Addictions are Compensation For a Lack of Athletic Fulfillment

[integral]

Partially True.

There is part of our biology that yearns for athleticism and with out it addiction like smoking are used to satisfy that basic human need. 

[SonataAllegro]

An insight I’m arriving at myself. I’d include sexuality and social connection in that category.

[Schizophonia]

I can't conceptualize a comment on becoming addicted to cigarettes.
It's like the least pleasant drug in the world.

[Carl-Richard]

Addictions are compensations for a lack.

[UnbornTao]

46 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

Addictions are compensations for a lack.

A presumed lack.  

[Carl-Richard]

3 minutes ago, UnbornTao said:

A presumed lack.  

I'm thirsty. Do I lack water or is that a presumed lack?

[Princess Arabia]

22 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

I'm thirsty. Do I lack water or is that a presumed lack?

Sensations and a feeling of lack are different. Feeling thirsty is a sensation of the body. The body isn't saying it is lacking water it is feeling the sensation of thirst. 

[Princess Arabia]

3 hours ago, integral said:

Partially True.

There is part of our biology that yearns for athleticism and with out it addiction like smoking are used to satisfy that basic human need. 

Athletics smoke. Smokers after leaving the gym can grab a cigarette. How does that explain this theory.

[UnbornTao]

On 6/2/2023 at 6:06 PM, Carl-Richard said:

I'm thirsty. Do I lack water or is that a presumed lack?

Addiction might be catalyzed by an unconscious avoidance of pain. We avoid pain and seek pleasure because we presume to be lacking. Experiencing oneself as already inherently complete resolves that dilemma. You assume to be broken in some way.

Edited June 11, 2023 by UnbornTao

[Carl-Richard]

1 hour ago, UnbornTao said:

Addiction might be caused by our unconscious avoidance of pain. We seek to avoid pain and pursue pleasure because we presume to be lacking in some way. Being complete solves that. You're already complete but assume you're missing something, which drives you to act a certain way, which may end up in you developing addictions.

If you want to survive as an organism, pleasure and pain cannot be ignored. They can be approached in more or less conscious ways, but they're essential for survival. It seems like you're calling it a presumed lack because you can just choose to die. That is not a very relevant proposition (in my "living" opinion).

I would say addictions tend to develop when there is something "wrong" (e.g. a lack in fundamental human needs or unresolved emotional issues or trauma), and it breeds on the compulsive and unconscious mechanisms fundamental to the human condition (the same mechanisms that force you to breathe, or drink water, or scratch your arm; "lower" forms of survival).

And that is why they're so hard to unwind: they're so deeply ingrained into you. You have to essentially do a full system reboot to get a significant chance of change, which is why spiritual experiences or other extreme conditions like rock-bottom experiences are some of the very few reliable predictors of recovery.

Edited June 2, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[Buck Edwards]

Addictions are cope. 

[MarkKol]

Masturbating for example is just coping with loneliness.

[gettoefl]

addiction is turning a want into a need

i no longer enjoy, it is necessary for me to live

it is hard enough to gain freedom even without addictions

[Sugarcoat]

We’re trying to feel grounded somehow I guess? 

[Sugarcoat]

On 2023-06-02 at 7:38 PM, Princess Arabia said:

Athletics smoke. Smokers after leaving the gym can grab a cigarette. How does that explain this theory.

A lot of people train in this mechanical ego driven way so disconnected from the body. That’s why we see so many injuries I guess . Working out can’t compensate for a lack of open connection to the body so they will still need those other stuff to feel okay 

[D2sage]

Been climbing Mountains in mallorca and it is a better kick than psychdelics or any drugs.

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by D2sage

[UnbornTao]

On 6/2/2023 at 8:33 PM, Carl-Richard said:

If you want to survive as an organism, pleasure and pain cannot be ignored. They can be approached in more or less conscious ways, but they're essential for survival. It seems like you're calling it a presumed lack because you can just choose to die. That is not a very relevant proposition (in my "living" opinion).

My current take is that dysfunctional behavior might be caused precisely because we want to avoid pain. That pleasure and pain are part of the same dynamic is often ignored by us, and yet we strive to somehow experience pleasure continuously while expecting pain to be minimal or even zero, as irrational as that is. We still live as if that were possible, but it's not, it's an ideal.

About the presumed lack, I was speaking existentially.

We don't experience ourselves as being complete. Perhaps one's true nature is already complete but in our ignorance of that fact, we set out to find "cures" for that dilemma. This may lead to an unconscious avoidance of pain which in turn helps generate addictive behavior. Why the pervasive need to distract oneself?

"Humanity's problems stem from man's inability to be alone in a room."

Quote

I would say addictions tend to develop when there is something "wrong" (e.g. a lack in fundamental human needs or unresolved emotional issues or trauma), and it breeds on the compulsive and unconscious mechanisms fundamental to the human condition (the same mechanisms that force you to breathe, or drink water, or scratch your arm; "lower" forms of survival).

And that is why they're so hard to unwind: they're so deeply ingrained into you. You have to essentially do a full system reboot to get a significant chance of change, which is why spiritual experiences or other extreme conditions like rock-bottom experiences are some of the very few reliable predictors of recovery.

This deals with the psychological domain whereas I was coming from an existential consideration. What you say is of course reasonable.

A child that lacks paternal love may try to seek it somewhere else. Personality and how the child chooses to respond to circumstances may play a role here. But nothing says that if your needs aren't met, you have to develop addictions. Circumstances could catalyze such behavior but what the person does, and how she responds, are key.

What kind of compulsive, unconscious emotional mechanisms would be equivalent to, say, breathing, moving, etc?

Why do some individuals move on from their traumas while others get stuck within them and need a long healing process? In the former case, maybe they don't allow their past history to dictate their future. Others may use their life history as a justification for not instantly getting over their traumas, remaining bound to them. This seems to be a possibility. (Not to undermine/downplay painful events and trauma, these are valid).

Ultimately, childish people don't want to experience themselves as the source of their experience. Rather than being the victim of circumstances, owning yourself, your emotions and your experience makes for an empowering model of reality.

Edited June 20, 2023 by UnbornTao

[Carl-Richard]

@UnbornTao I'm talking about the psychological meat and potatoes of addiction. You're talking about spiritual self-transcendence. 

I'm talking about a ground-up healing of the issue. You're talking about an orthogonal movement away from the issue.

I'm talking about having a healthy psychology. You're talking about becoming trans-psychological.

The reality is that you'll have a hard time only focusing on one of those frames, because both of them are leaky buckets.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[CherryColouredFunk]

Mike Tyson was a cokehead.

[Princess Arabia]

3 hours ago, CherryColouredFunk said:

Mike Tyson was a cokehead.

Cokehead, pothead, winohead, sexhead, shopping head, cigarette head, workaholichead, crackhead, ecstasypillhead,  actualizedforumhead, all the same distractraction head from going withinhead.