Top 10 Modern 
Addictions
10.
Workaholism (Work Addiction)
Workaholics often earn respect in the modern
commercial world, where every second is your
chance to earn more.
But this excessive commitment to labor draws
every bit of energy from the addict.
The lines between hard work and workaholism
begin to blur.
Workaholics, like other addicts, get a reality
jolt only when something critical happens
to their health and relationships.
In Japan, they have a word for that fatal
blow.
It’s called Karoshi or “death by overwork”.
The phenomenon created a stir when in 1980’s
a few Japanese executives died without any
history of illness.
Workaholic Anonymous, a self-help group, provides
a 12-step treatment plan for workaholics.
9.
Love Addiction
There is only one a slight difference between
a love addict and a jilted lover.
The love addict will never let it go, affecting
his health and relationships until he falls
in love again (and that might take a long
time).
A recent CNN report (“Love Addiction – How
To Break It”) quoted Psychology Today, explaining
how infatuation can produce a rise in phenylethylamine
(PEA), a neurological chemical that gives
euphoria when someone falls in love.
The report also featured the study done by
anthropologist Helen Fisher who found that
people who are infatuated share symptoms with
cocaine abusers, like sleeplessness and loss
of sense of time.
The addiction has fueled the growth of self-help
groups and therapists trained in love addiction.
Currently, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous
offers a 12-step program for recovery.
8.
Television Addiction
“The problem with television is that people
must sit and keep their eyes glued to the
screen; the average American family hasn’t
time for it.
Therefore the showmen are convinced that for
this reason, if no other, television will
never be a serious competitor of broadcasting”
(New York Time Editorial, 1939).
Today, an average American watches his TV
set for more than four hours a day, if one
A.C. Nielson Co. survey is to be believed.
This means that by the age of sixty-five this
sad old man would have spent nine years of
his life glued to the “idiot box”.
TV addicts share many clinical abuse symptoms
like helplessness in putting an end to the
addiction, using television to soothe nerves,
and irritability when forced to discontinue
the habit.
7.
Teeth Whitening Addiction
They have been called bleaching junkies and
they have made teeth whitening the top requested
cosmetic dental procedure in the U.S. (American
Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry).
There has been a 300 per cent growth in the
number of people who get hooked on to teeth
whitening products and treatments.
The consequences are as horrible as in other
addictions.
Excessive teeth sensitivity, bleeding gums,
and transparent teeth are common complaints
at dentists’ clinics.
The treatment involves making the patients
more confident about their appearance and
smile.
6.
Exercise Addiction
A compulsive excessive exerciser seems like
a creature from another planet to those of
us who need an earthquake to move us off of
our couches.
However, this species does exist and is as
human as the rest of us.
The only difference is that even an earthquake
would find it difficult to dislodge these
addicts from their treadmills.
Exercise addiction statistics are hard to
find because it usually co-exists with other
eating disorders.
Like other addicts, the treadmill abusers
sacrifice their health and social life for
their addiction.
A study published by Behavioral Neuroscience
in August 2009 found similarities between
excessive running and drug-abuse behavior.
5.
Oniomania (Shopping Addiction)
If you type “Lindsay Lohan shopping” into
Google Image search, you will be flooded by
over 1.3 million results.
A popular tabloid even claimed that Lohan
has turned to a hypnotist to cure her shopping
addiction.
It’s not just celebrities who are afflicted
by this addiction: we don’t have to look
far to find Oniomaniacs or compulsive shoppers
in almost every neighborhood and family.
Compulsive shopping can often lead to hoarding
and requires help through hoarding treatment
centers.
According to a 2006 study published in the
American Journal of Psychiatry, compulsive
buying affects more than 1 in 20 American
adults.
This impulse to buy beyond needs or means
has been linked to depression and has led
many shopaholics to the brink of bankruptcy.
4.
Tanorexia (Tanning Addiction)
Thank goodness for Donatella Versace.
Not for her fashion line, but for her recent
images that have deterred many people from
falling prey to a tanning addiction.
The medical community is concerned about tanning,
and advises against the use of tanning beds.
“The International Agency for Research on
Cancer has raised their warning of tanning
beds from “probably carcinogenic to humans”
to “carcinogenic to humans” (livescience.com).
Yet, tanorexia (or tanning addiction) continues
to be a problem, especially among women.
Addicts might feel that they are just getting
a healthy glow, but a 2006 study at Wake Forest
University study found that the UV rays of
tanning beds produce feel-good endorphins
in body.
So, a disruption in tanning schedules triggers
withdrawal symptoms like in cases of alcohol/drug
abuse.
3.
Sex Addiction
The story doing rounds is that Tiger Woods
is being treated at a behavioral health and
addiction center in Hattiesburg because he
just couldn’t get enough sex.
The craving for sexual gratification is as
old as human history.
But modern dysfunctional families are often
blamed for turning a human urge into sexually
compulsive behavior, and some feel that easy
Internet access has only added to the woes.
The American Psychological Association does
not put sex addiction under a disorder that
can be diagnosed.
But growing numbers of self-help groups and
sex recovery centers like Sexual compulsive
Anonymous and Sex Addicts Anonymous show a
problem that is present and needs medical
attention.
2.
Internet Addiction
If you have been online for hours at stretch,
browsing through the net aimlessly and do
not want to shut down your PC, it is probably
okay for now.
But if this happens to be your daily routine,
a disruption in which leaves you irritable,
you might be suffering from an Internet Addiction
Disorder (IA).
Psychiatrists world over are acknowledging
the mood-altering effects of online pornography,
gambling, gaming, networking, blogging, etc.
In some countries, Internet addiction has
become a serious social problem.
A South Korean government survey of 2007 found
that 30 per cent of its citizens under 18
were in danger of becoming Internet addicts.
Here in the U.S., a residential treatment
center opened its doors for Internet addicts
in 2009.
Located near Seattle, Washington, it is called
ReStart and offers a 45-day program for recovery.
1.
Plastic Surgery Addiction
When God gives you lemons, make lemonades.
This is past tense.
Now, when God gives you lemons, you can turn
them into anything of any dimension.
Negative body image is driving hordes of people
under the surgical knife.
A little nip, a bit of a tuck, some enlargement,
and a whole lot of alignment…People are
doing everything and paying anything to get
closer to perfection.
In 2006, the British Association of Aesthetic
Plastic Surgeons warned its members about
patients with a body dysmorphic disorder or
“imagined ugly syndrome”.
Aesthetic surgery is an unending journey for
these addicts because they are never happy
with the results.
The organization reported an alarming study
that found forty percent of Botox users admitting
to being lured by the attraction of continued
treatment.
The image of Jocelyn Wildenstein, an American
socialite who has spent millions to get the
perfect look, mirrors the horrors of being
a plastic surgery addict.
