Why Am I Addicted?

I don’t know if I’m the only one thinking this way or I have people just like me that feel the same way. Like I said yesterday, this week’s topic is a very complicated one and it gets me thinking why someone cannot resist something or an action. There are some activities or some substances that people cannot just do without but they do not want to think of them as addictions. The reason for this is because addiction is linked to negativity and as such, they would rather refer to it as a habit. There was a time in my life that a day would not pass without me having a bottle of coke. I didn’t even realize this until someone called my attention to it. I decided to check myself and thought I could do without it but I realized that my body system was already used to it. It took a conscious effort for me to overcome this addiction and thank God for God, it was not easy but I did it.

There are so many things that people get addicted to but the question is why is it that what some people engage in with no issues is what other people engage in and get trapped in. Today, I would like to address the issue of what really causes one to get addicted. There are so many factors that lead to addiction and these factors tend to be a form of defense mechanism for an addict.

The first factor is peer pressure. There is this common syndrome among youths; that attitude of wanting to belong, wanting to be like the boy or girl next door. Be it substance addiction or behavioral addiction, peer pressure has led a lot of people into engaging in such behavior. There is one illustration I would like to give. During NYSC, there was something I noticed about the people around me, cos I stayed in the university environment. I found out that smoking cigarettes and sniffing cocaine was one of the prominent habits among guys and girls. I had the opportunity of talking to some of them and when I asked them how they started, it was always the fact that their friend lured them into it and since they want to be ranked among the big boys and girls, they had to engage in it. What is that thing you find yourself doing because you want to feel among? Trust me, it is not just drug use or alcoholism; peer pressure can lead one to becoming a game addict (betting on football games and the likes) or shopping addict that even if they don’t have the money to shop, they borrow.

Another factor is curiosity. This factor is like pouring petrol inside a burning bush. Curiosity is a state in which you want to learn more about something. This factor sef is one thing that someone needs to overcome. Trust me curiosity can be really bad and can lead to something serious. How can curiosity lead one to addiction? Very simple. Take for example, you see someone who goes about taking a smoke and is always feeling fly with his or herself and you are like what makes this one feel this way, let me even try it. People started out like that and the habit just became part and parcel of them. I have had to battle with addiction as a result of this factor. I became a romantic novel addict because of curiosity. Hmmmm! Harlequin, Mills and Boons, were my favorites. I would use my food money to buy these novels. Worst case was now when I had my hands on the internet and found out I could easily download eBooks. If I could not download, I would sha look for people to borrow or collect from. What was I curious about? I was curious about what my older friends in a relationship talked about how they went to visit bae or boo and stuff.

There are some unexplainable causes of addiction that people just do not know how to explain. For instance, how can one explain his/her addiction to instagram or twitter? They just know that once they grab their phones, the first thing they check out is instagram or any social media platform and it is not that they have any business at all that they are managing. A time without their phones, they feel depressed, angry, hurt and so on.

There’s more to come on the issue of addiction and I trust God to help us tackle this issue perfectly. Next, I would be reviewing the different kinds of addiction.

Much Love,

KanyinWrites.