Hi
I have been reading a few different articles, on addiction, a few times 'unharmful addictions' has been mentioned. To clarify these refer to addictions such as gaming, shopping, excersie,mobile phones, internet and few more. I remember when first quitting gambling I shopped especially for shoes a great deal, and yes I did not spend my whole months wages on shoes however I could see how shopping could become a problem.
I am always aware that for me gambling has been used to escape from all of lifes stresses and problems. Although have dealt with a great deal of these issues, and no longer by shoes for the sake of it iether, am I still at risk of forming and 'unharmful addiction'? In the chat room last night we touched on this subject and the moderater made a good point by stating that any addiction can be harmful if it impacts on someones life, so that they are unable to function in a balanced way. So if relationships deteriorate because of a games console then it becomes a problem. Or if I lied to my partner on how much money I spent on shoes does this parallel lying about how much money one spends on gambling?
This is the first time I have come accross the term 'unharmful addictions' in a published article. Sure gambling addiction like substance abuse is hard to come off and can have devistating effects on the person in the addiction and those that care for them. However what of the twenty something lad spending 20 hours a day on his console locked away in his room? No social interaction, not dealing with his emotions, not sleeping properly and escaping reality entirely, is this not harmful?
Just wondered if others had any thoughts or opinions on this matter?
Good point. Surely all addictions are harmful. The cost of addiction includes money, time and the ability to be present/have focus when not in action.
Gambling is all about the escape and so is symptomatic of something else. Rather than escape - make your life more rewarding, rich and meaningful. so there's less need for habitual escape.
They are generally termed transient addiction, but it amounts to the same thing. GA has a great booklet on them called Deviations Along The Road To Recovery(free to download from their website). Work, exercise, shopping, s*x & food being amongst the most common.
I think we need to understand that as addicts, we have a learnt, ingrained way of numbing feelings, dealing with life or escaping as you both put it & that way is to have a single central focus in our day to day lives. A problem or thing that needs doing in order for us to avoid the feelings or situations we would rather pretend arent happening. Its understandable that we will seek out new ways to numb, when the consequences of our primary addiction become too much to take.
Recovery is a seeking of balance. I dont think any of us get it right straight away. Transient addictions if less harmful can be a stepping stone to balance, but very easy to let the new coping mechanism take the place of the old one. This is where counselling or sponsorship can help, someone who is willing to question without judging where you are heading with your life
Yes addiction takes many forms and is generally harmful when taken too far. The addiction clouds any rational judgement and thats when it gets very dangerous.
Take body building for example and when that becomes an addiction. Is it when they start using steroids or long before that?
I have an addictive personality because I try and escape emotions and life. Ive been addicted to shopping and at one point had ten credit cards or more
Im a dreamer and escape artist which is why gambling played right into my mindset from an early age. I often refer to a line from one of my fav songs.
"Tried living in the real world. Instead of a shell. But before I began. I was bored before I even began"
I was introverted in my formative years and shyed away from grabbing life with both hands. I run and always ran away which is why I was a classic escape gambler.
I am prone to filling my empty soul with things which dont really matter.
I enjoy gaming though and dont consider myself an addict because I do it in my spare time and its very enjoyable 🙂 some people would call me an addict
Best wishes to everyone on the forum
Gym for me, I dont take steroids + I'm not wasting 1000s like gambling..
Husband is a cg and has become addicted to social media. Doesnt cost money but is also helping to destroy oumarriage. So no there is no such thing as a harmless addiction
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Good evening all,
Such great imput from all. The general conensus is that there is no such thing as an 'unharmful addiction'. With perhaps the slight exception of gym. But that could lead to a harmful addiction if taken too far I have probably contradicted myself in this sentence.
This does therefore support the argument that addiction is about escapisim or diversion from deeper problems. My silly shoe addiction stopped when I recognised that I was masking or deflecting learning more about me. It was only when I became involved in more self awareness that I could even face a discussion of this nature. Avoiding my emotions out of fear of acceptence took many forms, gambling was just one form of escapisim.
B123 I sincerly hope your husband eventually has the courage to deal with whatever he is running from. Somethings can be so imbedded from the past it makes it hard to live in the present. However anything is possible when we explore these things and as Joyd says 'reality strikes'.
The more we talk, discuss and debate the more we learn. There have been some really interesting topics discussed here and I think this section was a good addition to the forum
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