Addiction

Caffeine

Addiction, Power, Exploitation, Compromised generations

Alcool

A pleasure that kills, destroys minds, and breaks families.

Obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, tooth decay, mood problems, sleep disorders, and cancer. The poor man's drug.

Sugar

On the path to better health, an essential element is awareness of one's addictions and the will to break free from them. Even seemingly harmless addictions, of which we are often not fully aware, can seriously compromise our well-being, particularly mental well-being.

Not all addictions are equal. In addition to 'serious' addictions, there are 'normal' addictions that undermine our health and well-being. Alcohol, junk food, coffee, nicotine, smartphones, gambling, and pornography are just some examples of these insidious addictions, which we often underestimate or ignore, but which can have devastating consequences.

We often hear about 'normal' addictions, or behaviors that we mistake for harmless habits, but which in reality can have significant consequences on our health and well-being.

Take for example the famous scale by David Nutt, which classifies substances based on their danger to the individual and to society. While being a useful tool, this scale has a limit: it risks leading to underestimating the impact of addictions considered 'minor' only because they are less harmful than others.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61462-6/abstract

The problem is that every addiction, even the seemingly harmless one, can have a negative impact on our lives. Just think of the addiction to junk food, an increasingly widespread problem in Western society, which contributes to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancers, causing many more victims than heroin and cocaine put together.

Yet, this addiction is often ignored or minimized, even by doctors. This happens because, unlike other more 'evident' addictions, junk food addiction is more insidious and socially accepted.

Moreover, junk food addiction, like other 'normal' addictions, is influenced by individual and social factors. Not everyone develops an addiction to these foods, and this can lead to underestimating the problem.

Modern neuroscience tells us that the opposite of addiction is connection. Are we truly free from addictions if we are connected in a meaningful way with others and with the environment around us?

On the other hand, we cannot deny that the environment in which we live also presents harmful elements that can favor the development of addictions. The modern lifestyle, characterized by continuous distractions and immediate gratifications, can make it more difficult to develop a critical awareness of our relationship with substances, objects and behaviors.

Too often, in fact, we are not aware of how some habits, considered 'normal' because they are widespread, can actually hide an addiction.

It is fundamental, therefore, to develop a greater awareness of what happens inside us and around us, to be able to make more conscious choices and protect our health and well-being.

It's crucial to figure out what's going wrong