Drugs

It definitely is not surprising to me that caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive drug, especially with how many people I see are reliant on and drink a lot of it (I have never particularly had too much of it often).

Something that did rather surprise me, however, was seeing that exercise can have the same effects that drugs can—from building up tolerance and needing to exercise more to feel that same “high”, to experiencing withdrawal from not exercising like they normally do. I have never really been much of an exerciser, so I never knew you could experience withdrawal, or even a kind of euphoria from it. I always feel awful after I exercise, which is why I tend to avoid it.

I guess if you really think about it a lot of things can be addicting—food, gambling (like stated in the lecture), or even something as simple as a TV show. It doesn’t always have to be drugs or substances, despite that normally being the first thing that comes to mind when I think of someone with an “addictive personality” or someone who is an “addict”. It’s always viewed in a negative light, sometimes even the people themselves, labeling them as “druggies” and whatever else.

I personally view addiction as a mental illness and are probably more prone to people with addictive and obsessive personalities. Because I know there are some people who can just stop smoking or using a certain drug very easily, while with others it’s very hard or nearly impossible. It all just depends on the person and their characteristics.