At all times of the existence of human society, people had flaws. Some of them are quite harmless, while others can lead to obsessive states. They become the main reason that a person ceases to live in peace.
Note that ideal people do not exist. Almost every person has a certain type of unhealthy hobby. What is addiction? What is the danger of this syndrome? How to deal with addiction? This can be suggested by specialists in the field of psychiatry and psychology, dealing with this problem.
Definition of a concept
In medicine, addiction is seen as an inadequately increased or uncontrolled susceptibility and craving for a specific action or substance. Moreover, such an obsessive state leads to the development of addiction. That is why a person, in order to satisfy his addiction, is forced to either increase the dose of a certain substance, or to strengthen behavioral tactics.
What are the dependencies?
People in the modern world are far from ideal. Experts say that today there are more than 60 types of dependencies. Moreover, all of them are divided into two large groups. It:
- Chemical. With these types of addiction, a person has a craving for any particular substance entering the body from the outside.
- Psychological addiction. The principle of development of this type of dependence is similar to chemical. The difference between the two groups is only that the substance that causes addiction does not enter the body from the outside. It is created directly by himself.
Chemical addiction
Specialists include the following addictions in this group:
- addiction;
- alcoholism;
- smoking;
- enthusiasm for medications (sedatives, tranquilizers, sleeping pills).
Chemical addictions are not considered ordinary bad hobbies or habits. And this is despite the fact that most addicts are sincerely convinced that they can easily cope with such addiction, if they wish. However, this is not the case. Any of the dependencies included in the chemical group is a separate disease, moreover, of a chronic nature, which has its own code in the classification of diseases.
These are very bad habits, and their impact on human health is extremely negative, even capable of leading to death. A lot of troubles bring a similar dependence to the family members of the patient. That is why it is necessary to start the treatment of such a person in time. It is worth remembering that the therapy is quite long and does not exclude the risks of regression and disruptions.
The most dangerous types of chemical addiction are anesthesia and alcoholization. People with these addictions significantly increase the number of killers, rapists, and robbers.
How to deal with this type of addiction? Relatives need to understand that their loved one is seriously ill. That is why he needs long-term therapy. In the absence of treatment, pathology will begin to affect all aspects of a person's life, which will make his existence unbearable. The main thing is that he will lose his health. With prolonged intoxication of the body with alcohol-containing drinks or drugs, all internal organs suffer. The heart, lungs, brain and liver are at particular risk.
In addition, a person with negative addictions has a mental degradation. After all, this is only the beginning of the intake of certain substances contributes to the appearance of pleasant relaxation and euphoria.
Such people also suffer from socialization. The addicted soon loses everything that previously surrounded him in life. Such a person goes to the background family and work, friendship and family ties, as well as respect of colleagues. Dependence destroys all moral guidelines that have been developed over the years.
Psychological addiction
Non-chemical addiction affects the psychophysical state of a person. And in this she is no different from drugs and alcohol. An example of this is the dependence on shopping, on food and on gambling.
Considering such bad habits and their impact on human health, it is worth noting that they damage the body to a lesser extent. However, along with chemical dependencies, they also change the biochemical regulation of the brain. The addictions of both groups manifest themselves equally in the external reactions of patients. That is, both of them are equally dangerous to human health (both mental and physical).
How to deal with addiction? To do this, you must go a long way in understanding the problem and getting rid of it.
The most common addictions
Psychologists say that all types of addiction are the most convenient and easiest way to eliminate stress. The mechanism of the formation of negative addictions is launched at those moments when it becomes difficult for a person to perceive an existing reality that is detrimental to the psychological state. This allows him to be in a more comfortable world and get rid of unpleasant feelings.
Those dependencies that are observed in modern people are significantly different from the addictions that existed, for example, 100 years ago. What do they represent? Consider the most common types of addiction that occur today.
Internet and gadget addiction
These types of addiction are in first place in the list of the most common addictions of modern man. After all, computers, tablets, mobile phones and other electronic devices are quite fashionable in the 21st century.
In what cases can we say that a person suffers from Internet addiction? Then, when he spends on the World Wide Web over 6 hours during the day. Today, there are many more people with Internet addiction than drug addicts and alcoholics combined. That is why such a disease is in first place in the list of such ailments created by specialists.
One of the components of Internet addiction is the addiction of a modern person to gadgets. People with a similar addiction, among other things, differ from all the others in that they regularly purchase various new products on the market of electronic devices, including netbooks, tablets, mobile phones, etc.
Food addiction
This psychological addiction is in second place with the most common addictions of modern man. It is formed as a protest against life's turmoil.
In the presence of psychological dependence on food, a person does not observe the correct diet, suffers from excess weight and other health problems that are associated with obesity.
Smoking
Tobacco addiction is also widespread on our planet. And this is causing serious concern to doctors.
Smoking provokes the development of many diseases. Based on the statistics, in Russia, despite the active fight against smoking, 39.1% of the population suffers from tobacco dependence.
Drug and alcohol addiction
These addictions are listed next to smoking. Statistical information indicates that Russia is in first place among the countries of the world in terms of vodka consumption. And this is 13.9 liters per inhabitant of the Russian Federation annually. Moreover, mortality from alcoholism is observed in every fifth Russian.
Our country is also in the lead in drug use.
Game addiction
In fifth place among addictions is a rather dangerous and unpleasant addiction. The reason for its occurrence is gambling. Such an addiction brings a lot of problems to the people suffering from it, and their families.
Gambling addiction in adults makes a person spend his last savings on gambling. And this is despite the fact that he constantly loses large sums, spending all his time at slot machines.
Dependency definition
How to calculate a person who fell into the network of a particular addiction? According to experts, this is quite simple. To do this, it is enough to turn off the Internet, pick up a cell phone, not to allow alcohol, etc. The behavior of an addicted person will immediately change. He will experience anxiety and increased arousal.
There are also some psychological features of addiction. Among them:
- Increase suggestibility. A dependent person easily learns external attitudes coming from another person, not trying to critically interpret reality and resist what is happening.
- Inability to predict and plan your future. Persons suffering from a chemical type of addiction, in most cases, do not seek to take responsibility for the choice of certain actions. At the same time, they can say one thing and do another.
- Egocentrism. A person dependent on addictions is completely fixed on his desires, feelings and interests.
- Daydreaming. People suffering from addictions are very fond of fantasizing. They live in a fantasy world and easily renounce reality.
- Maximalism and intolerance. Dependent people tend to quickly eliminate all the problems that arise in their path with a minimum of effort on their part. Maximalism is called extreme in judgments. And this feature is very clearly manifested in addicted people. They see the whole world in only two colors - in black and white.
Treatment methods
How to deal with addiction? First of all, you need to understand that any addiction (aka mania) is a psychological problem. Moreover, such a disease has its developmental stages.
So, at first, human activities are only episodic in nature. And only after that they become permanent. At this initial stage, mental dependence also appears, because a person takes pleasure and pleasure from a certain occupation. And only after some time is the formation of physical dependence. For example, it is very difficult to give up drugs at this stage, since this immediately causes a “breakdown”. For alcoholics, the case may end in delirium tremens. Similar phenomena occur due to the already formed habit of the body to function according to a certain pattern. In case of failures in her work, a peculiar panic begins, because the body can no longer work in a different way.
How to treat gambling, alcoholism, smoking and other mania? To do this, it is recommended to consult a specialist. Only he can choose the most effective course of therapy. To cope in such situations is almost unrealistic.
How to overcome Internet addiction and other types of mental addiction? In these cases, no drugs are prescribed to patients. In this case, how to treat gambling addiction and similar addictions? In some situations, the doctor may prescribe symptomatic treatment. The specialist recommends drugs that relieve suspiciousness, irritability, etc. But, as a rule, such treatment consists in conducting conversations during which the psychologist needs to identify the cause of the disease. In this case, the doctor acts on his patient, trying to convince him that he has no need to perform such actions.
Some types of addictions, such as gambling, alcohol, tobacco, are treated with hypnosis. During the session, the specialist convinces his patient that drinking alcohol or smoking a cigarette can lead to unpredictable results.
Sometimes alcohol addiction is treated with a drug such as Teturam. Its reception provokes vomiting in a patient when taking even a small dose of alcohol. This allows you to develop a conditioned reflex. Over time, even the smell of drinks with an increased degree begins to cause a person to feel bad.
The patient can be placed in a clinic for the treatment of alcohol dependence. Here, qualified specialists will be engaged in it around the clock. In the clinic for the treatment of alcohol dependence, droppers are used, pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy, as well as hardware methods to restore the body.
A drug such as Methadone allows you to save a person from drug addiction. He relieves the attack of “breaking”, without causing euphoria. As a result, a person becomes uninterested in taking drugs.
How to deal with telephone and Internet addiction? You can do this yourself by going through 10 stages in succession:
- Recognize the problem.
- Conduct a dependency analysis. To do this, you need to answer yourself why this is happening, is there an urgent need for actions to be taken?
- Make a firm decision. It will allow for a change.
- Find out your own desires.
- To formulate the result of the actions taken.
- Develop an intention to change life.
- Mentally switch to a new state. This will allow you to see the world in bright colors.
- Control your behavior in relation to bad habits.
- Change the behavior model.
- Change the environment. When passing this stage, you will need to part with people who continue to pull the addict into his past.
Having got rid of addiction, how not to get addicted again? There is only one recipe in this case. A person needs to be aware of the problem of mania, not ceasing to study himself, and also to observe his actions and actions, not allowing the development of the mechanism of a bad habit.