In some persons, it is the inability to get an activity off their faces, or a kind of meal out of their mouths, or to stop a lifestyle.
The most acknowledged form of addiction may be an addiction to drugs, everyone seems to know the consequence, maybe for its more serious repercussions, like mental illness, damage to vital organs or even death.
Addictions are usually a result of regularly doing a thing – regularly eating pork, regularly gambling, regularly downing alcohol and anything done too habitually. So, it is right to say they are long-term habits.
However, it is also important for you to know that many people are at the risk of addiction for various reasons; Genetic factors or family history, their inability to deal with stress, the flow of negative thoughts, or depression.
Addictions generally are very different from misuse or casual abuse, while a person who has misused or abused, for example a drug may get away with the consequences of such action, especially if not done consistently, an addicted individual is more times likely to suffer from his addictions.
Also, the longer it takes to break an addiction, the more danger a person suffers from it. There are lot of effects that an addiction causes, you will find the most direct ones below, but just like a ripple effect, they go on and on.
- A quite common one is mental disorders, such as depression, paranoia and anxiety. Depression, for example, is even more likely to occur if the addict tries to take a break or stop such lifestyle.
- Change in behavioural patterns
Unfortunately, this does not only affect the addict, but also people around, especially members of family or friends. A good example is seen in the addiction to alcohol which could result in an irritable attitude such as picking fights irrationally.
Also, an addiction to gambling can cause a once responsible father to abandon his responsibilities while preferring to spend all his earnings in a casino, or a teen to start pilfering when all the money is gone, all of these could go on to cause a damage to relationships and reputation.
What if the addict is violent when intoxicated, as could be seen with Drug Abuse? The immediate family is left to bear the brunt of such behavior.
- Loss of control
Another dangerous effect is the loss of self-control. The addict can no longer control the urges to perform their addictions.
A Netflix addict cannot see life outside the app even when there are other important tasks.
It is thought that an addiction to alcohol causes a damage of the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain necessary for decision making, this may be a reason it appears that alcoholics have no control over their drinking habits even when faced with threatening consequences.
- Death may occur as a long term effect, especially in substance abuse such as drugs or alcohol, a prolonged use could lead to organ damage such as kidney and liver damage which if not checked could result in death.