Comments on: Addiction in society? Let me count the ways…

By: Nathaniel D.

Nathaniel D. — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 06:42:39 +0000

It’s scary to think that today we are faced with the addiction for prescription drugs. This wasn’t the case in the 60s where people were doing the illicit drugs. I can see the reason behind why people are addicted to prescription drugs. People are working longer hours and are dealing with a lot more stress than they did twenty years ago. As a result some turn to prescription drugs to help them cope the initial problem. This is only a quick solution and doesn’t get to the root of the problem (i.e. marriage problems, loss of job, death in a family).

By: admin

admin — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 23:13:27 +0000

We need to motivate real, social connections. To do so, people must acquire the developmental capacities to connect. Unfortunately, technology is robbing people of much needed interpersonal interaction where such capacities are developed. One solution is we need to begin using technology in a new way….

By: Cassandra Culkins

Cassandra Culkins — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:54:22 +0000

Wonderful article. Highlighting actions such as watching reality television or social networking is really an eye-opening way of looking deeper into addiction, past the common views of only seeing drugs, gambling, and sex as addictive. As a college student I can really relate to the idea of the addiction to social-networks. I do not know very many people who do not have at least one social networking site that they use regularly, including my parents. Most of my peers check their Facebook’s at least once a day, not excluding me either, for I have it open in another tab. I had a teacher once who described the need to go on social network sites as a way to get validation. She described it like “Oh, I have a comment, someone loves me.” Or “I have a friend request, someone loves me”. Obviously these thoughts would not (necessarily) be conscious thoughts, but I often feel that this has some truth to it. Perhaps this is where the addiction comes in. Some have over 1,000 Facebook friends but it is likely that they have not had one meaningful conversation with even a quarter of them. Why do we need to validate ourselves with friend counts, and number of comments posted to our pages? I know a girl who is twenty years old and will text Friend A while in the room with Friend B, and text Friend B while in the room with Friend A. All the while mostly ignoring the person she is in the room with at the time. Where is the connection when we cannot socialize with the people we spend time with, why do we need to hide behind our computers all the while only grazing the surface of what a conversation should really detail? I don’t want things to be this way, but how do we change it?

By: admin

admin — Tue, 24 May 2011 03:49:24 +0000

Thanks for your honesty! We have become quite a crazy society and I worry about the future. Unless we are able to strike a balance with technology, deepen our commitment to healthy human relationships, and live in harmony with our environment, then I fear things will not be good for us. Recognizing you are engaged in the things you listed off is a great start, but equally important is what you decide to do going forward.

By: Liz Williams

Liz Williams — Sun, 22 May 2011 22:54:06 +0000

This is a great article and one that really applies to our society these days. Right now I’m taking a Drug Education class and this term we’ve been talking about the effects all different kinds of drugs has on our society and the hold it has over the young people. I just finished the books Beautiful Boy and Tweaked by Nic Sheff and his father. Nic and his family dealt with his addiction for years. They did everything to help him get through it and finally he was able to get clean and stay that way. What I love about this article is that it has nothing to do with illegal drugs, but infact stuff that we as American’s do and deal with almost every single day. I have to laugh because I just realized I’m doing four out of the seven things listed above RIGHT NOW! Over the last hour or so, my boyfriend and I have been texting back and forth on whether we should go out to dinner or cook something, I’ve been watching the reality tv show Khloe and Lamar on E and now as I’m typing this, a murder mystery on 20/20 is playing in the background, and Facebook and Twitter both are open tabs on my computer. I’m actually a little embarrassed that just right now I’m doing so many of those things. We compartmentalize so many things in our lives and if you take a step back, you quickly realize none of that can actually be healthy. Our generation has the world at our fingertips, just look at the phones we carry! On an iphone you can be checking your facebook and twitter while surfing the internet and talking on the phone. It’s absolutely crazy! I guess the saying is true “too much of anything can be bad.”

By: KH

KH — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 10:20:21 +0000

I too enjoyed this blog entry, as I can relate to much of what was written. I’ll be the first to admit that after a long day, the first thing that I want to do is come home and catch up with the reality television that is packed on my DVR. It serves as a perfect escape from what is going on in my own life. I wouldn’t say that I get caught up in the lives of those on screen instead of being invested in my own, but it certainly serves as a distraction. Though I suppose one could argue that even by spending time watching tv instead of engaging with people in my life, that I am (perhaps passively) cheating myself.
I definitely agree that social networking sites contribute to the lack of connectedness offline and perpetuate the importance of being an extrovert. There is such a high priority placed on being a sociable and outgoing person which can be perfectly illustrated with websites like Facebook and Twitter.
I also agree with the overexposure to trauma and have to wonder what the purpose is. I no longer watch the news as it is inundated with horrific stories – even commercials that show awful images of animal abuse are, in my opinion, horribly over the top and inappropriate.

By: zzz

zzz — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 05:08:46 +0000

I have long been a believer that our society today caters to over indulgence and is run off catering to excessive behaviors. At almost every point in our daily lives we almost have no choices as stated. I do agree “it seems that we are increasingly living in a world where the choice of what to attend to is being made for us”. On the other hand I also believe that we as “free” people living in a society no matter how tainted with “advertising” have the option to ignore excessive behaviors no matter how forced upon they may seem.

By: Carissa

Carissa — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:54:43 +0000

I really enjoyed this blog entry — so many points felt like they rang true in my own life. I will be the first to admit that I love watching raunchy reality television (Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, 16 and Pregnant) you know name it, I’ve probably seen at least one episode of it. I’ve always seen it in the sense that the drama is unfolding in their lives so I’ll be able to escape the drama in my own life. However, this may not be as true as I’d like to believe as the drama may be filtering into my psyche.
As for social networking sites, I’ve found that the more I use them the more depressed (relatively speaking) I become in my own life. It seems like there is so much pressure for us to be social beings — to have tons of friends and do tons of fun things — and social networking sites are the places to publicize this. I find myself surfing the “facebook wave” and feeling like I’m not quite as social as I should be. Ironically, social networking sites make us more isolated, yet they try to promote unity.
Finally, I completely agree with the notion of time. We live in such a fast-paced society it’s hard to imagine a time when there wasn’t the internet or smart-phones. I’ve always been a fairly impatient person (I’m notoriously late to things because I hate to wait) and our society just feeds into my impatience. Just slowing down could be my saving grace and remedy to my tardiness and impatience.

By: Ned Baish

Ned Baish — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:08:06 +0000

Do these electronic cigarettes really feel like the real thing? I watched a video at this website but don’t know what to think. Are there any real smokers out there that aren’t promoting a product that can tell me what you really think?

By: Donald Sherard

Donald Sherard — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 03:25:15 +0000

This is a great article and it is amazing how people (including myself) don’t even realize their own addictions. Whether it’s drugs or watching too much TV, everyone has an addiction of one form or another. I wanted to comment specifically on social networking sites. I work at a local hospital that recently blocked the use of facebook and other social networking sites due to the lack of productivity of the staff. It was pretty amazing to see how long someone could sit and stare at a computer just to tell everyone that they were feeling a certain way at that moment. For me it all started with video games. I went from playing outside and interacting with other people to sitting at home and focusing on beating the big guy at the end of the level. Now you can play those games on your phone while texting someone and listening to music. I personally think it has gotten out of hand and I share many of these addictions to electronics and the social networking sites of today.