Loong post alert! I've been thinking a lot about addiction lately. My takeaway from David Kessler's The End of Overeating is that habits are based on our wiring and that is based on evolution: we don't have to think about every single thing we do. The behaviors that led to some kind of reward in the past are the ones that become established as habits. So nerve networks are formed to convey this same information to our brain, muscles, sense, etc. over and over like an auto-repeat function. I understand that gave us a survival advantage over the millennia.

Then I read in Robert Lustig's Fat Chance that the love of sweets is basically universal. He writes that sugar stimulates a pleasure center in the brain that releases dopamine that causes the sensation of pleasure. He goes on to say that this evolved because sugar is a quick source of energy = survival. The pleasure led to craving that drove humans to seek it more, and that all conferred a survival advantage. Same with sex re perpetuating the species.

These ideas make sense to me, the nerve pathways of habits to make us function more efficiently and pleasure center driving us to like and seek that which helps us survive. And this all took eons to evolve. It can explain why so many are susceptible to addiction--part of our basic survival-driven wiring.

So my question: Is ANYONE out there addicted to healthy things? I get pleasure from exercise, for example, but am in no way addicted to it.

Isn't addiction by its very nature an unhealthy thing? To be addicted means to have such a strong need for something to the detriment of the addict.

To answer your question though, exercise, no way, lol. I'm a lazy creature by nature.

I don't think I have a real addiction. I love reading far too much but I can't really say that I have a "need" for it since I know that I'll be okay without books if I have some other form of mental stimulation that I enjoy.

But perhaps this is what the authors are trying to get at? You CAN replace the need with another that provides the same stimulation, craving, pleasure. I have not read either book.

Well I know my brother-in-law is addicted to golf. Any day he has a day off he plays golf. We went on a cruise with the entire extended family to Bermuda. Where does he go when everybody else is together? You got it golf. When he and my sister go away for a couples all inclusive vacation they must choose a place that includes golf. No my sister does not play golf. I guess you can say golf is healthy, to an extent. Golf also causes overuse of your tendons leading to needing surgery. Let's not talk about the expense.

Ok I totally went off tangent. LOL But I agree everybody is addicted to something.

Music.

magical, Kessler isn't all that optimistic about substituting pleasures. He says the nerve networks never disappear but can go into remission. Exercise seems to have the best chance of substituting for the fat/salt/sugar/ reward pathway. And avoiding triggers and cues to addictive behaviors. I think there is a lot more to learn, though.

serenity Who knows, maybe there is that pleasure-reward thing going on for him! I suppose the acid test would be could he stop if he felt he should stop, for some reason? Would he experience withdrawal?

novangel That's it, exactly. I get a compelling pleasure to a specific piece of music once in a while. I listen to it over and over and don't want to stop even to go to work. It alters my state of mind, in a pleasant way. Sometimes it will trigger a rush of raw emotional clarity that lasts for days. Then it wears off, even though I'll still enjoy the piece. If I have the right music, I will exercise just so I can listen to it. I also lose food cravings for a while.

Hamoco350 I would sure like to have your addictions! My first instinct with things I enjoy is also to want to improve and tweak. Maybe that's an addiction too, lol.

Seaweed and reading and both perfectly healthy. I'm addicted to both in the best way possible.

I may be getting addicted to chi gong, I've been doing it for over 7 months and I can hardly skip a day.

India spiced tea - I crave it every day. It's become a ritualistic habit.

Stretching - I love doing stretches every day. It feels so good!!

Netflix and the Real Housewives - wait, that's not so good though is it? Oh well, I love my guilty pleasures.

Exercise. I get antsy with mood swings if I don't do it regularly.

Love seaweed!!

I don't know if addiction is the right word, but I LOVE Jiff peanut butter. I eat some almost every day. It tastes perfect to me and fills me up QUICK and keeps me filled up.

I'm not sure it would qualify as an addiction, but I've been a huge banana fan since I was very small. We're never very long without bananas in this house.

I get very antsy if I don't walk a lot. I start to pace the house if I'm cooped up for too long and it drives my husband nuts. I try to get plenty of walks and treadmill time in to avoid pacing restlessly.

What is the line between addiction and a compulsion or obsession?

I have a compulsion to exercise every day. I feel uneasy and guilty if I don't do it.

I don't think addicts feel guilt, exactly, if they don't get their fix, so that's why I'm labeling it a compulsion.

Running. It is a source of endorphine release, so there is some biological component to it too. If I take of more than one day, I start to feel blue and irritable. Days that I do run I am significantly happier, like I got my fix.

Exercise, specifically hiking. Music will always be my most intense addiction though. Piano IS my life and if I'm not hiking, my life revolves around music. Studying, listening, teaching, performing, learning, practicing, writing about it, discussing it, looking through scores....its all I do all day unless I'm exercising or doing basic daily things. I even had a discussion with my mentor last year about feeling guilty over being in love with my boyfriend because I felt like I was cheating on the piano and she had to assure me that it was good for me to have people in my life and have activities and relationships outside of piano haha But piano and hiking are the two things that I become depressed without. Although I can go without hiking and often have to when gearing up for performances. But piano...can't go without that.

I got interested in the word meaning here and looked up addiction, it means the continued repetition of something despite adverse consequences. So in theory you can't be addicted to something healthy as something healthy would not have adverse consequences. But I guess there is too much of a good thing. For instance I love fruit which in itself is healthy but I can easily binge on it leading to weight gain. So that is taking something healthy to an unhealthy exteme. Also the golf example given would be like that too.