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Faryal Wasti Malcolm Campbell English 1103 12 September 2013 Self-Rewarding Addictions. Everyone has them, and whether or not we know it, we all portray them to some extent. The Oxford Dictionary defines an addiction as a regular practice, especially one that is hard to give up. Sometimes something as little as running every night or a cup-a-Joe in the morning, constitutes itself as an addiction. We also know about smoking being one of the most common addictions that kills. However there are some that are a bit more on the unusual side. There are some that we dont display to others because of their shocking and questionable nature, like eating the wall dividing your kitchen and living room- the whole thing! To get to the bottom of what causes such extreme addictions in human beings, I will be examining the biological and sociological reasoning for what triggers certain chemical reactions in the brain, causing repetition in actions, no matter how questionable we ourselves may think. While habitual formation may seem like something that is normal to our species, there are some things that can really harm an individual and put their life into danger. The worst part is, if recalled from the definition above, no matter what they cannot stop. According to Medical News Today, addictive behavior is caused when a substance is releasing a reward neurotransmitter through the brain, known as dopamine. Individuals with heavy addictions have relied on a dopamine releasing substance for so long that the bodys tolerance level has increased. Therefore, it takes more of the addictive substance to receive pleasure, and the brain

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becomes incapable of releasing the dopamine neurotransmitter without the addictive substance. I had learned a bit about the reward center and dopamine in AP Psychology last year, and found it interesting that the same neurological imbalances cause addictions ranging from smoking to extremes like cocaine. It is proven that most people with an addiction are in denial about their condition. Most do not believe they have a problem, but whatever it is that they are doing is by choice and not physical or psychological need. According to Candace Plattor, a clinical psychologist, there are different methods used by addicts in denial of their problem. There is rationalizing, where one convinces him or herself that they are allowed to reward themselves time to time. There is blaming, for example, you would too if you had a wife like mine. There is minimizing, which includes thoughts such as, so what if I drink and do pot every day, at least Im not doing heroine. And the most common, self-delusion, which is the belief that one can stop whenever they feel like it. So what are the psychological and sociological reasons for addictive behavior? How can some individuals discontinue their addictive habits and some not? And what are the social and psychological affects that an addict presents. These are the questions I would like to research throughout the semester for my paper. I am interested in this topic because over the summer I had been watching Netflix, and there was this one show called, My Strange Addiction, which documented people going through their addictions and talking about them. I was really intrigued by the different things I had seen people go through. I remember questioning, WHY? every time I watched a new episode and saw the diverse addictions out there. I never really researched in depth about the causes of addiction, I just went off of the general information that was given in my AP

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Psychology class about dopamine and neurotransmitters. I believe that this is a good chance for me to go in depth and learn something I have been curious about for a while. I hope to learn the underlying psychological and neurological causes that make an individual dependent. I also hope to learn about how societys view of an addict affects them. For this assignment, I will be using multiple psychology websites, and biological journals that provide information on the brain and how it works. I hope to even use my biology text book for some information, at least once, and get the most out of the expense. I spend a lot of time in the library, so I may even look at a book. However, the internet is a lot more time affective so Ill have to see if I have extra time for that. I am excited to say, that Netflix will finally be a source for an assignment of mine, because I will be using the show, My strange addiction, for information on how the addict feels, and maybe even some statistics that are thrown out there. Overall, I am very excited for this assignment, and cant wait to get started!