Kicking the Habit
Addictions, be they gambling, hoarding, smoking, sex, food, alcohol are driven by the brain's response in anticipation of the reward as a 'rush' or to the stimulus as 'kicks'. The feedback loop is one of the positive pattern type, that is, the more the pleasure derived from the previous episode or expected to be derived from the next, the more the object seeking behavior. The motivation to repeat the act is the 'kick' derived from the previous one and the 'rush' felt in thinking of repeating the act. Hence, different motivations may include direct pleasure from sex, food, alcohol, drugs or the status that, for example, hoarding gives the seeker of material things, that winning gives the gambler or boldness gives the drug taker . The characteristic of any addiction is the adaptations brought about as a result of sustained exposure to the object of addiction. Many start drug use, from curiosity, and do not like it, due to the side effects. They soo...