We live in the age of addiction and we are all addicted to one thing or the other. Today, technology and society has shaped us to keep feeding our insatiable desires through instant solutions and unthinking over-consumption. And we are never satisfied–or happy. So are we really all just addicts?
Tiger Woods had once admitted he was a sex addict. Elton John, Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Perry, Mel Gibson, and the late Robin Williams also once admitted to be alcoholics at some point in their lives. Even Oprah said she was addicted to carbohydrates. And these are celebrities.
Everyday, people all over the world succumb to addiction, and at least one person dies on the street due to drug overdose, or getting into car accidents due to alcohol intoxication.
The True Addicts
There are people who we can consider as true addicts. These are those who are classified as clinically addicted, or having substance use disorder. They have deep-seated psychological issues that are intertwined with their physical and psychological dependence to drug, alcohol, or certain behavior such as gambling or watching pornography.
However, while these are the ones that need clinical treatment and are otherwise doomed without help, people in general have succumbed to this age of addiction. We are all addicts, but are simply chalking up our compulsions as character flaws or loss of control.
Age of Addiction
The truth is, we are living in the age of addiction because our world revolves around feeding our desires. For one, countless money is spent studying our behavior so that big companies can manipulate our wants and needs, much like the addict’s pushers. And the products they sell are designed to hook us and keep us addicted. From food to drinks to clothes and even through the media we consume such as television and social media.
As a result, we are so dependent on these products and even on just the act of consuming. We are less empowered over our decisions and more controlled by our impulses. We believe that we have to always desire for more: for better, bigger, brighter, newer, faster, longer. But once we have it, we still want more, more, more. Like our self-worth and happiness depends on what we acquire.
However, in the end, even if we fill our big houses with everything we thought we want, we still feel hollow. Much like a true addict feeling empty and down after the rush.
The truth is, in this age of addiction, you feel nothing but trapped in the endless cycle–unless you find a way out.
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