Addiction Now Defined As Brain Disorder, Not Behavior Problem
New Definition of Addiction | Chronic Disease & Substance Abuse
http://www.livescience.com/15563-addiction-defined-brain-disease.html/
This is an interesting article. But like so many LiveScience.com articles, it has an all-or-nothing approach that ignores anomalous cases. I can testify from personal experience that to some extent -- not all, and not in every case -- willpower can actually make a difference. I had an addictive personality from very early childhood, and knew it -- I didn't know the phrase for it, but I knew that when it came to certain things such as candy, if I had the opportunity to consume as much as I wanted of it as long as I wanted to do so, "as long as I wanted to do so" would be effectively forever, and "as much as I wanted of it" would be "an infinite amount."
I never had an opportunity to start drinking alcohol until I was 18 -- and after test-drinks, I realized that alcohol was one of those things to which I'd become addicted for life if I made a regular practice of it. In short, I'd become an alcoholic -- and would be utterly controlled by whoever or whatever made alcohol available to me. And I wouldn't be able to afford the habit, and I'd end up stealing to support it. I have this terrible allergy to going to prison, so I decided right then and there that I wouldn't drink. And that's the way it's been for me since I was 18 -- I drink maybe one beer -- or no beers -- per annum, and that's it.
I gave up my 20-year-long three-pack-a-day Marlborough habit in 1982 for the same reason: it was becoming way too expensive, and I was sick of "borrowing" money (that never got repaid) to support that habit. For similar reasons, I never tried recreational use of addictive drugs. I'm even wary of using prescription pain remedies in circumstances where it's appropriate to use them, for fear of becoming addicted.
How I developed an addictive personality by age 4 or so I don't know. And yes, I've had it ever since. But I've managed to avoid becoming addicted to anything a jones for which would tax my resources to the limit and far, far beyond, and I've done so by sheer willpower combined with decisions made early on not to get involved with the stuff. So it is possible to recognize you've got such a personality at a very young age, and successfully head off addictions early on in the game. I imagine many people have done it -- surely I couldn't be the only one. So why don't articles like the one linked above go into that more? That's what bothers me about psychology -- it fastens on limited theories about people and then ignores anything that goes outside those limits. Which is not good science, dammit!
http://www.livescience.com/15563-addiction-defined-brain-disease.html/
This is an interesting article. But like so many LiveScience.com articles, it has an all-or-nothing approach that ignores anomalous cases. I can testify from personal experience that to some extent -- not all, and not in every case -- willpower can actually make a difference. I had an addictive personality from very early childhood, and knew it -- I didn't know the phrase for it, but I knew that when it came to certain things such as candy, if I had the opportunity to consume as much as I wanted of it as long as I wanted to do so, "as long as I wanted to do so" would be effectively forever, and "as much as I wanted of it" would be "an infinite amount."
I never had an opportunity to start drinking alcohol until I was 18 -- and after test-drinks, I realized that alcohol was one of those things to which I'd become addicted for life if I made a regular practice of it. In short, I'd become an alcoholic -- and would be utterly controlled by whoever or whatever made alcohol available to me. And I wouldn't be able to afford the habit, and I'd end up stealing to support it. I have this terrible allergy to going to prison, so I decided right then and there that I wouldn't drink. And that's the way it's been for me since I was 18 -- I drink maybe one beer -- or no beers -- per annum, and that's it.
I gave up my 20-year-long three-pack-a-day Marlborough habit in 1982 for the same reason: it was becoming way too expensive, and I was sick of "borrowing" money (that never got repaid) to support that habit. For similar reasons, I never tried recreational use of addictive drugs. I'm even wary of using prescription pain remedies in circumstances where it's appropriate to use them, for fear of becoming addicted.
How I developed an addictive personality by age 4 or so I don't know. And yes, I've had it ever since. But I've managed to avoid becoming addicted to anything a jones for which would tax my resources to the limit and far, far beyond, and I've done so by sheer willpower combined with decisions made early on not to get involved with the stuff. So it is possible to recognize you've got such a personality at a very young age, and successfully head off addictions early on in the game. I imagine many people have done it -- surely I couldn't be the only one. So why don't articles like the one linked above go into that more? That's what bothers me about psychology -- it fastens on limited theories about people and then ignores anything that goes outside those limits. Which is not good science, dammit!