You can become addicted to literally anything! 

From alcohol, there really is no discrimination when it comes to addiction. Uncovering the reasons why can be slightly more tricky though. Let’s figure it out together by understanding what exactly addiction is.

Let’s admit it. Life can become a bit repetitive sometimes. When you’re not bored, you’re probably stressed and so the cycle continues. Thank you, responsibility. So it’s not really a shock that young people get the occasional urge to bypass reality and indulge in ‘fun stuff’ like sex, shopping, drinking, taking drugs, gambling, or even computer games.

Addiction is a compulsion to use a substance, or persist with certain behaviour to ensure you feel good – or to avoid feeling crappy. An addiction falls into two categories: physical and psychological.  It doesn’t even have to be a serious problem to be classed as an addiction. It can be any severity of addiction meaning anywhere from ‘mild addiction’ to ‘serious addiction’.

✔️ Physical addiction occurs after you take a substance so much it actually alters your body’s chemistry. This means your body develops a hunger for this drug that you have to keep feeding. If you don’t, your body goes into withdrawal and you get all kinds of nasty symptoms until you feed it again.

✔️ Psychological addiction is when your brain gets hooked to a particular substance or behaviour that ‘rewards’ it, i.e., makes you feel good. Kinda crazy right? An addicted brain can actually produce physical manifestations of withdrawal, including cravings, irritability, insomnia, and depression. The mind is truly a powerful thing.

Here are some Tools to help with Addiction and Recovery: