5 things that make people most addicted

The human brain is a perfect masterpiece of nature, but when the "design" of evolution is changed by modern life, people will encounter five dangerous "addiction" habits like heroin.

When talking about something "addicted" to something, doctors will mention the midline (mesolimbic) of the brain. In the middle of areas that manage the emotions, pain and decision-making processes of the brain, the middle border is a "brain circuit" that can encourage people to pursue behaviors that are too beneficial. Evolution course like sex, drinking plenty of water or eating nutritional supplements.

In essence, the middle border performs its task by producing dopamine and opioid ("natural opium") when we do actions that benefit the body. In the case of drug addicts, the middle border system will be "robbed" of control: the use of heroin / marijuana / cocaine . will create the strongest reaction in the middle border. When taking drugs, the middle border produces more dopamine and opioids than any other action. At this point, you will start addicting to drugs.

Many scientists have not yet agreed on whether addiction and gambling addiction is more like heroin addiction or similar to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD, a disorder that occurs on another brain region. ) more.

Luckily, veteran researchers got into it. Dr. Reef Karim, director of The Control Center, a treatment center at Beverly Hill (USA), specializes in helping patients eliminate behavioral disorders that show behaviors that can be addictive, based on diplomas Scientific evidence.

Here are the 5 most common and dangerous addictive behaviors in our lives:

1. Addiction to gambling

The human brain is a perfect masterpiece of nature, but when the "design" of evolution is changed by modern life, people will encounter five dangerous "addiction" habits like heroin.

9/10 psychologists believe that gambling addiction is really like a dangerous drug.

Currently, the rate of American psychological addiction disorder is up to 2%, and gambling addiction is the only addictive behavior listed in the "New Symptoms" section of the Discovery and Statistics Handbook. Neurological Disorders (DSM-5). Studies have found that gambling addiction is very similar to drug addiction in terms of brain origin, physiology and direction of treatment.

For example, gambling addicts report a "sense of" feeling like cocaine addicts. They also experience withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia, headache, abdominal discomfort, anorexia, rapid heartbeat and sweating.

So, what is the nature of gambling addiction? When a gambling addict wins, the middle line in the brain produces a huge amount of dopamine, making him crave to continue winning and win more. When he loses money, the amount of dopamine drops makes the craving become even more intense.

Worse, studies have shown that when watching gambling videos, gamblers will experience a decrease in the activity of the prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), like when cocaine addicts see video about this drug. This is a very worrying phenomenon, because the brain region of vmPFC is responsible for coordinating emotions and managing risks.

2. "Addiction" to eat

The human brain is a perfect masterpiece of nature, but when the "design" of evolution is changed by modern life, people will encounter five dangerous "addiction" habits like heroin.

There are many types of obsessive psychological disorders that can cause food addiction, even anorexia and appetite. All kinds of psychological disorders can ruin your life.

However, eating disorders like drug addiction will be an "binge eating" disorder. When suffering from this disorder, the patient will spend a large amount of time thinking and planning for his "experience" of eating, then eating in an insatiable manner and will not stop immediately even full of stomach.

This is a big problem in developing countries. In the US, scientists estimate that 3.5% of women and 2% of men have / are suffering from an insecure eating disorder. Over half of them will never be treated for their eating disorders.

You can understand why "addiction" can easily become a psychological disorder. From an evolutionary perspective, encouraging people to self-supply enough nutrients is one of the main reasons for the existence of a "self-reward" system in the brain. Scientists found that delicious foods, especially high-sugar, high-fat foods, will activate the system to produce dopamine in the same way as drugs.

Studies conducted on obese people show that they have less D2 (a type of dopamine receptor) than normal people. Similarly, drug addicts will feel less satisfied when using the same amount of drugs.

Reducing the amount of D2 will make obese people even eat more than before to achieve the satisfaction they still expect. At the same time, obese people also have the brain region responsible for inhibiting poorer activity. Therefore, their ability to control the eating process is also reduced.

3. Internet addiction

The human brain is a perfect masterpiece of nature, but when the "design" of evolution is changed by modern life, people will encounter five dangerous "addiction" habits like heroin.

"Internet addiction syndrome" is a new addiction to the DSM-5 book, and it is clear that doctors need to study this addiction more.

Internet addiction syndrome attracted a lot of attention after China, Korea and even Vietnam appeared a series of heartbreaking cases of teenage men who were so addicted to the game that they stopped eating and leaving their homes. family or even . suicide.

"I met two patients from Singapore and China, and they have very serious problems about the Internet and games," Karim said. "The problem is that their identity information will be inhibited immediately after they start playing the game. Therefore, they will identify themselves based on the character in the game and never develop their identity. They love the character they are playing, but they don't love themselves.

In 2013, Nottingham Trent University's Global Game Research Unit, UK, said the addiction to games may be partly related to the "lost time" syndrome: a special feeling when you sit down to play a game, forget it, play games all night and realize that it's time to go to work in the morning.

These emotional-inducing games are often complex games, good storylines, clear gameplay or purpose and allow play with many others. An earlier study by the research unit showed that World of Warcraft, the world's most successful online game, has all the above characteristics.

4. Sex

The human brain is a perfect masterpiece of nature, but when the "design" of evolution is changed by modern life, people will encounter five dangerous "addiction" habits like heroin.

Obviously this is an "addiction" from human evolutionary causes: Sex can stimulate the middle of the brain as much as drugs. But while sexual issues are always the favorite topic of communication, the fact is that we still don't understand sex addiction as other behavioral issues.

The biggest difficulty is how to determine "what are the abnormalities of sex addiction disorder?". A Swedish study in 2006 showed that it was not a problem to just have too much sex. In contrast, regular relationships with a stable partner show that the body is functioning very well.

The manifestations of sex addiction disorder are when people engage in obsessive, lonely or completely non-personal sexual activities: addicted to pornographic movies, often traveling with girls sex or deliberately "showing off your quarter" on the street. Obviously, these pathological behaviors have been brought about by the Internet and the high technology isolation makes it much worse.

Currently, researchers have not conducted a national-scale study of sex addiction. Experts can only estimate that about 3 - 6% of the US population is sexually addicted. Psychiatry studies show that people with sex addiction disorder lack the ability to control desire, reduce their ability to assess and control psychology less.

5. Addiction to shopping

The human brain is a perfect masterpiece of nature, but when the "design" of evolution is changed by modern life, people will encounter five dangerous " addiction " habits like heroin.

Many scientists argue that this is not a symptom of psychosis, but others argue that between 2 and 8% of the US population has an obsessive disorder associated with buying behavior.

In fact, the phenomenon of "shopping addiction" has been recorded for nearly a century, and the number of huge advertising emails and "huge " promotions on websites has clearly made this psychological symptom become more serious.

While many people believe that only women are "shopping addicts", Stanford University's research shows that both sexes are equally affected: about 6% of women are addicted to shopping, while this number is men up to 5.5%. Some scientists argue that shopping addiction is linked to an "addiction" disorder that stores people's belongings.

Currently, scientists have not yet discovered which nervous system in the brain is responsible for this symptom, but early evidence suggests the culprit is still the middle border and dopamine. Many Parkinson's patients take dopamine-enhancing drugs that have acquired shopping addiction.

But, if you only "watch" your clothes, shoes or electronic devices often, don't worry that you're a shopping addict. The act of "watching" dream items will not make you become addicted to shopping; Only self-buying can cause this psychological disorder.