea how much some people order. I can have H&M deliveries every day to the same person, which is a pretty obvious shopping addiction. You learn so much about consumerism working in this field.
It makes me understand why people live minimally and subscribe to the anti-consumerism lifestyle.
Dr. Benson shared that she likes to refer to the "4 Musketeers" of addiction: rationalize, justify, minimize and manipulate. "An individual suffering from the psychological addictive process has developed a part inside their mind that is operating under those 4 psychological characteristics, keeping them trapped in the addictive cycle," she told Bored Panda.
"These character traits are often, not always, the result of emotional developmental disruptions that occurred in the formative years of life. These character traits developed as a way to cope and deal with the pain experienced in one's reality," Dr. Benson explained. "The only thing that has proven to break the denial of the addicted person is a 'certain' level of pain that is unique to every individual suffering from and addictive process."
Validation.
kexcellent:
As someone who grew up with parents who constantly gaslit, dismissed and invalidated them, I am always looking for validation and I hate it. I have an insatiable need to know I’m not crazy for having the thoughts and ideas that I do, because I was always told things like “other people have it worse” and “quit feeling sorry for yourself.”
This. Since I was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, I’m learning to recognise the signs of seeking validation for myself or asking how people are doing so that I can avoid potential conflict..it’s taking a while but at least now I can stop myself from doing it. Knowing now how messed up my childhood really was has made me pretty bitter towards my mother..
Stress. I'm convinced some people create stress in their life bc they are addicted to it.
I know at least two people who create stress so that they don't have to face things
Dr. Benson also noted that any behavior can turn into an addictive process. "As I like to say, if Oreo cookies are addicting then so is pot and so is anything else."
She says some of the sneakier addictions that are becoming more common today are social media, online shopping, gaming, pornography.
Social media.
ThatKehdRiley:
I scrolled way too far down to see this. Too many people are in active denial, and try to say things like "_________ is way worse than ______ because _____________________".....without realizing the same complaints can be made about them all. Tik Tok is the biggest example to me right now, getting all the attention when Facebook is the bigger problem platform. But of course it isn't.....because that's what the people complaining about tik tok use 🤦♀️
Facebook, Youtube, Twitter/X, Instagram, everyone is obsessed with how many like, shares and followers they have.
Anger. I think addiction to anger is the primary force being weaponized against our entire culture right now.
But the good news is that Dr. Benson believes any addiction can be broken. "Addiction is a disorder of the mind, body and spirit. Treatment requires addressing both," she told Bored Panda. "Addiction is not a choice or a moral dilemma, and history has shown that treating it as though it is a choice or moral dilemma does not work."
Attention. I know far too many people who have "main character" syndrome. I was at a restaurant and this group came in and sat in the booth behind me, it was 50/50 male to female ratio, but the conversation was basically a huge pissing contest. It was barely a conversation, it was someone starting a conversation about themselves and someone ending the conversation by starting a new conversation about themselves and I wasn't eaves dropping but they got progressively louder and when all the attention in the restaurant was about Chloe who just got 150 likes on Instagram in 2 hours it was like jeez Louise. People don't understand that the craving to be in the spot light constantly is a deep rooted problem.
From working in disability care the most common addiction i have seen that people don’t realise exists is the addiction to trauma, people believe talking about their traumatic experiences will help it’s true… but when it becomes all you talk about it doesn’t help it makes it worse because your constantly thinking about it and that makes you limit what you can do as a result. I’ve also noticed when you change the subject of conversation they forget and as a result do things they believe they can’t do when they are talking about their trauma all day every day.
I've noticed the same pattern of behaviour in people who work or volunteer in "relief" stuff, such as NGOs, animals shelters, etc. You can easily be caught in the trap of thinking that, as you see horrible things on daily basis, you must be angry and sad all the time, so you only speak about the cases, all the time. There's nothing else in the world, in your life or in the universe. Been there, done that. Until I realised I'm not a good help if I'm clinically depressed and exhausted. Lesson #1: No, you are not a bad person if you enjoy yourself or get some time for yourself. Lesson #2: You are not responsible for all the evil in the world. You cannot solve everything. You are only a limited human being who's doing as much as possible.
"What we do not know is why some people experience certain levels of pain and are able to break the denial and get help, while others suffer their entire lives and sometimes die as a result of their addiction," Dr. Benson added. "So can any addiction be broken? Yes, however it is dependent upon the individual suffering from the addiction and the depths of denial and psychological issues they may suffer from that could impact their ability to recover."
Procrastination.
It's so much easier to say "f**k it, I'll do it tomorrow". And then tomorrow comes and you still don't do it. Such a terrible habit.
Soda.
digydongopongo:
It's wild how many people drink soda like it is water. I work at a restaraunt and ppl be drinking soda every day throughout their shift. It tastes nice but the amount of sugar in soda is absolutely absurd, just not worth it imo so I rarely drink it. If I'm gonna consume that much sugar I'll get some sweets instead.
I get easily addicted to soda/sweet carbonated drinks. If I let myself to drink a glass of it 2 days in a row, that's all I crave on the third day and water is not good enough. I'm controlling it by not buying it.
Workout addiction.
RudeAcanthaceae8021:
This sh** is so real and a whole generation of kids is getting body dysmorphia cause they see guys who are on gear talking about being natty and then these kids are like shitting on themselves cause they can never keep up its the same type of things that happen to girls when people have bbls and stuff its a sad thing people have to go thru and social media makes it way worse.
Skin picking; squeezing, popping, gouging around for ingrowns - it’s a legitimate addiction and mental health issue.
My whole family (including me) have ADHD, but one of my younger sisters pick at her skin until it is raw. She is on medication now, but sometimes she still picks.. I do sometimes pick too, but only at my upper arms. It is why I try not to wear tank tops. (If I don't see, I don't pick)
Gaming...
ThrowsSoyMilkshakes:
Yup. It's scary how many people will pour 8+ hours into a game each day. They cut their sleep down to 2-6 hours just to do it, too. It's generally why I play solo on Rust, as many of my teammates want people that are on for huge amounts of hours, even if the server is more PvE oriented.
Being "right". People get a huge rush from shouting down someone for being wrong. They never seem to realize that even if you really are right, seeking out that feeling of "self-righteousness" is not a good thing.
It took me years to stop seeking that out and I still do it sometimes. I'm often reminded of the old XKCD comic, "I can't sleep - someone on the internet is wrong."
Daydreaming! I do it constantly and can’t stop. It literally takes up hours out of my day.
Immersive daydreaming is one thing, maladaptive daydreaming is another. The former is fine, it's normal. It might happen a lot, even daily, and it might be super detailed and complicated, but you have control over it, and it's just a way of coping with stress for you. The latter takes over your life and spirals out of control until you can't stop yourself from it. You pace up and down in your room for hours straight every single day. It’s the first thing you do when you wake up, and the last thing you do when you sleep, and it sneaks into all moments in between. You stop going outside, you detach yourself from everyone, you stop caring about anything except the people in your head who don't exist. It’s extremely compulsive so it’s definitely a type of behavioural addiction. I hate how it's made to seem quirky and fun. It's a disorder and it's absolutely terrible. (Edit: saying this as a sufferer of MD)
Destination addiction is used to describe the belief that happiness is in the destination or can be found somewhere else rather than in the present. In fact, our destination addiction often begins earlier in life than we realize.
Religion.
When they start justifying their actions because of religion.
Religion should encourage a person to change their actions to be closer to an ideal, not justify their actions by picking and choosing ideals that fit their actions
Addiction to other people's lives. We’re constantly flooded with media on people we don’t even know/never met. Yet, we invest so much time interacting with them and having a false sense of reality, seeing only what they show. Humans are so much more complex than the image that's presented to us online. We should look around our own reality before trying to make sense of a stranger.
I left Facebook last year in August. Best decision ever! But prior to that I had "mom influencer page" and the amount of people , who thought we're friends just because they were watching my videos was astounding. I'm really happy I came to mind and left that stupid life behind me. It was also related to phone addiction.
Caffeine and sugar are two big ones. Mostly caffeine though. Millions of people in the US depend on coffee throughout their day.
Instant gratification.
Green, you can say you smoke medicinally, but if anyone can’t remember the last time they’ve seen you sober, either you’ve got a bigger problem than you think you’re treating, or you’re hiding from something you desperately need to face.
Self medicating.
For me it was alcohol. Then when I had to stop it was tobacco. Then when I stopped that it was eating. I don't think I was addicted to one of those in particular but with declining mental health I needed something/anything to make me numb. I abused alcohol but I never necessarily needed alcohol, but I always needed something. That something is what I would say I needed. Abusing alcohol, tobacco and Little Debbie's was always the symptom of the underlying illness.
Either way I slice the comfort cake they all still, and equally, would lead to a downward spiral that can snowball anybody's life out of control.
Long story short: self medicating.
Part of the problem here is, in my opinion, doctors. People are going to try to numb the pain, be it physical or mental. If doctors really listened and tried to help, and to make the patient feel understood, very few people would self medicate. But they many times gaslight patients, and underestimate their pain, so people have to find away to cope with daily life. The number of suicides is raising enormously in my country, and doctors still ignore the signs. Any idiot with good marks and cero empathy can go to university and become s doctor, and that's a huge mistake.
Being addicted to hospitalization
It gives you attention by friends and family - you are suddenly the center of the world
Then you get better — and people return to normal and expect you to carry on as you were prior, and you realize how lonely you are.
So you do the extreme thing to get that thrill of attention, you harm yourself, you overdose, you make empty threat.
You don’t care about the bill or the resources spent on you.
You have the attention of those willing to give it.
It only gets worse when you start to feel like you’re not being treated like royalty and you start looking at “better” hospitals that don’t ask questions and give you whatever you want
I work at a hospital and have seen over 87 repeat patients…I’ve only worked here for 2 years
Munchausen syndrome. Terrible if they do it themselves, even more terrible if they harm their children to get the attention and compassion they crave.
Doomscrolling.
WeddingCharacter3713:
The guy who created infinite scroll where you never reach the bottom of your tl really regrets making it. It works very similar to playing a slot machine or roulette, your brain releases dopamine and over time it really gets in the way of your natural reward pathways. Ever wonder why you feel both overstimulated and exhausted on days when your screen time is higher? That’s why.
FOMO: fear of missing out. There are so many people who are always thinking the next life-changing post is "a little below the page". I think most of these addictions are symptoms of how unsatisfactory our lives are. People who have a "real life" do not need to spend hours looking at other people's fictitious lives. We are living in a mad society.
Hitting the snooze button too many times.
Complaining. Guilty your honor. Lock me up. I dabbled in it once or twice and before I knew what happened, I found myself as an adult, with a career, responsibilities, and all sorts of adulting happening around me. Ever since I’ve been roiled in addiction. I can’t stop. A life sentence seems warranted. I’m not even sorry.
I feel this deeply as I had to separate myself from someone I knew for many years as it became too taxing on me. My health is failing and I simply couldn't do it anymore.
Sadness.
The very feeling of having that strange throbbing of depression move through your body can, in a way, feel like a massage. And you can really indulge that. Paired with all the thoughts that can get framed in a sort of artistically tragic way, you can really just fall into this habit of living in your own imagined tragedy, which while tragic is also beautiful in an almost cinematic way.
Indulged this way throughout most of my 20s, part of my 30s. Takes a while to realize how harmful yet addictive it is. Especially if you're otherwise isolated or prone to being on your own. Instead of having healthy relationships in real life, you can morph the ones in your mind into these hugely dramatic, doomed and unhealthy ones. And because it can feel so poetic and grand, it can feel more affecting than real life, and so you spend more time there than in the real world. Well, for some of us anyway.
Comfort. So many of us are addicted to be in a comfortable place rather than growing and getting out of our comfort zone.
I really don't get this one. Different people need different things. Some people need to change frequently, because they get easily bored. But, what's wrong in finding your place and staying there? Obviously, I don't mean staying in a bad situation because you are afraid of changing, or in a bad relationship because you are terrified of being alone. I'm speaking about "nestling" and being contented with your life. Learning to appreciate what you have is part of growing up. I know many "adventurous" people who are terribly immature, jumping from one thing to another because they can't focus. In most cases, too much need for "adventure" is just an inability to commit.
Giving unsolicited advice.
Why does it look like her head it taped to his neck?
Benzodiazepines
It’s so easy to tell yourself that they are fine and safe because a doctor prescribed them.
But no, no they are not.
I don't understand this. I'm prescribed .5mg of xanax for social anxiety, and when I take it, I don't get intrusive thoughts that everyone hates me. It's been a life-changer. Otherwise, I only take it when needed - I can go days without it. My psychiatrist is trying to stop prescribing it, but I can't imagine going back to overwhelming intrusive thoughts
Benadryl- I’ve always had really bad insomnia where I can go without sleep for 2-3 days. I realized a few years ago Benadryl knocks me out so I started taking it every single night and sometimes during the day when I’m bored. I know I am taking too much too often, I kept increasing the dose since I started and I used to take so much that I couldn’t even finish a thought or I’d zone out mid conversation. Once I accidentally took over 20 in one night because I kept forgetting I had already taken it. Every time I try to stop I won’t be able to sleep for days and I genuinely get withdrawal symptoms. I looked into it and turns out it’s not that uncommon to get addicted to and sometimes people actually go to rehab for it.
Thus could've killed them. Seriously. There was a study recently where opioid overdoses were more likely to be fatal if diphenhydramine (the active ingredient in Benadryl, ZZZquil, and MANY other OTC meds) was also in the person's system. Look back Ober the tox screens of many celebrity deaths and you will find it, and possibly doxylamine, another antihistamine frequently found in OTC sleep aids. People don't realize all the places antihistamines can be, like Tagamet, marketed for heartburn, is an antihistamine. Dimenhydramine and Meclizine, both marketed for motion sickness, are antihistamines. It's no wonder people overdose.
Yeah, I find lists like this sort of offensive because it trivializes the true problem of actual addiction. . " social media"and "being right" are hardly comparable to heroin and alchohol..... I've lost too many people to those.....
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Yeah, I find lists like this sort of offensive because it trivializes the true problem of actual addiction. . " social media"and "being right" are hardly comparable to heroin and alchohol..... I've lost too many people to those.....
Load More Replies... 