Addiction is not only limited to substance addiction, as it can be an addiction to computer games, gambling, social media, and so forth. Some do not realize that the activity they consider as their past time is already an activity that is making them called an “addict”.
Karen Corcoran Walsh, a registered Marriage and Family Therapist, knows that when a family member is addicted to something, it somehow affects all the members of his/her family. With this, someone must identify addiction before it gets completely out of hand.
When Can You Call Yourself An Addict?
When can you be considered an addict? This is not the easiest question to answer since not everyone is prepared to accept the fact that they are already categorized as an addict.
When you hear the word addict, it will come out negative already, but even how ugly the word “addict” is, as someone who wants him/herself to be corrected immediately, assessing yourself and accepting if you are really at that stage, is important.
Here are some signs that you are getting addicted to something already:
- You repeatedly do it even it negatively impacts your life
You know that when you get drunk, your wife will get mad at you and can cause a fight, but yet, you still choose to drink repeatedly. If too much drinking of alcohol is causing the relationship you have with your wife, exhausted and ugly, and yet, you cannot stop doing it, you might be addicted to alcohol.
If you continuously do things that are destroying your relationship or your life in general, then it can be an addiction.
- You feel sick when you are not doing it
If you feel sick when alcohol or drugs wear off your body, then it can be a sign of addiction. If your life is normal, you should not feel sick when you are not gambling, when you are not under the influence of drugs, when you cannot access your social media account, and so on.
Addiction may consume your energy if you are not doing it, and it is a sign that you need to take action and immediately fix yourself.
- You think of it all the time
If you are thinking of it all the time, while you are in bed, while taking a bath, while eating, while at work, while in school or anywhere else you go and whatever you do, it is addiction. Addiction may take up your entire system and could make you so hooked on it. If you feel anything like this, it is best if you re-evaluate and assess yourself.
- You are taking risks just to do it
Addiction can be as simple as not finishing homework just to access social media or as grave as putting yourself in danger by driving home completely drunk just to satisfy your urge to drink alcohol. If you are taking your welfare, and worse your life, at risk, it can be an addiction.
