The Addiction Vaccine

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/health/04vaccine.html?scp=4&sq=addiction&st=cse


    This article talks about the idea of having a vaccine that will prevent people from having addictions. It says that when they get it to work it will help smokers to not feel anything when they light up a cigarette, or for people who are addicted to cocaine to not have any of the pleasant feelings they would normally have without the vaccine.  They say this is working with rats, but do you think it is possible to work on humans? If it does work then what would be the effects on the community? What are some of the positive things that could come out of it? What about the negative effects?

    Do you think it is ethical to be conducting animal testing for something that seems to be extremely doubted and unnecessary? Do you think people with addictions that take this vaccine would then have the ability to get addicted to the vaccine itself? Would addiction then primarily be taken care of in hospitals rather than in therapy like settings?

Addicted to Performance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LY5Z6tyrY8

    Dressing and acting like a baby is something that not many people would consider doing. It is very strange, but would you consider it an addiction? If this is an addiction then does that mean that anything that we tend to do on a daily basis can be considered an addiction? Do you think that life experiences, such as Riley deciding to become a women, impact the things that people become addicted to?

    Though the fact that this woman desires to lead her life as a baby do you think it is fair to say she is addicted to acting like one in comparison to other more serious and traumatic addictions? How do you think this "addiction" affects her daily life? Would you ultimately consider this a habit or an addiction? And what do you consider is the difference that separates the two?

Addicted to Music Itself

Is Music a Drug

This article is of the few attempts on the web that tries to connect music itself with addiction.  To explain that music is like a drug and consequently addictive, the article uses the argument that feelings generated from music are, however strong and influential, false.  How does one react to music and are some reactions similar or identical to that of drugs?   If these reactions are similar, does that make music addicting?  What defines a "real" drug and therefore a "real" addiction?

Do you listen to music to purposefully alter your state of mind? If you do, in what situations and do you rely on its effects? This leads to another interesting topic the article discusses--tolerance.  After you listen to your favorite song countless times, does it become "boring" and therefore ineffective?  If one relies on music, are they an addict?

Music and Addiction

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPVSuq5Kacw

This is the music video to Semi-charmed Life by Third Eye Blind. Lyrics are below the video. I recommend reading the lyrics with the music and then watching the video.

It won't give anything away to say that this song is about being addicted to crystal meth.

The questions, however, are how does this song balance the elation of being high with the despair of being addicted? What does the video itself lend to the topic of addiction? Is it ironic that such a light-hearted pop song is explicitly about amphetamine addiciton, yet blends in to the musical landscape of the late 90s? I bet most of us have heard this songs numerous times and never realized it was about addiction.

We listen to songs with drug references everyday, from Amy Winehouse to Willy Nelson and a plethora of artist between. A lot of us would probably agree that music is a pretty important part of our lives.  Considering the sometimes clandestine nature of song meanings, what are some of your favorite songs about addiction? Does considering the meaning change your mind about that song in any way?

Workaholics

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51425

This article states that there’s a difference between working hard and being a workaholic.

Do you think being a workaholic should be considered an addiction? And if so what qualities

make it so addicting? What makes the difference between working hard and being a workaholic?

Is it as the article says that hard workers generally have some balance in their lives and they

sit at their desks and think about skiing whereas the workaholic is on the ski slopes thinking

about work? Why would someone deem this as a “respectable addiction”? Is there some type of

chemical satisfaction the abuser feels? How

Designer Drugs

http://www.everythingaddiction.com/drugs-addiction/stimulants/bath-salts-growing-drug-abuse-problem/

This article talks about a particular “Designer drug”, but raises some important questions about addiction. One of the things about designer drugs is that they switch formulas so much, and states have a hard time keeping up with law making and enforcement. In your opinion, would it be better to leave certain drugs legal so that they don’t switch formulas very often, allowing us to develop better ways to combat addiction to one specific drug, or is it better to keep outlawing “bath salts” as well as similar designer drugs? Also, what constitutes a drug, and therefore an addiction? Is it a certain chemical component, or is it the way that these products are used?

Food Addiction

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/food-addiction-could-it-e_b_764863.html

The article states that “industrial processed food that is made in a plant rather than grown on a plant is biologically addictive.” What do you think it is about industrial processed food that can be addictive and why don’t people binge eat on the healthy snacks, such as carrots? Does this mean that all obese people are addicted to food? What kinds of things are influencing food addictions, and what are some steps we can take to prevent it?

The Thin Line Between Social Drinkers and Alcoholics

 http://blog.challenges-program.com/2011/09/the-thin-line-between-social-drinkers-and-alcoholics/

You're out with your friends drinking and having a good time. You may have had a little too much that night, but no harm done, right? Just because you had one too many doesn't make you an alcoholic. But then you notice youre drinking everyday, and not just with your friends. You drink a little more everyday. A glass of wine with dinner, a beer during the football game. Your drinking starts to get excessive, but you don't see a problem, but do the people around you see a problem? Is your drinking starting to affect your relationships and your life? Thats when most people say there is a problem. When your drinking starts to affect other aspects of your life in negative ways. So, when do you cross the line from being a social drinker to being and alcoholic? When do you know you have a problem? Did the problem begin when your relationships where affected, or when you took that first sip of your new companion, alcohol?

Top Ten Addictive Behaviors

http://blog.growingleaders.com/parenting/top-ten-addictive-behaviors-of-adolescents/

This article is a take on why our generation as a whole shows more addictive behavior than generations in the past.

Do you agree that addiction is more prevalent today? Is our society accepting more types of addictions than in the past? If so is this because there is a negative view towards the advanced technology that people are becoming "addicted" to? Is addiction no longer considered a medical illness but instead a term used more lightly? Is our society obsessed with the idea of addiction?

Is there a correlation between the amount of media we our exposed to and our more addictive behaviors? Are there just more things to become addicted to now than in the past (cellphones, Facebook, twitter, video games, iPods exc)?

Dior Addict

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is1O35TZCHM

This commercial is advertising a product called Dior Addict. Dior Addict is a brand of perfume. How does this commercial, and the product name in particular effect societies’ mentality towards addiction? Are there other places in society that take “addiction” or “addict” out of context? Could this be undermining the serious problem of addiction?

Is terminology such as shopaholics and workaholics undermining addiction? Where is the line between actual addiction and obsessiveness? Are people turning more things into addictions to have an excuse for their behavior?

Is society becoming too used to or comfortable with addiction as a concept and/or as a word?

Prescription Drug Addiction

http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/drug-tolerance-addiction

Affect on the Individual:

You fall and break your leg, after surgery and a few days in the hospital its time to go home. The doctor sends you with instructions on how to care for your healing leg. Along with the instruction comes a prescription to pain medication. You take the entire prescription but after a few weeks, the dose just doesn’t seem to be enough. “What’s the problem with taking four pills at a time instead of two?” “Two pills just doesn’t get rid of the pain anymore.” The addiction begins.

Over a period of time, pain medications may loose their effectiveness on an individual’s pain level. They being to think they can’t coup without there meds and it consumes their daily routine. Are they afraid of the pain that will occur if they don’t take the medication? Are they truly suffering or is it just a figment of the imagination? Is their body in a habit of receiving this drug and can’t function properly without it? What sets off an individual to become addicted to prescription pain medications?

Affect on family

 

When a family member is addicted to a prescribed pain medication, how would the family members be affected? How would there  lives change? Depending on which family member is addicted, would the amount of affection change? If a parent is addicted to a pain medication, would there children become more likely to become addicted? In a family, could having a family member who is addicted to pain medication make the family more likely to become destroyed, or is the affection not that drastic? Would the family distance themselves from the addicted family member before they would let there family fall apart? If a parent is addicted to pain medication, are there children more likely to rebel and distance themselves from that parent more than in a “normal” family situation?

http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/drug-tolerance-addiction

Internet Addiction

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hIF-Ws_AAl3GtjIN04ajuoKIEhBA?docId=CNG.59c8f07fc7da6a4419e50d7af3fe7904.a1

Should compulsive Internet use really be qualified as an addiction? It’s not like a substance addiction, where somebody becomes accustomed to a certain chemical. Does this matter? If it’s still an addiction what makes it so? Are the consequences of Internet addiction, and others similar to it, different than those of substance addictions? How so?

The article says that more young people are classified as being Internet addicts than adults. Why do you think this is? Is it because younger people are more adapted to modern technology? Or are there more websites which are targeted at young people?

The study found that there are more women internet addicts than men. 5% of the females of the tested population were considered addicts, while only 3% of the males were. Why do you think is? The article also says that the girls are largely devoted to social networks, like Facebook, while the boys mostly spend their web time playing online games. Why is this? Is there something inherent to each gender that causes them to be susceptible to different sites?

Addicted to Porn?

http://www.purelifeministries.org/?gclid=CNKg95zerqsCFSEEQAodgSLlHg

Can one be addicted to something that does not have a chemical component? While many people undoubtedly develop unhealthy ideas about sex and sexuality from pornography, is addiction really the best way to think about this?

Does the fact that this is an addiction that seems to affect men far more often than women suggest that there are social and cultural factors at play that make the issue far more complicated than merely being about addiction? Are men addicted to pornography or the idea of limitless sexual conquests with no consequences (note the lack of STDs or unwanted pregnancies in mainstream pornography)?

Also, what is the function of the appeal to a higher power? On the one hand, it seems to suggest that this a problem that could face anyone and with the grace of God any sinner can be saved. However at the same time it suggests that people are powerless to make responsible or ethical choices once sexuality gets involved. Still, considering the sky-high rates of sexual violence against women in our contemporary society, perhaps we should be rewarding anyone who is making an effort to think about women as something other than constantly sexually available to any man who so chooses.

Addiction: International Edition

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/06/china-blasts-us-over-cred_n_920094.html

This story is interesting for the fascinating issues it raises about the nature of addiction. What does it mean for China to declare the US addicted to debt? Is it a genuine effort to convince a neighboring country to make better choices? Or is it an attempt to make the American government seem immature and irresponsible?

Given the political climate, with so many formerly powerful and prominent Western nations now going through tremendous financial hardships, does this feel like an attempt to assert more power for the Chinese government? Or is it a terrible mistake to believe that this must be about one country trying to one-up America despite the fact that it would seem to be fairly sound advice?

Does it mean something different when foreign politicians tell us we are addicted to debt as opposed to when the message comes from domestic politicians? How does declaring American "addicted to" debt help China ease into the case for replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency? What else might China (or any other political entity for that matter) feel compelled to do to deal with the problem of debt addiction?