Misprint. What did they mean?
[QUOTE=Robux]BBC:
Being in love is physically similar to the buzz of taking drugs and also has withdrawal symptoms, an expert on addiction has said.
Dr John Marsden says dopamine - the drug released by the brain when it is aroused - has similar effects on the body and mind as cocaine or speed.
"Attraction and lust really is like a drug. It leaves you wanting more," the National Addiction Centre head said.[/QUOTE]
National Addiction Centre Head [b](strike one)[/b]
Head of the National Addiction Centre [b](strike two)[/b]
Centre for the National Addiction to Head [b](home run!)[/b]
Benchseats Rock
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
[QUOTE=Third Eye]...when it comes to sex (mongering, seducing, viewing porn or other voyeuristic activities) I'm definitely an addict. It's all about being in control. I know when I'm in that mode (porn mode, monger mode, voyeur mode, etc.) it's a deep deep groove that I rarely can drive out of. Hell, I'm no longer in the driver's seat, something else is.
However, there's been an interesting development--since I started taking antidepressants a few months ago, my compulsive behavior has gone way down. Oh, it's still there, but I almost have to provoke it. For example, I might drop into a strip club once every fortnight, when I feel like it--as opposed to before when I was going EVEN WHEN I DIDN'T FEEL LIKE IT.
I take Zoloft (generic name Sertraline). Some men have reported losing sex drive taking these medications, and while I'd say my drive is slightly reduced, it's definitely still intact. No E.Rection problems, but it can be difficult to climax unless I'm highly aroused.
Back to the point, suppressing my compulsions was an unexpected but happy side effect. I wonder, has anyone else experienced a benefit like this from antidepressants?
3rdI[/QUOTE]I'm not a mental health professional, but I am aware of the reduction in obsessive behaviors that can occur with the use of anti-depressants. The Prozac class of drugs (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, Lexapro and others) are serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin being one of those neurotransmitters that that can make you feel good and change behavior if present in the right amount. Wellbutrin (not in the Prozac class) is another anti-depressant that works on two different neurotransmitters (dopamine and norepinephrine) that also can make you feel good if present in the right amount. However I'm not sure if Wellbutrin is effective for OCD.
I don't know if sexual addiction is a type of OCD, but I suspect it is, or is related, and recommend a google search on "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" to read up on OCD and related disorders. Then for others who want to see if Third Eye's experience can be repeated, it might be worth a trip to your doctor, a psychiatrist, or the public health clinic to get a prescription. A lot of these drugs are now available as generics so they can cost $4 or less a month at pharmacies like Walmart and those that are matching its prices.
Celexa and Lexapro are said to have the fewest side effects of the Prozac class of drugs and are among the newest drugs of this type. Wellbutrin is also said to have few side effects. Both Wellbutrin and Celexa are now available as inexpensive generics.
If there is a qualified mental health professional reading this report, please add to this report and correct anything I've said that is wrong.
I admit I used to have a problem...
I used to be into porn, being a truck driver 24 hrs a day with my wife for ten years. We didn't get along very well, me focusing on bills and trying to get out of trucking but maintaining the same income, my wife couldn't comprhend maintaining a budget, I had very little sex life, and no friends. Then began going to stripclubs, thinking my marriage was over anyway; eventually I confided in my wife that I was going to stripclubs, and she could tell that I was infatuated with one dancer in particular. We argued fiercly over it. But I being adament that I can not make friends like most people (actually shunned by most people no matter how hard I try to fit in) and that this is all I have for finding normal conversation with people, she eventually accepted it; and I found that I really only needed friends; I am not even interested in most woman in the clubs even when fully nude; only a few of them and even then, more as friends than sexually. So the point I am trying to make is that there may be soemthing you are missing emotionally; I didn't even realize the things and issues I was hurting from in my life that swell up in my mind when I walk into a certain club near home, kind of like when I walked into a distant relatives home a few years ago for the first time in 20 years and was flooded with memories. For me a stripclub that was ran by people that remind me of where I was raised really healed me in ways I didn't know I was hurting the pain was buried so deep. So you may have deep rejection issues. Then I wound up obsessed with one dancer for about a year. Then quit going to that club for one month. Met a girl that looked similiar and it really helped me to "get over her".
Why be concerned? This is why
"Why beat yourself up because you like porn, sex, mongering, strip clubs, or AMPs? Why take that guilt trip?"
No one ever accomplished anything by "beating oneself up." But one should be concerned if they have an addiction, and take action if it has negative affects on their health or other parts of their life.
How do you know if your addicted?? A good rule of thumb is that if you asking yourself that question, you probably are.
I don;t consider the study of human behavior a science. Addictions are more defined by society's mores and values than anything else.
But the most "scientific" method we use to determine addiction, there are 10 or 15 questions you need to answer, and if 5 or 6 have affirmitive answers, your considered addicted. Talk to a professional if you want the exact specifics.
You need to be concerned with an addiction because it may affect other more important parts of your life. For example, getting food and shelter are two basic needs that rate higher than the sex drive (having sex is third). If you spend too much on mongering and don't have enough to pay your mortgage or grocery bill, that's a problem. If you get your car impounded and can't get to work, lose your job, and can't earn money to pay your mortgage or for groceries, thats a problem. If your wife walks out on you and gets a big chunk of your paycheck and you can't pay your mortgage or grocery bills, that's a problem.
A friend of mine was fired from THREE jobs because of his addictive behavior when he went panning for gold on his placer mine claim. He would go on the week-ends, and would not return Monday for work. He just could not bring himself to leave, thinking the big nugget would be in the next spot he looked.
We also have other needs that are not considered as high as the sex drive..need for love, comfort, companionship, feeling good about ourselves, self-esteem, etc. The consequences of too much mongering can affect all of these...like getting arrested with name in the newspaper, no money for other things, divorce, accumulating debt, etc.
Some addicts are lucky or blessed and never have to deal with unpleasant consequences of their addiction...like the alcoholic CEO that never gets caught DUI nor ever has an accident. But addicts that do end up suffering from unpleasant consequences usually bsay "This is not how I wanted my life to be."
If your acutely aware of the consequences of addictive behavior and say "so what, this is how I chose to live my life", then so be it...but that's sort of a sociopath attitude...it means you don't play well with others.
We need pleasure, too. If all your time and resources are spent on an addictive pleasure, you'll be losing out of other pleasures...the trip to hawaii in January, the new car, new set of golf clubs, or whatever.
My addiction to coffee is a little bit of an inconvenience, but at least its affordable, legal, and acceptable.