ADDICTION

Most of us are actually addicts.... No joke...

What is addiction?

Any doctor will tell you it involves a substance or a FORM OF BEHAVIOR which is used compulsively, which alters behavior and which causes unpleasant symptoms when access to it is denied.
I and my roommate, Lors have been reading "still in the middle of reading" an old book I bought 3 years ago in Manila but I only got to start reading these days. Hehe... not too late....The title of the book is "Endless Energy for Women on the Move."

This is something that we got from the book:
1. Alcohol, substance abuse, addictive eating behavior, drugs, sex and WORK COMPULSION have been shown to lie beneatha wide range of chronic health problemsand social ills.

2. Addiction of one kind or another is our third greatest killer, after cancer and heart disease.

3. If you are addicted to something - whether sex, chocolate, tranquilizers or junk food - your ability to experience the full range of sensory delight in what you do, see, touch, smell and taste may be undermined. You can only fully appreciate the smouldering bitterness of the finest chocolate when you are not a chocoholic.

4. All of us, addicts or non-addicts, have "appetite" brain systems involved in such activities as exploration, invetigation of the environment, foraging and mating (which maybe one of the reasons why both and sex are high on the list of triggers for addictive behavior). Under normal circumstances, these systems help your body re-establish balance after stressful experiences and events - be it in childbirth, injury or intense fatigue - by releasing brain chemicals called "opoids", like the endorhins and enkephalins. THIS SIGNAL THE GRATIFICATION OF FOOD WHEN WE ARE HUNGRY, THE PLEASURE OF HUMAN WARMTH WHEN WE ARE LONELY, THE DISSOLUTION OF PAIN WHEN WE ARE INJURED. *kaila ka'g pleasure of human warmth ug dissolution of pain?

5. Experts said that not only disturbed brain and body biochemistry trigger alterration in consciousness which leads to addictive behavior, SO DO DISTORTED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS -FEAR, UNCERTAINTY, LOW SELF-ESTEEM and, MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, A SENSE OF MEANINGLESSNESS AND POWERLESSNESS.

6. In many ways, the whole phenomenon of addiction is a metaphor for the greater sickness of meaninglessness and powerlessness which pervades our whole society.

7. At the root of the word addiction is the latin verb addicere, which is "to surrender". When we surrender anything other than the life force at the core of our being, or God if you like, we do ourselves a great injustice. Not only is the object of our surrender - the television set, chocolate chips, ice cream, a few gin and tonics - unworthy of our devotion, it is also incapable of providing us with the satisfaction and support we need.

FOR THOSE ADDICTS... IN SUBSTANCE AND BEHAVIOR...
We need to
1. identify to which are we addicted
2. acknowledge the addiction and the degree of our addiction
3. Reclaim yourself
4. Root out ... some soul-searhing... please, an honest one
5. Help yourself. Ex. Your sugar intake can be responsible for increasing your cravings for anything from cigarettes, to shopping, to love....
6. Have fun... denial is a drag... find something productive to replace it.
7. Elicit support... don't be afraid to ask for help...
8. Feel proud! See the journey to overcome your addiction and reclaim your lost energy as a heroic one.