How much are your addictions costing you?

[jimsenchuk]

The fine people at Treatment4Addictions, an online recovery center, have compiled a series of graphs and charts that show exactly how many years of one’s life an addiction can cost. While addictions of any kind can be detrimental to one’s health, be it alcohol, cigarettes, sex, or gambling, these charts also show the years stolen by far more addictive substances, such as meth, and heroin.

Data for the charts was obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, as well as other official sources. In one example, smoking a pack of cigarettes a day will cost you roughly ten years of your life in total.

Full charts and info here ;

http://anonhq.com/much-life-addictions-costing/

[Tacklewasher]

Missing both Coffee and Internet forums....

[Thinktank]

Internet is bad. I admit it. I should have had a better strategy right from day one.

But it's amazing how those other addictions ruin lives - and people can't stop.
You would think a person could stop once he realizes how bad it is.

[Bsuds]

You would think a person could stop once he realizes how bad it is.

That's why it's called an "addiction"

[Thinktank]

Well I got a good strategy now for dealing with people with addictions.

I used to think "awww you poor guy. You are an addict. I will spend my own money helping you out."

Now I think: " You are an addict? Knock yourself out."

addict = good for nothing.

[Dizzy1]

Sorry, but I don't know many drinkers who've died at the age of 55.

[Tacklewasher]

Sorry, but I don't know many drinkers who've died at the age of 55.

At least not those averaging 2.14 drinks per day. 15 drinks a week doesn't seem excesive enough to knock 30 years off your life.

[Thinktank]

My alcoholic uncle outlived all of his five non-alcoholic brothers by about seven - ten years.

[Bsuds]

I used to think "awww you poor guy. You are an addict. I will spend my own money helping you out."

Considering all your complaining about how poor you are I find that hard to believe.

[Thinktank]

There should be a lot more discussions about addictions but strangely - no one
talks about it much.

[Glacier]

My alcoholic uncle outlived all of his five non-alcoholic brothers by about seven - ten years.

I've know people who died of alcoholism by age 35, so go figure. Having a few drinks a week doesn't make any statistical difference, but alcoholism greatly increases your chances of getting things like cancer. There are always exceptions to every rule. My grandma lived until 95 and she smoked and drank every day... well at least until the Alzheimer's took over.

[JayByrd]

addict = good for nothing.

You would probably die of shock to learn how many of "them" are working jobs, raising families, and living among you without you even knowing what their demons are. A lot of them even look just like white folk.

[Xia33]

I wonder why gambling isn't included? It mat not give you cancer, but it most certainly destroys lives. Yet, again, the government makes millions on it....go figure.

[Thinktank]

So what does it mean?



I don't get it. Can someone explain it. How does someone lose 29% of their life by being an alcoholic?

[Thinktank]

Addicts are liars

The first casualty of addiction, like that of war, is the truth. At first the addict merely denies the truth to himself. But as the addiction, like a malignant tumor, slowly and progressively expands and invades more and more of the healthy tissue of his life and mind and world, the addict begins to deny the truth to others as well as to himself. He becomes a practiced and profligate liar in all matters related to the defense and preservation of his addiction, even though prior to the onset of his addictive illness, and often still in areas as yet untouched by the addiction, he may be scrupulously honest.

First the addict lies to himself about his addiction, then he begins to lie to others. Lying, evasion, deception, manipulation, spinning and other techniques for avoiding or distorting the truth are necessary parts of the addictive process.

Because addiction by definition is an irrational, unbalanced and unhealthy behavior pattern resulting from an abnormal obsession, it simply cannot continue to exist under normal circumstances without the progressive attack upon and distortion of reality resulting from the operation of its propaganda and psychological warfare brigades. The fundamentally insane and unsupportable thinking and behavior of the addict must be justified and rationalized so that the addiction can continue and progress.

...The question of fairness arises as the addict attempts to extenuate his own admitted transgressions by repeated references to what he considers the equal or greater faults of those who complain of his addictive behavior. This natural defensive maneuver of "the best defense is a good offense" variety can be the first step on a slippery slope that leads to the paranoid demonization of the very people the addict cares about the most....

At this stage of addiction the addict is in fact functionally insane. It is usually quite impossible, even sometimes harmful to attempt to talk him out of his delusions regarding his addiction. This situation is similar to that encountered in other psychotic illnesses, schizophrenia for example, in which the individual is convinced of the truth of things that are manifestly untrue to everyone else.



http://www.bma-wellness.com/papers/Addi ... s_Rel.html