Addiction or Choice?

Discussion in 'Philosophy' started by esseff, Dec 8, 2014.

  1. So there are times, when I find myself looking at it, when I feel I may be addicted to my drug of choice, but as I still choose to use it, must be deciding that the benefits outweigh my knowing that this may be so.
     
    I could say food is an addiction of course, and I do have a choice what I put in my mouth, but I have no choice whether to put something in. Same mindset? Not sure.
     
    I could say I don't have to consume cannabis, but then I might also say that I do. A different sort of food stuff, having different effects that I find beneficial. Nutritional in other forms, there is no question of the health and medicinal benefits of this plant.
     
    Does this change whether I'm addicted to it? Does it matter?
     
    The things people usually associate with addiction - alcohol, tobacco, sugar, heroin, etc, are given this label due to the negative impact having too much of them produces. I can't say whether it is possible, with enough money and quality of product, to live a normal happy life using Heroin everyday, never having to go through withdrawal, that it simply becomes a life-style choice. Yet for those who take these processed compounds regularly, they cannot really know how their brain, their thoughts, their way of seeing the world, gets changed by its continuous use - not without stopping and clearing everything out that is.
     
    But addiction does not like this approach, for it would suspect its demise might be nearby and do everything, physically, mentally, to ensure its survival - as all living things would.
     
    So while I mention cannabis because it is the thing I am most familiar with, anything I choose to use which benefits me and which I use continuously for long periods, ought to require a period of abstinence in order to:
     
    • determine how much I really need to use it over how much I'm simply used to taking it.
    • determine whether it really does affect the way I think and see the world, and whether this is a good thing.
    • reset myself, so to speak, so that when it's carried on with, perhaps less will be needed, or perhaps less often.
     
    I suspect many don't do this, because addiction makes it seem as if the very idea would be wrong to even think about it. Circumstances may do it for me sometimes, but this is not the same as making a conscious choice to experience myself without it.
     
     
    If it is addiction, merely stopping it while feeling like I want to use it may not reveal the answer to this. For it to be truly revealing, it would have to feel like there is no desire to use it while not using it is taking place. Not an easy thing perhaps. That during the time of not using, I have effectively become a non-user, and as long as I allow sufficient time for it to leave my system, only then might I truly gain the insight doing so can give me.
     
    I have felt like a non-user, and yet cannot say whether my deciding to start using 'again' after abstinence is the result of free choice or old habit.
     
    This post has been written with a sober mind. I like that it doesn't lead to a conclusion, thus allowing me to feel like doing what feels right as I go, without deciding something is right or wrong. Makes sense it is in the philosophy section.

     
  2. I feel its a mix of both, at times
     
    Given the option, I will toke
     
  3. Personally, I don't think of it as an addiction while you use it on your own terms. I could go weeks of using it everyday to not using it for weeks to months.

    My sister on the other hand "has" to smoke everyday. She has bad withdrawal. It might be that she doesn't have a good temper to begin with and it "calms" her down.

    At times I have the same feeling you have of being addicted, but I can't say I am. I know when I am done for the day or for the week. It really is a personal thing. Sometimes just one puff is good for me during the day.

    I don't know. It really comes down to how you look at things.
     
  4. An addiction to me is seperate from choice.

    Addiction is a compulsion. If you don't give into the compulsion, then you will feel unsatisfied or even depressed.

    So the choice is to give in or not give in. Positive or negative consequences aside.

    Essentially, to live without addiction means to live without vanity or excessive decadence

    -yuri
     
  5. What do you call a habit you like doing?  An addiction.
     
    What do you call a habit you don't like doing?  Responsibility.
     
    This seems to be a more normal thought process as addiction becomes more of a buzz word.  True addictions are brought about by sincere emotional or neurological dependence.  You're just an animal, you can be conditioned and made to rely on substance, just like any other animal.  Addiction strips us of our choice, habit is something we form through self-reinforced conscious choice.
     
    Most addicts lack something intrinsic which they pull their self worth and value from.  Most addicts are escapists.  Someone with a habit doesn't necessarily qualify in that regard and isn't necessarily at risk.  However, drugs like Meth/Heroin/Nicotine have true biological/neurological affects that can cause even a balanced person to become addicted, it just needs a window of time and circumstance to do so.
     
    That's how I see it. 
     
  6. You could also ask, are there good addictions and bad addictions?
     
    You could say someone who has an addiction to travelling might benefit from exploring new countries and cultures.
    A bad a addiction could be your neighborhood meth head, cooking and risking a house fire, killing himself off his own supply, and killing off his customers as well.
     
    Those are two very extreme scenarios, I know, but you should decide where in between the two do your personal habits rest.
    Are you learning, benefiting health wise, benefiting mentally over all?
    Or is life starting to feel a bit heavy on your back?
     
  7. I don't think there are ggood addictions.

    And addiction is an unnecessary behavior that is required to feel pleasure or avoid pain. Said behavior became an addiction through habbit

    -yuri
     
  8. Addiction is when ur body feels weak and has a dependency on the drug. So marijuana smoking is a choice not a addiction imo
     
  9. Think of it as choosing to be addicted. I have an addictive personality.. but at the same time I am stubborn as to what I'm addicted to. Like if I have something that I enjoy, I don't really exercise much control in consuming it.. Soda, cigarettes, weed, I'll destroy it all when I have it. That's why I never touched the harder, physically addicting drugs other than nicotine.. cause I know that if I enjoy them, which I probably will, I'll go hard at it. People have tried to get me to do a few here and there, and it was like trying to get a brick wall to do drugs.

    I have been getting better with my consumption though cause I've been working on my depression. I think depression leads to addiction for many because if you're depressed, you probably don't care enough not to. Been taking steps at fighting my depression by forcing myself to eat healthier and consume things that are actually good for my body.. cause a healthy body is important for a healthy brain. Since I've been doing that, my soda and weed intake has dropped.. the cigarettes are hit or miss though.
     
  10. I think there are three levels of addiction.
     
    1) casual enjoyment which can be discontinued with little problems
     
    2) basic dependency which causes higher but manageable discomfort if discontinued
     
    3) full blown addiction which feel like hell on Earth if discontinued.
     
    #1 is so mild it cannot be considered an addiction. It's simply something someone continues to do because they want to.
     
    I do think it's much easier to become dependent (#2) on weed if you use it often. But this is only problematic if you don't take care of your responsibilities or neglect people important to you.
     
    #3 only applies to a fraction of weed users.
     
  11. Some interesting thoughts. I myself have wondered these questions. More than addiction though (for me) is the question of: Is there a point where cannabis should be put down for good? The herb may have unlocked some doors for us, so to speak, but is it now time for those of us who walk this route of self-discovery to walk through the door alone. As Alan Watts says of psychedelics 'one you get the message, hang up the phone'. So those of us who no longer 'need' it...will carrying on, even if it is in moderation keep us from deeper levels of realization or whatever it is we are looking for. Or is this just overthinking it, and realistically, smoking once in a while isn't gunna do much harm?
     
    No conclusion here either haha. This is my first post in a very long time. I used to post here all the time, and I remember you Esseff. I, myself, have not consumed in almost 5 weeks. Not so long ago I went 9 weeks (could've easily gone more). And over the last 6 months or so have consumed considerably less than I used to. I still feel attracted to the herb though (not everyday, but once a month/fortnight), and I too have been torn between my love for the herb and whether it is just an addiction, rooted perhaps in my subconscious.
     

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