Addictions

Ok time to pick up a touchy subject. Addictions.

A few weeks back i read an article.

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2007/06/22/hscout605801.html


Then i imagined a world without the things that people get addicted to. After all , thats the cure we seek now isnt it ?

No alcohol, no cigarettes, no drugs, no weed, no gambling, no chocolate ... no video games.

I can't bring myself to say people wont get addicted to something else. Yet again we seem to be shirking responsibility as a society. Addictions are a direct result of the addictive substances and not the fact that people get addicted to things to escape or to satiate. Thats what we try to convince ourselves of. Why ? ... Because its an easier pill to swallow. Because those of us who aren't addicted in obvious ways can feel better about ourselves. So more irresponsible parents, teachers and " experts " can feel better about themselves while the people they were supposed to take care of and nurture get addicted to these malicious addictive substances ... like nintendo.

Here is what is see to be the truth. Addictions are a symptom. An ugly manifestation of the huge holes that most people in our society find in their lives. Everyone is addicted ... to some extent. It is not going to change because we seem to be hell bent on treating the symptom. While the disease which is widespread and deep rooted we choose to ignore. Its almost as stupid as putting up a sign that says ' No drugs - School area '. The fact that people are distributing drugs and the fact that kids and adults alike chose to take these things in spite of knowing about the detrimental effects of some of them is a sign that the problem lies elsewhere and the anti drugs campaigns and signs are like putting a white sheet over the giant pile of shit in the middle of the living room that everyone wants to ignore.

There was another article on the web a few days back, where a doctor in the national psychiatric association was pushing to get video game addiction officially listed in the list of addictions because she found out her son was addicted to a popular online MMORPG.

How did she realize her son was addicted ? ( This is the fun part ).

One day she found that ...
a) He had lost all his friends b) His grades slipped from As to Cs c) He spent inordinate amounts of time in his room.

I find it astounding that she couldn't tell this was a problem long before her son lost his social life, ignored his education and became a recluse.

She chose to blame the video game. I blame the lack of guidance and attention from the boys parents, friends and teachers. But hey they probably don't want to hear that ... so lets start up a campaign to get this video game classified as a " disease ".

Most of all ... I blame the kid if he got addicted. IF he did it by choice ? more power to him. Maybe his friends suck, maybe he doesn't have the desire to be educated and maybe his parents suck so bad that he chooses not to see them. But if he got addicted without realizing it ... it is pathetic. A strong lack of personal conviction and control which no one should be required to teach someone. We all make choices ... everything is a choice ... and we have no right to shirk that responsibility.

This isn't the first time human beings have looked toward an outside entity to blame / praise when they want to shirk the responsibility that falls upon them. We've been doing that for ages and it isn't about to change. I doubt i'll be seeing ' religion ' being classified as an addiction anytime soon though.


Our problem is the inability to face our problems, take the blame and work toward improving. Perhaps if we all did that from time to time ... people could all be drinking, smoking, video game playing, chocolate eating, gambling bastards with perfectly happy lives.