Which addictions cause the most damage? Are there harmless ones?

[noname223]

I name some addictions.
Drug/substance addictions like heroin, opiods, meth, alcohol, benzos etc.

Behavioral addictions like gambling, sex, internet, shopping, video game, plastic surgery, binge eating, risky behavior addiction

I am no expert and I don't have much experience on it so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

I think the only addiction I have is internet addiction. For me this is quite a harmless one. There is one fact that might contradict it is an addiction in my case. It does not cause too many problems in my life. This is sometimes part of defining an addiction. Though I had some negative experiences. When I have for a long time no internet connection I feel way worse. So many of my coping skills require internet. If I have an interesting book with me it is a little bit less awful. It is also very uncomfortable when I don't have WLAN for a long time. But as long as I have internet it does not cause many detrimental effects. Maybe due to social isolation my sanity got damage in the past. But I could repair that with my therapist. Not sure whether the internet contributed to my weirdness. Probably the fact I did not take my medication was the main factor. But I don't deny the fact internet addiction can cause huge damage. Just not in my case at least for now.

Another addiction of me might be caffeine addiction. Probably one of the least dangerous there is. Though when I was manic as a teenager I really escalated my coffee consume. Though if I had coped with illegal drugs the damage would have been way worse.

Now to different addictions some of you might know I find illegal drugs really dangerous. Addiction is one reason for it. I am scared I could develop benzo addiction. Withdrawal symptoms seemingly can be hellish. I think my fragile mind could not cope with that. It could kill me. Not sure which is the worst substance addiction. All of the listed ones above can fuck your body and brain completely.

Now to the behavioral addcitions. Gambling contributed for sure to a lot of suicides. Sex addiction can ruin relationships the same goes for porn, shopping may be less damaging than gamble??? I mean at least one might could sell the products. Just a thought of mine probably not a very sophisticated one. Video games. Not sure if you are like disabled and cannot work and you do it to flee from your personal hell I don't know. People say addictions can make people flee from reality and stop them to solve their problems. I played a lot of video games to cope but my problems could not be solved anyway. I was way too depressed during this certain time period. However I stopped this escapism after a while. Plastic surgery? Don't know much about that. But probably some people died because of it. Or you can become extremely unhappy. This often happens when people worship their outer appearance too much. If one surgery fails it can ruin your self-esteem. At least when it is your main source of self-esteem. Binge eating is dangerous. I knew a girl who developed bulimia. Not sure whether she still lives but her heart became very fragile.

These are just my thoughts on it. Most is half knowledge.

The most dangerous addiction? I don't know maybe if you have several different ones at the same time. Some people are prone to addictions. It depends I think on the personality. I think some mental illnesses can contribute to addictions. But there are different factors I think.

I mean if someone is a meth and benzo addict and has more than 300k gambling debts I mean life can become really hellish. Addiction probably contributed to a lot of suicides and ruined million of lives. I try to be careful about them. But especially my benzos scare me. I need them to stay stable but I know they are extremely dangerous. Moreover I am careful to avoid peer pressure. I always distanced myself of friends who started to take illegal drugs.

What are your thoughts on it?

 

[whywere]

Through my over 66 years on this rock, I have had so, so many professional folks, medical, mental health and the like, tell me all most the same thing. Everyone is "built" so much different and also a like, but overall, we are an island upon ourselves. Case in point, my ex has an extreme gambling problem, like going through over ten thousand a day with not a blink of the eye.

There is genetics to consider and the like, but still, we are all different and somewhat alike also. Consider the aspect that I am way over 6 feet tall, and my older brother and younger sister are barely 5 foot tall.

I never ever tried street drugs, because I always feared that I might like them and go down the drain.

As far as peer pressure, I will give a good example. Back in 1985, I was invited to a party. When I got there, I was handed a bottle of beer. After like an hour or so, folks started having white powder all over their noses. Then I was handed the glass plate, razor blade and I said no thank you. You could hear a pin drop. I had the host of the party pull me a side and bluntly tell me to either partake or I would never be invited to another one of his parties. I still said no and never heard from him again ever. So be it. I am me and NOT anyone else.

Walter

 

[Nigh]

My dad had an addictive nature. I never realised when I was a child. He was addicted to weed and porn. But he would also get addicted to certain types of foods. For example, If he liked prawns, he would have to have it every single day at the same time. Being his child, whatever he made or brought he would feed to me. But the constant repetitiveness would make me sick. Honestly, there's foods I had to stop eating as a child, that I've only started rediscovering and liking as an adult. He then became addicted to gambling. Like most addictions, it's a hard addiction to break. It made him suicidal and penniless. It was the first time I saw my dad beg his children for money. When he stopped gambling he replaced it with drinking everyday. Sometimes addicts just swap one addiction for the other. I often wonder how addicts break their addictions without starting another one, because I've always seen it that way.