Addictions - What is hardest one to quit?

[pegboy]

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they are all easy to kick if you arent weak minded

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Could you tell which addictions you've kicked?

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The weak minded comment is completely false. Many addicts of the threads description are brilliant people in one regard or another. We all know addicts who are very talented in their own way. Often people throw so much of themselves into one area of life that other areas result in troubles or addictions.

On the other hand, so-called "strong minded" people might be accused of being one dimensional, perhaps boring, in their addiction free lives.

[tehdfall]

I could never say that video games are more addicting than drugs, but seriously.. there are some games out there, like a lot of MMORPGS that are REALLY addicting, like wow and everquest. It might suprise some people just how hooked people can get with their video games

[Mllndllrmn]

[ QUOTE ]
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they are all easy to kick if you arent weak minded

[/ QUOTE ]
Could you tell which addictions you've kicked?

[/ QUOTE ]

The weak minded comment is completely false. Many addicts of the threads description are brilliant people in one regard or another. We all know addicts who are very talented in their own way. Often people throw so much of themselves into one area of life that other areas result in troubles or addictions.

On the other hand, so-called "strong minded" people might be accused of being one dimensional, perhaps boring, in their addiction free lives.

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I understand what you are coming from, but honestly it is true: having a strong will can overcome everything. I wrestled my whole life which developed my mentality. My family has acloholism on both sides,and I went to a college known across the country for the ridiculous amounts of booze in the town. It was everywhere, and I joined a frat to so I got on the fast track. I was full blown addicted for quite a while until one day I just said no I can't do this I will end up like my grandpa and die at 38. So now i drink a few drinks (less than 5) once, if that, a week. Now severe, 25 year alcoholics will die if they quit cold turkey but still it does matter how much will power you have more than any drug or aid.

[Deveroast78]

It is always easier for me to quit something if I have a impartial person to be accountable to, i.e. friend of family, someone I don't necessarily see on a daily basis but talk to about once a week or so. To that end, I think groups really do work wonders, at least for me. I have kicked alcohol (fairly easily) and never was much into drugs, but I am still addicted to nicotine. Porn and sex addiction kind of go hand in hand (no pun intended) but I don't see sex as a bad thing, it is actually healthy when practiced safely, so no concerns there. Poker appeals not to the gamble in me but to the desire to make money, and lots of it, so I don't feel my...obsession?...with poker is necessarily a bad thing, either. I strive to learn all I can, not about how I play, as I feel I may have reached my peak, but to learn more about how my opponents play and adjust to their styles. I think this is one of the main things that will improve your psychological game. Also, I have some strange addiction to spicy food, I don't know what that's about, but no problems there either, and as a bonus it clears my sinuses.

Probably the worst addiction is to nicotine. I must quit those smokes but, as all smokers say: I'll get around to it one of these days. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[luckyjimm]

I'd rate my addictions in difficulty to kick in this order:

Internet poker
I've been heavily addicted for two years. Haven't been able to quit despite

* losing a job
* dropping out of my PhD programme
* having to move back to my parents; having them threaten to disown me; lieing to them constantly.
* losing friends / dignity / self-respect
* messing up my finances

and just being aware that each week I lose all the money I earn, and that poker has expanded to fill the space of all the interests I've lost, and my life sucks. Yet I still get excited when I'm on a winning streak, even though I know I'll play on till I've lost it all, or lose it another day. When I was livng at home my parents made me go to GA each week but that did no good since I didn't want to quit. I know I am a good player a lot of the time; but I also know my tendency to tilt means I'll never hold on to my winnings, and my love of big stakes means I'll always play above my head and never have a bankroll, so I'll always go bust.

I can easily go a week or two without playing a hand of poker, but that's when I'm broke. That doesn't mean I'm not an addict; I'm an addict because I can't go a day when there's money in my bank account without playing.

Internet p0rn
Whoah this is a big one; there's just so much of it out there, and if you know where to look for free. It's definitely held me back from trying to meet and get laid with real girls. I've wasted so much time jacking off online. I've never tried to quit it, though there have been periods - like now - wheere I don't have a computer at home so it's very limited.

With a computer at home, basically I find it hard to go to bed before about 3am on a workday since I'll stay up surfing for p0rn and poker. Weekends I often stay up all night. So not having a computer at home is the best step.

Alcohol
I gave this up for 22 months between 2003 and 2005, for the first six months with AA. The first month was very hard - I had got to a very bad state with alcohol, lots of blackouts, throwing up etc, so going sober I found myself tearful, frightened, scared of social occassions etc. But it got easier and easier; my life got better and better. Not drinking just became normality for me. When I started drinking again (nearly two years ago) I found I no longer had the desire to drink in the way or to the extent I had done in the past. Alcohol hasn't been a problem for me since; I don't drink much at all. I'm sure this is because poker took its place.

Cigarettes
I smoked 15+ a day for nearly four years. I quit two weeks ago, after reading an Allen Carr book and for the first week using nicotine patches. The last eight days I've been cold turkey, but re-reading Carr a lot. I really have no desire to smoke any more; I feel I've been reprogrammed and I just don't want to smoke. I can see why Carr's approach is by far the best: it ruins smoking for you, shows you that you don't get anything from it.

Caffeine
I drank around two litres of diet coke a day for ten years - either endless cans, or a big bottle. I stopped that and switched over to coffee, then tea. I've given it up sporadically. At the moment I've been about a month off caffeine. I feel much better for it - those endless cups of tea are no good for my nerves.

I guess getting over any of these things is about telling yourself that you feel okay, you feel normal, without a particular substance.

[testaaja]

I'm pretty sure I posted in this thread, it has just vanished [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

Computer is definitely the most addictive thing of all. I can go for endless time without computer if I have something better to do but how often do I have? Pretty much never.

To me it's Computer > Alcohol > Caffeine.
I love to drink but I need to moderate.. you know what happens if you don't [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[KurtSF]

I can't compare across genres like that, but I've seen studies done about which drugs are hardest to quit. Heroine and nicotine are the hardest (H #1 and nicotine #2), and are the only drugs with recidivism rates >90%. Everything else is a distant second.

[paumd]

Oxygen. No one has ever quit that [censored] in their lifetime.

[sonneti]

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Never used illegal drugs, and I hardly ever drink, so i don't really have a basis forcomparison. But, man, these cigarettes are tough. I've tried just about every quitting aid on the market.

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Read alan carr's book "the easyway to stop smoking"

[bkholdem]

cigarettes are the hardest to quit.