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My family has been directly hurt by addicts who have lost their lives to tobacco, alcohol, prescription drugs, gambling, and gaming. Addiction is measured not

My family has been directly hurt by addicts who have lost their lives to tobacco, alcohol, prescription drugs, gambling, and gaming. Addiction is measured not by what or how much you do, but by negative impact it has on one's life. It doesn't matter how much pot you smoke, or alcohol you drink, or how much coke you do, if it doesn't interfere with your life. If you lose your job or steal from your family to hit the casinos, that's an addiction. If you turn down a job because it's in a different city and you depend on a local doctor to keep giving you a prescription drug, that's an addiction. If you flunk out of school and turn down any opportunity to be self sufficient because you spend all day smoking pot, that's an addiction. If you flunk out of school and turn down any opportunity to be self sufficient because you spend all day playing Fortnite, that's an addiction.

robertAngst 8y ago
I found I was 'addicted' to weed, but it was more like- If I'm going to deal with another day of getting my front end auth to work, I dont want to deal with it sober. I can deal with it sober, but its significantly more miserable. I drink way more coffee(which is still a drug) and lose probably a few extra hours of productivity. I'm really not sure how to handle this, because if I'm on weed, its on 100% of the time I program. If I'm off weed, I dont crave it, except when I'm stuck for 5 days on a stupid issue with little resolution. Or I'll be at a party and not want to drink alcohol. However there is an On and an Off. If I'm on, its every day, uncontrollable. It makes me significantly more productive, so much so that friends consider me the smartest person they know. (The reality is I just work 12+ hour days since I became addicted 3 years ago) When I'm off, things that suck, suck without any help.
- ModernMech 8y ago
  Lol I'm exactly the same way. My solution is to not keep a lot of weed in the house and to make it a chore to do.
- terminalcommand 8y ago
  I am in no way an expert on these things. But it could be the case that you have anxiety. The 'weed' takes it away and allows you to program. Maybe you could try to lower your coffee consumption and drink relaxing teas instead. You could also take a few days off work and try to figure things out. What is your heart rate like? How much do you sleep? How many cups of coffee do you drink in a day? If you're heart rate is constantly up and you sleep very little (4-6 hours) and you drink more than 4 cups of coffee a day, my opinion would be that you're suffering from anxiety. If you treat the symptoms (without weed ofc :) ), the underlying physical stress might go away and you'll notice that you can program whilst not being under the influence. Best of luck
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- jackpeterfletch 8y ago
  I cant believe you can program stoned. I can barely order a pizza.
projektir 8y ago
> Addiction is measured not by what or how much you do, but by negative impact it has on one's life. I always found this odd, and it sounds more like a proxy because we don't have a good way to measure the real thing. Which raises lots of questions.
- PeterisP 8y ago
  It kind of does measure the real thing which I'd define as "the strength of addiction" for which the only honest measure is to compare the addiction with what you're willing to give up for it. If your actions show that you're willing to give up major things in life for that addiction, if you know that it's harming your life but still go on, then you're addicted. If your actions show that you're not willing to give up major things in life for that addiction and you actually can and do put it aside whenever needed, then you're not addicted. If you never really had to choose, possibly because it's not harming your life yet, then we don't know and can't know if you're addicted, as it's very subjective and talk/expressed opinion is not a reliable predictor of what you'd actually do. Furthermore, that's in line with the general understanding of how we distinguish between "simple" conditions, behaviors and genetic differences versus diseases and disorders - the key factor is whether it's causing harm and distress.
- majewsky 8y ago
  When your definition of addiction is based on how often you do it, you end up with everyone being addicted to breathing.

robertAngst 8y ago

I found I was 'addicted' to weed, but it was more like- If I'm going to deal with another day of getting my front end auth to work, I dont want to deal with it sober. I can deal with it sober, but its significantly more miserable. I drink way more coffee(which is still a drug) and lose probably a few extra hours of productivity. I'm really not sure how to handle this, because if I'm on weed, its on 100% of the time I program. If I'm off weed, I dont crave it, except when I'm stuck for 5 days on a stupid issue with little resolution. Or I'll be at a party and not want to drink alcohol. However there is an On and an Off. If I'm on, its every day, uncontrollable. It makes me significantly more productive, so much so that friends consider me the smartest person they know. (The reality is I just work 12+ hour days since I became addicted 3 years ago) When I'm off, things that suck, suck without any help.

ModernMech 8y ago
Lol I'm exactly the same way. My solution is to not keep a lot of weed in the house and to make it a chore to do.
terminalcommand 8y ago
I am in no way an expert on these things. But it could be the case that you have anxiety. The 'weed' takes it away and allows you to program. Maybe you could try to lower your coffee consumption and drink relaxing teas instead. You could also take a few days off work and try to figure things out. What is your heart rate like? How much do you sleep? How many cups of coffee do you drink in a day? If you're heart rate is constantly up and you sleep very little (4-6 hours) and you drink more than 4 cups of coffee a day, my opinion would be that you're suffering from anxiety. If you treat the symptoms (without weed ofc :) ), the underlying physical stress might go away and you'll notice that you can program whilst not being under the influence. Best of luck
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
jackpeterfletch 8y ago
I cant believe you can program stoned. I can barely order a pizza.

projektir 8y ago

> Addiction is measured not by what or how much you do, but by negative impact it has on one's life. I always found this odd, and it sounds more like a proxy because we don't have a good way to measure the real thing. Which raises lots of questions.

PeterisP 8y ago
It kind of does measure the real thing which I'd define as "the strength of addiction" for which the only honest measure is to compare the addiction with what you're willing to give up for it. If your actions show that you're willing to give up major things in life for that addiction, if you know that it's harming your life but still go on, then you're addicted. If your actions show that you're not willing to give up major things in life for that addiction and you actually can and do put it aside whenever needed, then you're not addicted. If you never really had to choose, possibly because it's not harming your life yet, then we don't know and can't know if you're addicted, as it's very subjective and talk/expressed opinion is not a reliable predictor of what you'd actually do. Furthermore, that's in line with the general understanding of how we distinguish between "simple" conditions, behaviors and genetic differences versus diseases and disorders - the key factor is whether it's causing harm and distress.
majewsky 8y ago
When your definition of addiction is based on how often you do it, you end up with everyone being addicted to breathing.