All posts tagged: addictions

Anxious young adults are more likely to develop digital addictions

Anxious young adults are more likely to develop digital addictions

Published by José Betancourt

Young adults who experience social anxiety might face a higher risk of developing a psychological dependence on digital networking platforms. A new study reveals that this relationship is partly explained by a psychological habit of comparing oneself to others online. The research was published in the journal Addictive Behaviors. While accessing social networks is a common daily habit, prolonged engagement can lead to a condition resembling a substance use disorder. Medical guidelines do not currently classify social media obsession as a formal mental illness, but psychologists recognize clear addictive patterns. Individuals might become excessively preoccupied with their feeds and experience an intense urge to log on throughout the day. This behavior can escalate until it regularly interferes with academic studies, career goals, and personal well-being. This pattern of digital behavior is thought to be especially common during late adolescence and the early twenties. Psychologists refer to this stage of life as emerging adulthood. During these years, individuals usually experience an increase in personal independence and focus heavily on developing their own identities. Navigating romantic and …

The Unnamed Hollows: Where Modern Addictions Take Root

The Unnamed Hollows: Where Modern Addictions Take Root

Published by Sam Flores

“Remember you are water. Of course you leave salt trails. Of course you are crying. Flow.” —Adrienne Maree Brown, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds There is an artificial glow that leaks over our days. Our eyes have slowed their blinking while, night after night, the flickering blue light of screens illuminates our faces in darkened rooms. This peculiar false moonlight is bright enough to light our skin, held only inches away from our noses. It does little, however, to brighten the parts of us that need it most, leaving untouched the places within us that require something other than stimulation to be held up to the light. Social media promises us like-minded friend groups, nourishing interaction. It coaxes us in on the illusion that, by design, it’ll help us feel seen. In the same breath, it asks us to manage our appearances, to curate ourselves into versions that can be easily read and quickly affirmed. It tugs at our attention, continually pulling us elsewhere, away from real-world possibilities for real connection and belonging. No …

‘I didn’t know where to turn’: Why ethnic minorities with gambling addictions struggle to get help | UK News

‘I didn’t know where to turn’: Why ethnic minorities with gambling addictions struggle to get help | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

On a dark December morning two years ago, Kiki Marriott left her flat and started walking. Content warning: This article contains references to suicide. It was 5am, and she was heading for the station. “I was numb at that point,” she says. “I was just so done with trying to survive and just existing… feeling extremely lonely and isolated and didn’t know where to turn.” She was trapped in a cycle of addiction, gambling all hours and taking cocaine for the maximum buzz. Image: ‘I didn’t know where to turn,’ says Kiki “I sat at the train station thinking about my daughter, thinking about the mistakes that I’ve made in the past, thinking that I didn’t want to live this life any more.” Kiki was waiting for the first train. But that train was late. And she changed her mind. Instead of taking her own life, she decided to seek help. Yet what she would find on that journey of recovery would shock her. “I just realised that there wasn’t anybody that looked like me, …