When we think of addiction, most of us automatically assume that the addict is into drugs or alcohol. Yes, some addicts are. Thankfully they have resources to rely on like residential drug treatment you might find in Southern California, or similar centers around the country. Treatment centers remove the addict from a toxic environment and help them with the mental and physical ties to the addiction, before they step back out into the real world. There are other addictions that aren’t treated within a center and those can be harder to diagnose and treat.
Exercising to the Extreme
People fall into a wide range of engagement levels with exercise. Some people avoid it. Others do it occasionally. Some do it daily. Then there are the addicts. When it comes to exercising, taking a break every few days is highly recommended. If you are doing any sort of weight training, your body is still burning fat and calories on those days off. Rest also keeps you from harming yourself, your muscles need a break or they could literally break. Addicts know of the risk and yet they still work out. Often for hours at a time. One of the biggest tell-tale signs of an addiction to working out is when they work out during their free time and avoid family or social gatherings to work out. Often there is an association with an eating disorder, but that isn’t always the case. They could also take measurements and weigh themselves on a daily basis. Checking your measurements and weight is perfectly fine, but not every single day. That’s a sure sign of obsessiveness.
Shop Until You Drop
Shopping is another fairly common addiction that we just don’t talk about very often. Why? Because everyone has to shop for necessities and occasionally for our desires, so it becomes difficult to know if someone is truly addicted to shopping. It’s understood that this type of addiction is psychological and based on the euphoric feeling one gets when purchasing items. In order to really know if an addiction is present, therapists look for the emotional and physical signs associated with the potential addict.
Emotionally they will:
· Spend too much money
· Shop whenever angry or depressed
· Shop to feel less guilty about the last shopping spree
· Destroy relationships over too much shopping and/or spending too much money
· Lose control over shopping behavior.
Financially, they will be broke and may even borrow money from friends and family. There isn’t really much to see physically when it comes to a shopping addiction. If you have a home full of stuff you never use, taking out loans or a second mortgage just to go shopping, and you stop talking to friends and family because they have confronted you about your spending habits, you just may have a shopping addiction.
Internet Intervening in Your Life
The Internet is a wondrous place full of information, funny memes, and the ability to have conversations with anyone around the world. But have you considered the possibility that you could be addicted to it? It sounds a little extensive, but if you think about how long some people spend online, it can change your attitude. A lot of it will depend on the way you use the Internet. If you own a business, you may have to spend a lot of time on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to advertise and connect. But if you are working a traditional job and sneaking on to Facebook consistently just to share a funny meme, or obsessively check how many ‘likes’ your posts get, you may have a problem. To really know if you have a problem, you need to answer these questions:
· Do you feel anxious, sad, or lonely when you are not online?
· Does the idea of not going online send you into a panic?
· Do you avoid family/social gatherings in favor of being online?
· Do you lie about how often you are online?
If you said yes to any one of these, you could be addicted!
Why some of us become addicted and others do not is still being investigated. A lot of these issues cannot be tackled in a rehab facility, but utilize addiction counselors to find what triggers us (often an emotional issue) and how to overcome it.
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