Addiction

Addiction is a compulsive, harmful activity. Addiction often starts out as a seemingly innocent pleasure, often seduced/initiated into by liberals, only to consume the person pursuing it. Conservative values are an excellent way to combat addiction.

Virtually everyone faces challenges from some type of addiction. Conservative principles are highly effective in overcoming addiction. Religion can also help.

Addiction includes these highly destructive activities:

Addiction	Comment	Conservative "help"
overeating and poor diet	shortens lifespan and causes many diseases, such as diabetes and even Alzheimer's may be caused by a disorder	fasting on Fridays in honor of Good Friday, and in general self-denial, portion control, frugality, and the "don't work, don't eat" mantra of the work ethic all help unless you have an eating disorder then go fuck yourself. Eating less during Lent in honor of Christ helps also.
depression	reduces quality of life, afflicts at least 10% of the population, and increases four-fold the risk of a heart attack, not addiction but a mental illness	evolution has no effect on depression
anxiety	wastes time, harms health, and hinders productivity also a mental illness but you need conservative help cause time is money	faith and reason, including powerful concepts like falsifiability, the Coase theorem, pro-life principles, and recognition that God Has a Sense of Humor
video games	causes dropping out from school, violence, and health problems	liberals exploit teenagers with video games[Citation Needed], turn them away from church and healthy relationships. Antidote is to recognize that by playing you lose no matter what the game tells you.
marijuana and other drugs, also prescription drugs caused by loneliness	undisclosed medical harms; deadly car crashes that kill; entraps victims into the addiction	conservative concept of slippery slope is bullshit
pornography	inherently fraudulent in concealing the disease and injuries caused; does to the mind what drugs do to the body, enslaving and destroying the mind; dehumanizing people to the level of dogs; degrades self-esteem; leads to horrific crimes	constitutes participation in wrongdoing by others that is hurtful to all; conservatives disfavor the media, of which pornography is a significant part; also, pornographers are liberals who are profiting by exploiting weaker people. Antidote is to associate repulsive images with pornographic ones.
gambling	2-4% of adults and 4-6% of teenagers are addicted, and higher percentages lose money from it. Other additions, such as spectator football, are a form of emotional gambling. Among all addictions, gamblers have the highest suicide rate.	state-run lotteries are government at its worst: expanding the revenue of government at the expense mostly of the poor; private gambling is often based on taxpayer subsidies or deceiving the public, of course even if this is true none of this helps you but we would rather have a staving conservative than a happy liberal
alcohol	destroys the liver and causes tens of thousands of deadly car crashes annually; about 14 million Americans are alcoholics	nearly all beer companies are supporters of the Left,see gambling
smoking	very difficult to stop once one starts; shortens lifespan, causes heart disease and numerous other problems	second-hand smoke interferes with others' rights and well-being; also, tobacco companies are supporters of liberal projects[Citation Needed],also see gambling
Television, including watching many NFL games.	wastes many hours each week in lost time, interferes with marriages, fosters emotional gambling, and can lead to obesity and time away from God	the NFL has almost no effect on your watch time and is not a Leftist tool to bully States against passing conservative legislation because that would be crazy. One antidote is to realize(sic) that many have observed a demonic aspect to professional football, particularly the over-hyped Super Bowl is something a crazy person would say.
stock market	wastes billions of hours each week; also even professional stock traders advise against trying to "time the market" (i.e. trying to determine when the market has reached a new high or low, and investing or de-investing accordingly) as they admit even they—with all their powerful tools and understanding—cannot do	those who invest in the market typically make more money by spending less time following their investments. Also, an implication of the Coase theorem is that the amount of one's assets, in the stock market or otherwise, is irrelevant to his productivity in society.
regret	not falsifiable, and thus not worth any time how the fuck can you be addicted to regret	a tool of the Devil to detract from seeking Christ, which is more important

Other addictions

Other additions include consumption of caffeine and excessive internet use. Excessive internet use now extends to social media and mobile phones, where people are compulsively checking for notifications.

• There is growing concern that as well as addicting users, technology is contributing toward so-called “continuous partial attention”, severely limiting people’s ability to focus, and possibly lowering IQ. One recent study showed that the mere presence of smartphones damages cognitive capacity – even when the device is turned off. “Everyone is distracted,” Rosenstein says. “All of the time.” [1]

Conservative power over addiction

see gambling

History

Historically the term addiction was defined in terms of physically measurable symptoms of repeated drug use, such as tolerance (more drugs for the same effect) or withdrawal symptoms (illness caused by stopping use). Habituation referred to drug use that was psychologically habit-forming, but not necessarily physically addicting.

In the past 20 years, doctors have reversed the meaning of these words. Habituation now refers to using a drug that causes physical withdrawal symptoms. Addiction has become a term that refers to compulsive behavior that continues in spite of adverse consequences.

A consequence of these new definitions is that it is impossible to be addicted to a drug like Ritalin or Prozac if it is prescribed. It is not compulsive behavior if used as prescribed, and it is not adverse if a physician says that it is beneficial. It is also impossible to have "crack baby" or a "meth addicted baby". It also means that a marijuana smoker is not necessarily addicted. If he likes what he is doing and he is able to function, then these experts would say that he is not addicted no matter how much marijuana he consumes.

A consequence of these new definitions is that it is impossible to be addicted to a drug like Ritalin or Prozac if it is prescribed. It is not compulsive behavior if used as prescribed, and it is not adverse if a physician says that it is beneficial. It is also impossible to have "crack baby" or a "meth addicted baby". It also means that a marijuana smoker is not necessarily addicted. If he likes what he is doing and he is able to function, then these experts would say that he is not addicted no matter how much marijuana he consumes. More recently the definition has been expanded to include almost any type of compulsive and potentially self-destructive activity.

Examples of addictive drugs include: Heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and nicotine.

Examples of addictive behaviors include: work - work addiction, using the internet - internet addiction, excessive interest in sex - sex addiction.

Psychiatric diagnosis

The American Psychiatric Association lists two related diagnoses: substance dependence and substance abuse. To meet criteria for a diagnosis of substance dependence, at least three of the following symptoms must occur in the same 1-year period:

• (a) tolerance (larger doses of the substance are needed to produce the same effect)
• (b) withdrawal during periods of non-use
• (c) using the substance more frequently or for longer periods than intended
• (d) long-standing desire or unsuccessful attempts to stop or reduce use
• (e) considerable time spent using the substance, making efforts to acquire the substance, and or recovering from its effects
• (f) important activities are reduced or given up due to substance use
• (g) continued use despite related negative physical or psychological effects.

A substance abuse diagnosis is given when one or more of the following symptoms occurs during a 1-year period:

• (a) substance use leads to failure to fulfill important responsibilities
• (b) substance use in situations where it is dangerous
• (c) chronic legal problems stemming from substance use
• (d) using despite related relationship problems

Loneliness

Addiction is often associated with loneliness or a lack of connection to others, which was illustrated in two experiments. In the first it was found that a rat placed in a cage with normal water and drugged water (usually cocaine or heroin) would become obsessed with the drugged water. Professor Bruce Alexander, however, tried placing many rats in idyllic conditions with many other rats and, when given a choice of water, these rats would mostly choose the normal water. This showed that addiction in more related to the bonds around use rather than the substance itself. Thus loneliness coping is necessary for addiction recovery, and the path out of unhealthy bonds is to form healthy ones.

Atheism and loneliness

See gambling

See also

See gambling