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According to the NHS, addiction is defined as ‘not having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you.

When people think of an addiction they think of gambling, drugs, alcohol and smoking but did you know you can be addicted to almost anything?

It is becoming increasing common to become:

• addicted to shopping;
• addicted to the internet
• addicted to sex and/or pornography,
• addicted to sugar and food
• addicted to work
• addicted to exercise and so much more.

Do you have an addiction?

Do you excessively engage in a substance or activity eg, sex, drink or work and find it impossible to go for an extended period without it?
Does it occupy your mind and time to the extent you neglect your regular activities or relationships?
Has it incurred noticeable physical, psychological or financial consequences?

What causes addiction?

Addictions may develop for many different reasons, they are usually coping mechanisms to deal with your day to day life. The action or substance activates the pleasure centre in your brain. The emotional significance is the switch that hardwires the neural pathways in the brain.

Imagine, in this simple scenario, that you see a sweet moist spongey cake at a party, it looks really good and smells even better. You can begin to feel the saliva forming in your mouth.

When you bite into your cake the pleasure centre in your brain lights up and releases the hormone, dopamine, so that you feel a rush of joy. The rush you get from taking that first bite is amazing so you take another bite to get that hit of dopamine again. The more you take this action, the more motivated you are to keep doing it and before you know it, you have eaten the whole cake and you feel satisfied (however brief) and your brain has associated eating cake with good times.

“It’s easy to stop drinking. I’ve done it thousands of times.”

WC Field

Whenever you feel anxious your brain will remember the rush of pleasure you had when you ate cake (or whatever activity or substance of your choice) and believes that if you have chocolate again, everything will be ok In anticipation of the dopamine rush your brain releases signals craving those feel-good emotions associated with your activity or substance, in this case, cake. Unfortunately, when this happens too often and becomes out of control, you feel you need more and more to satisfy the craving and achieve that ‘high’ Feelings of guilt and shame can soon begin to follow, especially when it impacts your health, work life and relationships.

I believe we all have an addiction to something, the question is, is it a problem?

Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction. Break the habit, talk about your joys right here at Hypno Lounge. If you would like to find out more, get in touch.