2 ms·

On the basis of the headline alone, I would say "cigarettes" because I have quit two different social media sites using the technique described in the book "All

by jf 2y ago

On the basis of the headline alone, I would say "cigarettes" because I have quit two different social media sites using the technique described in the book "Allen Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking"

caseyy 2y ago
Same as cigarettes, much of doomscrolling is just to calm down the anxiety of not doomscrolling. Anxiety that didn’t exist in our lives before social media and one caused directly by its consumption.
saghm 2y ago
Wouldn't this be consistent with social media being easier to quit than both junk food _and_ cigarettes? Given that, I'm not sure how can conclude which of them is more similar. As an alternative take, my understanding of the difference between cigarettes and junk food is that cigarettes are more physically addictive than junk food (which at least to my naive medical understanding is more of a "psychologically addictive" substance than something that the body will literally start to reach poorly to withholding after repeated intake). I haven't heard of anyone ever suffering physical withdrawal symptoms from having to wean off of either junk food or social media, which makes them seem much more similar to me than either are to cigarettes. As an alternative to either of the headline options, maybe it would make sense to compare it to alcohol? Unlike cigarettes, most people are not physically addicted to it when using, but unlike junk food, you still shouldn't be using it when driving.
- jf 2y ago
  At least according to the “Easy Way” book, the physical addiction to nicotine only lasts on the order of hours. The book makes a compelling case that cigarette addiction is primarily psychological. Alcohol, on the other hand, is physically addictive and the horror stories that I have read about alcohol addiction have been pretty upsetting.
- dutchbookmaker 2y ago
  Each addiction has its own special properties. The special properties of the addiction are what make it hard for the person to quit that is addicted. These type of comparisons for social media seem like bargaining by the social media addict trying to find the least harmful addiction to frame their own addiction as. I have quit social media, cigarettes, alcohol and I limit junk food far more than normal. Quitting social media has cut me off from many social circles and being in the know with even my own extended family. But make no mistake though. Cigarettes are an order of magnitude harder to quit than any of these. Alan Carr's book is amazing because it is almost a type of hypnosis that gives you the will power to not cave when cigarettes start playing all the mind games of why you should just smoke one in the first month after quitting. You have to convince yourself it is easy and anyone can do it exactly because it is so hard. Comparing social media addiction to cigarettes is just not helpful though. Cigarettes are much more addictive but social media is addictive in its own special way. If anything social media and sex addiction have much in common. You can deal with the addiction by going cold turkey but then if you want to get back to a normal life you have to figure out something other than abstinence.

by jf 2y ago

On the basis of the headline alone, I would say "cigarettes" because I have quit two different social media sites using the technique described in the book "Allen Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking"

caseyy 2y ago

Same as cigarettes, much of doomscrolling is just to calm down the anxiety of not doomscrolling. Anxiety that didn’t exist in our lives before social media and one caused directly by its consumption.

saghm 2y ago

Wouldn't this be consistent with social media being easier to quit than both junk food _and_ cigarettes? Given that, I'm not sure how can conclude which of them is more similar. As an alternative take, my understanding of the difference between cigarettes and junk food is that cigarettes are more physically addictive than junk food (which at least to my naive medical understanding is more of a "psychologically addictive" substance than something that the body will literally start to reach poorly to withholding after repeated intake). I haven't heard of anyone ever suffering physical withdrawal symptoms from having to wean off of either junk food or social media, which makes them seem much more similar to me than either are to cigarettes. As an alternative to either of the headline options, maybe it would make sense to compare it to alcohol? Unlike cigarettes, most people are not physically addicted to it when using, but unlike junk food, you still shouldn't be using it when driving.

jf 2y ago
At least according to the “Easy Way” book, the physical addiction to nicotine only lasts on the order of hours. The book makes a compelling case that cigarette addiction is primarily psychological. Alcohol, on the other hand, is physically addictive and the horror stories that I have read about alcohol addiction have been pretty upsetting.
dutchbookmaker 2y ago
Each addiction has its own special properties. The special properties of the addiction are what make it hard for the person to quit that is addicted. These type of comparisons for social media seem like bargaining by the social media addict trying to find the least harmful addiction to frame their own addiction as. I have quit social media, cigarettes, alcohol and I limit junk food far more than normal. Quitting social media has cut me off from many social circles and being in the know with even my own extended family. But make no mistake though. Cigarettes are an order of magnitude harder to quit than any of these. Alan Carr's book is amazing because it is almost a type of hypnosis that gives you the will power to not cave when cigarettes start playing all the mind games of why you should just smoke one in the first month after quitting. You have to convince yourself it is easy and anyone can do it exactly because it is so hard. Comparing social media addiction to cigarettes is just not helpful though. Cigarettes are much more addictive but social media is addictive in its own special way. If anything social media and sex addiction have much in common. You can deal with the addiction by going cold turkey but then if you want to get back to a normal life you have to figure out something other than abstinence.