@IsabellaSnow This is from
https://americanaddictioncenters.org/heroin-treatment/effects/
The page is a lot longer if this kind of thing interests you. Kind of fascinating. I just snipped one part. Some of it is probably up for debate among doctors, but my husband's specialist has said pretty much this exact thing to him and encouraged him to accept that remaining on a treatment program will likely be a forever thing because of it.
Interesting read, I quickly read a few medical type articles about the same sort of thing to get more of an idea as that article is fairly simplified which makes some of it a bit misleading. I haven't got time to look into the depth of it just yet though, but interesting all the same.
The main gist of it though which seems to be one of the reasons you are arguing that an opiate addiction is particularly different to any other addiction, is pretty much the same as other addictions. The article seems to be focusing much more on the neurological reaction rather than the physical dependency, i.e. the release of neurotransmitters when a drug is taken, and then the eventual burnout of the receptors. But this part of addiction is not just with opiates or even with taking a physical drug, the high for sure is very different with say cocaine compared to a gambling addiction, but that need to constantly get the same high is still there, possibly to a more overwhelming level of compulsion. People seem to compare physical and psychological addictions as though they aren't both physical needs for that high, we consider psychological conditions as something we should be in control of, even though everything psychological is related to our physical brains, not just some abstract idea of the mind. What I am trying to emphasize is that this is not a healthy way to think. I do agree that any addiction that has physical dependency has a particularly harsh result of quitting, especially when if you relapse you have to deal with those physical issues over again, and some drugs have particularly awful physical side effects. I just disagree that this should rank any addiction as worse than another, or allow others to judge more trivial seeming addictions, everyone experiences things differently, and even addictions to the same drug or action can be completely different and varying in strength depending on the person. You are particularly close to this area having seen very real experiences first hand of someone struggling with a physical addiction, so I can see why you feel that this experience is worse than others. You know lots about these particular addictions, and I am definitely not discrediting the genuine pain you have experienced. All I am saying is not to discredit others, as their addictions are just as real to them. It may seem laughable to you that someone addicted to porn might be sweating and freaking out without access, sadly this is genuinely a reality for some. Even people with social media addictions can get severe levels of anxiety including panic attacks, which may not be due to physical dependency, but they have very physiological symptoms which are terrifying for the person feeling them.
I do wonder though, if part of the reason porn addiction seems so trivial and non important, is because there is such huge stigma around sex and watching porn. While this being a camgirl forum you would hope people would be more understanding, we are all raised and living in the same societies. There's an element that if a man's porn addiction ruins his marriage you might think "well mate, you shouldn't have been there anyway". Yet it's not the watching of the porn which is a problem, it's the addiction which comes from it which causes issues. When it becomes compulsive and completely out of control. I used to be addicted to sex, and it was a very real and actually pretty dangerous addiction, one which caused huge amounts of harm to myself. I don't have an addictive personality and seem fairly immune to physical addiction so I don't think it was that bad as far as addictions go, but I definitely got what at least felt like very physical reactions when I went without. I also have OCD, which some psychological disorders involving addiction are linked to, and there is basically no way you could stop yourself no matter how much counselling you do. Not the same as a heroin addiction, but very scary, especially if your addiction involved spending huge amounts of money compulsively. Each disorder comes with its own individual set of issues to overcome, and trying to pin one down over another as worse just isn't helpful. I'm not being politically correct either, I'm just stating that even scientists don't know much about some of these addictions, so what's the use in speculating and categorizing them?
