Addictions

I decided that, for Essay Number One, I'm going to write about addictions. I started research today, and I thought that I'd start with something farmiliar to me: pain addiction.

I suppose that I picked this subject because I wanted to know more about the psychology behind my own addiction and others like it, and I learned a few things.

I learned that those with a "pain addiction" are not actually addicted to the pain, but to the endorphins that are released when physical pain is experienced. Endorphins (the hormone-like substance that the body releases when injury is experienced) give you a numb, almost euphoric sensation, and they are very similar in structure to heronin or morphine. Emotional or physical stress causes strain on the body, and constant strain leads to a constant stream of endorphins in the system and results in a barely noticeable anesthetic effect. When endorphin flooding is part of every day life, a persons senses can be deadened.

Someone who experiences this can still feel emotions, but only if they are extremely profound. The problem is that intense emotions, such as rage or fear, can trigger further endorphin release, and in turn leads to more emotional numbing.

When a person becomes used to living an endorphin-filled exsistence, it is very difficult to give it up. (Why, I have yet to find.)

There is also the emotional pain addict. (This is one I am less farmiliar with.) This is when a person feels so much of a negative feeling, such as anger, worry, grief, fear, or depression, that they become unable to live without it. Changing habitual patterns of emotional pain can be as difficult as giving up an addictive substance, examples given being nicotine, alchohol, or heroin. The emotional pain addict seeks out situations that will result in pain, like a prolonged stressful relationship.

anyway, that's all i had time for, but i will speak to you later...

xoxo,
Brii333

QUOTE OF THE DAY
"You do anything long enough to escape the habit of living until the escape becomes the habit."

~David Ryan