The Ultimate Addiction

I'm blogging today from the Main Place Mall in Subang Jaya. I take pleasure in finding vegetarian food in the most unexpected places. Usually most cafes would have at least one or two items that are vegetarian. It's good enough for me and I'm happy to be able to blog comfortably here at the Mr Roti Canai outlet.

I'm going to write about addiction today, which I think is a very important topic. I read in the papers that gaming addiction is a very serious problem among today's youth. Many of today's social problems are caused by addiction--not only to drugs, but also to gambling, alcohol, sex, food and more recently, gaming and social media.

Why do we get addicted to these things so easily? This is a very interesting area in neuropsychology research. Studies indicate that we get addicted to things because certain substances or behaviour hijack our brain's pleasure circuits. Usually 3 different effects contribute to the process of addiction. Firstly, these substances over-stimulate our pleasure centre, an area in the brain called the nucleus accumbens; they also trigger the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that brings forth craving and finally they impair the pre-frontal cortex, which is responsible for planning and decision-making. Most addictions are due to the vicious cycle of these 3 effects.

Sometimes I do suspect that love is also an addiction. Lovers certainly behave like addicts. They can't get enough of each other, yet they are never perfectly happy together. When they breakup, as lovers often do, they suffer great withdrawal symptoms--just like hardcore junkies.

Now, do I suffer from any addictions? Certainly not to gambling. I hate gambling. I don't smoke either. I'm fond of alcoholic drinks but I'm not addicted to them. I can go alcohol-free for months but when I do get together with friends, I most certainly enjoy my drink and can hold it very well too.

Some might accuse me of being addicted to work. Well, am I a workaholic? It may appear to be so for I'm always 'working' on my computer. But do not be deceived, I'm not actually doing work-related stuff. The computer happens to be the main tool for us to do many things: learning stuff, shopping, paying bills, consuming content and also managing our lives. Hours in front of the computer does not mean I'm a workaholic. I'm just doing many different things. Like now: I'm blogging on the computer--for pleasure, mind you.

If I can be accused of any addiction, it has to be to learning and understanding. I listen to audiobooks and I read on almost any topic under the sun because I am infinitely curious and has an insatiable appetite to comprehend things. I am fond of books--a fetish perhaps but certainly not an addiction that disrupts and destroys one's life.

Is there such a thing as 'positive addiction'? Can a health junkie who craves exercise, fruit juices and quinoa be called a 'positive addict'? There's at least one author promoting the term. But I think we are perhaps abusing the word, addiction. Positive addiction is an oxymoron. Let's just stick to developing 'good habits'.

I have a deep interest in the science of addiction because I see many people suffering from it. How do we wean off an addiction? If we understand how we get addicted to things, we can use some of its mechanism and apply them to the process of learning. For learning is also process of association using pleasurable rewards.

All developers want to create addictive products. Being a developer myself, it is important for me to understand the psychology of addiction. The world is apparently driven by addiction. The more I analyze people's behaviour, the more I believe that addiction makes the world go round. We navigate through a minefield of potential addictions everyday. Now, can one be addicted to not being addicted? Hmm...that's a thought.