I’ve been thinking about this and I think it’s because most addictions are fundamentally rooted in isolation. I’ve personally noticed at my loneliest times I was spending a ton of time on my phone. When I went on vacation, was in a happy relationship, or with friends often my screen time would drop from 6-8 hours a day to 30 mins a day overnight and STAY that way with no effort.
I think many other addictions are similar, forms of distraction we use to habitually avoid a fundamental need we are not getting for whatever reason. Focusing on fixing the addiction doesn’t fix the fact that you are relying on that addiction because your body and brain are trying to find any way they can to survive, and your basic survival needs do not give a damn about your more moral aspirations. Maslows hierarchy of needs maybe? If you aren’t getting some basic need, you won’t be able to easily fulfill or prioritize higher order needs.
Anyway - this all to say that often when addictions are spontaneously fixed it is because we are finally feeling less lonely, less traumatized, less needing to disassociate from our current lives. All of the most significant changes I’ve made to my personality etc just.. happened. Because these things often don’t change with sheer willpower but instead through actually changing our environment, by actually listening to our painful emotions and finding solutions to them rather than just trying to suppress them. Addictions are like Tylenol to emotional wounds.
Maybe some of them are on GLP-1s? Still mostly anecdotal and early studies on this, but many people on GLP-1s have found other addictive behaviours like shopping, alcohol, and even scrolling have disappeared. The desire, especially for impulsive behaviour, is gone. Especially significant given how widely adopted it has become in only a few years (US has 30+ million people on them). Went down a rabbit hole and wrote about this here if you're interested: https://samvuong.com/p/glp-1s-are-rewiring-how-we-consume
This post is pointless; in the literal sense. You could have at least provided some analysis of what enabled the aforementioned individuals to quit their addictions. A screenshot collage is not self-explanatory
Yeah. Willpower is a finite resource and using all of it to stop your preferred method of gooning is a waste, even if it works (it wont)
To add a data point, i spent the past 4 months trying to limit my scrolling. It hasnt worked at all (altho i managed to change platforms- substack and youtube videos instead of reddit and shorts)
But randomly a month or two ago i stopped watching porn. It took zero will power. It wasnt a conscious goal. I just felt it wasnt the type of thing i wanted to be doing. Inb4 “only a month haha” but idk bro it feels like a new normal i dont see the point in returning
I think behavioral addictions are more of a physiological than a psychological phenomenon. My guess is that they are rooted in not leaving enough time for rest and not having enough physical activity throughout the day. There's probably more to this, but that's all I have to say for now.
why does the tension exist is one of two questions i try to return to as many times as i can each day
I don’t know about you, I am very happy with scrolling wikipedia instead of shorts/reels, which are just so horrible that it is definetly worth it.
Wikipedia addiction best addiction
I was hoping to get at least a hint of the common mechanism behind all this.
Same
I’ve been thinking about this and I think it’s because most addictions are fundamentally rooted in isolation. I’ve personally noticed at my loneliest times I was spending a ton of time on my phone. When I went on vacation, was in a happy relationship, or with friends often my screen time would drop from 6-8 hours a day to 30 mins a day overnight and STAY that way with no effort.
I think many other addictions are similar, forms of distraction we use to habitually avoid a fundamental need we are not getting for whatever reason. Focusing on fixing the addiction doesn’t fix the fact that you are relying on that addiction because your body and brain are trying to find any way they can to survive, and your basic survival needs do not give a damn about your more moral aspirations. Maslows hierarchy of needs maybe? If you aren’t getting some basic need, you won’t be able to easily fulfill or prioritize higher order needs.
Anyway - this all to say that often when addictions are spontaneously fixed it is because we are finally feeling less lonely, less traumatized, less needing to disassociate from our current lives. All of the most significant changes I’ve made to my personality etc just.. happened. Because these things often don’t change with sheer willpower but instead through actually changing our environment, by actually listening to our painful emotions and finding solutions to them rather than just trying to suppress them. Addictions are like Tylenol to emotional wounds.
Thanks for this……I agree, and I appreciate you putting into words something I have often experienced.
Maybe some of them are on GLP-1s? Still mostly anecdotal and early studies on this, but many people on GLP-1s have found other addictive behaviours like shopping, alcohol, and even scrolling have disappeared. The desire, especially for impulsive behaviour, is gone. Especially significant given how widely adopted it has become in only a few years (US has 30+ million people on them). Went down a rabbit hole and wrote about this here if you're interested: https://samvuong.com/p/glp-1s-are-rewiring-how-we-consume
“dating” is an addiction?
I had the same question
This post is pointless; in the literal sense. You could have at least provided some analysis of what enabled the aforementioned individuals to quit their addictions. A screenshot collage is not self-explanatory
Yeah. Willpower is a finite resource and using all of it to stop your preferred method of gooning is a waste, even if it works (it wont)
To add a data point, i spent the past 4 months trying to limit my scrolling. It hasnt worked at all (altho i managed to change platforms- substack and youtube videos instead of reddit and shorts)
But randomly a month or two ago i stopped watching porn. It took zero will power. It wasnt a conscious goal. I just felt it wasnt the type of thing i wanted to be doing. Inb4 “only a month haha” but idk bro it feels like a new normal i dont see the point in returning
I think behavioral addictions are more of a physiological than a psychological phenomenon. My guess is that they are rooted in not leaving enough time for rest and not having enough physical activity throughout the day. There's probably more to this, but that's all I have to say for now.
I'd love to read more of your thoughts on what makes one not “... have the urge at all anymore”