Bad Habits: why we can't stop

[Titana]

I was just reading THIS (http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/061205_bad_habits.html) article and was thinking, its true, why even if most people know that something could kill them they keep on doing it...?

According to the article, scientists have come up with a host of reasons why humans stick to bad habits, and they are zeroing in on what to do about it.

Some of the reasons that scientist came up with are:

-Innate human defiance.
-Need for social acceptance.
-Inability to truly understand the nature of risk.
-Individualistic view of the world and the ability to rationalize unhealthy habits
-Genetic predisposition to addiction.

Genetic predisposition.......:confused:......:think:



Titana

[Moose]

I've suspected a genetic component to addiction for a while now.

I've been paying closer attention for several years now, and I cannot recall a single instance (prior to the public smoking ban in this province) where I have observed a video lottery terminal player who wasn't smoking. Granted, my observations were totally unscientific...

Such a thing might help explain why some people cannot quit smoking, say, no matter what they try, while others can quit cold turkey without any trouble at all.

As for bad habits, I dunno. Might they be a lesser form of addiction?

[Ronald Brak]

Your environment plays a large part. If you are surrounded by people who insist that it is too difficult to give up smoking then unless you are a very contrary person then you will find it harder to quit than if they were supportive of your attempts to stop. But your internal environment is proably the most important factor. If you tell yourself that quitting smoking is too difficult, that you need cigarettes, that it isn't fair that it's so difficult to quit, then you will probably have an extremely hard time quitting. But if your thoughts are more practical and you tell yourself that qutting smoking is difficult but not too difficult, that you might strongly desire cigarettes but you don't need them, and that there is absolutely no reason why nicotine addiction should be fair, then you will probably find it easier to quit smoking.

Just how good you are at rational thinking will depend on your genetics, your environment and your experiences. And people can practical and rational in one area of their lives and irrational in another. In general I don't think humanity does enough to encourage practical, rational thinking. It's so unfair! - I mean, it's regretable, but something that can be improved on.

[Titana]

I've suspected a genetic component to addiction for a while now.

After reading the last article I posted, I looked for some information referring to the genetics of addiction, and did come across a few articles that stated that there is evidence that heredity does play an important part in increasing the likelihood of an individual developing an addiction. I for some reason never use to accept that, and even argued a couple of times on other forums that I do not in any way believe that a person is predisposed to an addiction. Well now I know better....:eh:


Your environment plays a large part.

Yep, and I personally believe it plays the largest part, do to the fact that our environment is the key to our mental development.


Titana

[Gillianren]

A quick look through my family history is enough to convince me that there's a genetic component to addiction!

[Argos]

According to the article, scientists have come up with a host of reasons why humans stick to bad habits, and they are zeroing in on what to do about it.

Some of the reasons that scientist came up with are:

-Innate human defiance.
-Need for social acceptance.
-Inability to truly understand the nature of risk.
-Individualistic view of the world and the ability to rationalize unhealthy habits
-Genetic predisposition to addiction.

Genetic predisposition.......:confused:......:think:

People stick to "bad" habits [drugs, sex, R&R, potato chips, whatever] because they give pleasure. That´s the constant tension between Eros and Tanatos.

(*) Refer to Herbert Marcuse, Sigmund Freud.

[suntrack2]

well, the topic is quite nice, and my assumption is here, that why people are sticked with the bad habits, infact slowly the transtitions takes place when the man become more updated more improved from his last status, and through the first 3 stages of man in the anthropology, there are little habits of monkey can be found in the man, worldwide, not perfectly same, but there are some habits which are perfectly suit with the monkey, like jumping, mouth expanding, scubbing the head, nail eating, naughty activities like making a push to someone like the monkey who do mostly tail pooling of the counterpart, or the little monkey. later when the innovations, technology developed the man now become a serious, responsible, disciplined, more couregious, dashing, smiling, caring, but if the man has or had bad habits then its answer one can found in the anthropology subject. mostly some habits are picked by others, if they are using that habits then the man easily imitate others, he sometime forgets what he is doing or thinking or keeping that habit.

for example a. nail cutting in the teeths, b. unnecessary laughing, c. time taker, d. lazy writer, e. no caring for others sentiments, f. carelessness, g. moving the buttons of the shirt, h. giving the jerk to neck and head while speaking, i. clapping unnecessary. bad habits may affect his overall personality, hence such habits can be stop easily. j. eating unnecessary sweets in the meal is also a bad habit.

[farmerjumperdon]

People stick to "bad" habits [drugs, sex, R&R, potato chips, whatever] because they give pleasure. That´s the constant tension between Eros and Tanatos.

(*) Refer to Herbert Marcuse, Sigmund Freud.

Definitely appears to be heriditary components to addiction. I think the term used to be (still is?) addictive personality.

IMO, it probably leads right into the pleasure angle. For me it is the cornerstone for the definition of addiction:

Behavior that gives short term pleasure, but is destructive over the long term.

A person with a strong drive for pleasure is definitely susceptible to the temptations of pleasureable behaviors, even if they are aware of the long term risks.

[Moose]

The clinical definition is: "produces tolerance" which is not the same thing as behavioral reinforcement or even craving which is only a common symptom of addiction, but not a given.

When stoners claim that MJ isn't addictive, what they really mean is that MJ doesn't produce intense craving. It does, however, produce measureable tolerance.

Tolerance is basically the phenomenon where your body begins to make persisting physiological adjustments to additives in your body. Another thing to note is that "persisting" is a sliding scale. It can be a relatively short period of time.

/ Strange thing is that Intro to Pharmacology was the one class in college I'd come out of with an A+.
// No, there were no samples.
/// Yeah, the professor got that a lot.

[Gillianren]

Refer to Herbert Marcuse, Sigmund Freud.

Can I not refer to Freud, please? He was wrong an awful lot.

[Moose]

Freud is interesting. He's a good example of an otherwise brilliant researcher getting married to his theories to the point of brushing away arguments that show his ideas don't always fit well with observable reality.

His thought that people invariably lust for their mothers, for example, breaks down utterly when you consider that it's clearly not true for the overwhelming majority of women (whether or not it's even true at all for men). No matter to Freud. Women are supposedly "failed men" in that regard.

Herr Sigmund reminds me a great deal of some of the folks in ATM.

[Argos]

Freud was wrong a lot, but I don´t think you´ve got something to gain ignoring his work.

Marcuse has approached this subject. I cited Freud to establish an earlier reference.

Freud was a man of his time, controversial but still a scientist.

[farmerjumperdon]

Marcuse has approached this subject. I cited Freud to establish an earlier reference.

Freud was a man of his time.

Sure he wasn't a failed woman?

[Gillianren]

I think he mistook "I want to be a man" with "I want to have some power, please." At the time, they might appear the same, but they're really very different. Besides, he had a very limited sample and made universal statements based on it. That's not very scientific.

[suntrack2]

normally seen in the interviews that bad habits directly reflects the "score in the interview".

1. nail cutting
2. unncessary looking left and right
3. looking at the siling
4. pressing the lower lip in the teeth
5. movements of legs ( which looks very shabby in interview)
6. adjusting the hairs by fingers very often. (it looks vulgarity) in front of the interview panel.
7. keeping 2 finger in the two eyes' corners frequently
8. typing the fingers on the other fingers of the left or right hand
9. tounge moving habit on the both leaps, just to keep them wet.

and so on.
habits are more, there may be a great list, but I have performed here with only 9 points.

sunil