I know that we get addiction (drugs, alcohol, video games etc) because our brain gives out dopamine when we participate in those behaviours an all. But, for example, I could like something (eg. painting) which would give out dopamine to my brain but still not be addicted to it. My question is then, what causes us from liking something to it turning into an addiction? Like I could like video games and still not be addicted to it. It still gives out dopamine but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be addicted to it. What are the necessary factors for turning something we like to becoming addicted to it? It is maybe, the amount of dopamine it gives, or is it how quickly we feel the dopamine?
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Escape is a big part of it. If your life is fine, you would have no problems returning to it after losing yourself in a substance or activity. If your life sucks, anything that let’s you temporarily escape from it can become an obsession.
It becomes even worse if the obsession has negative consequences of it’s own, such as debt, health issues or physical addiction, because that makes the reality you want to escape from even more overwhelming.
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