Addiction is a Subject Related to Habits
After reading the article written by Gretchen Rubin, I rather think that addiction is a subject related to habit. In the article, Rubin mentioned a list of factors which was put forth by Mark Griffiths. Apart from the question of “what’s a true addiction?”, the list provides a way to think about whether a certain habit is making it harder to live a life that reflects our values and contributes to our long-term happiness. According to this definition, a behavioral addiction is marked by salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflicts and relapse. However, the assay would not be clear enough if it isn’t represent with an example, so I would discuss the six aspect along with my mother’s habit on playing app games.
My mother brought herself an Iphone during summer vacation, and that is also when she started to gain the habits of playing app games such as candy crush. This behavior had become the important activity in her daily life (salience), for she spent thirty minutes to an hour on playing games after having breakfast, lunch and dinner, sometimes even before going to sleep as if she is following a prescription given by the doctor. Basically, I think the most interesting part during the observation of mom is that it is pretty easy to predict whether she is winning or losing in the game, for the behavior of playing game changes her mood by providing a rush of excitement or sense of calm or a shout of remorse (mood modification). None the less, since the difficulties of the game advanced eventually level by level, it is quite hard to go on to the next level as easy as turning one’s hand over on level one when you had the same limitation of life chance, which is five lives per chance. So mom began to purchase “life “ in the online store, and that represents the stage when more and more behavior is needed t get the mood boost (tolerance). However, what happens when she fail to pass the level even with the purchase of extra lives? Well, mom would be depressed and put down her phone to take a break, but after finishing all of the housework, she would return once again back to her wonderland, and that is how the behavior returns after being given up (relapse)
There are still two aspect I had not talked about, which is withdrawal symptoms – a person feels lousy or irritable when unable to engage in the behavior, and conflict – the behavior causes conflicts with other people, interferes with other activities, or causes a person to feel a loss of control. Though this list might seemed a little too underestimate the problems of addiction, I think with our self-knowledge, and being in control of ourselves, addiction would not need to be seemed as a matter so seriously.
PART I
回覆刪除Milano: I read an article written by Gretchen Rubin which is an author of happiness program. He said that addiction is subjective to habit and he also put forth to the list of Mark Griffiths, which he believed there were six steps and maintained contributing to habit. They are salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflicts and relapse. And I have some of examples of my mom playing the game as the beginning and explain the six steps. As I read through the article, my mom has started playing during summer vacation. She actually has the game as a daily routine in her since then and it’s a salience stage. And for she…every time she plays the game, her emotion will be like….
Olive: Up? Happy?
Milano: Like rollers coaster…excitement.
Olive: Oh!
Milano: Ya! Because the game itself gives her the mood modification and after…another stage is tolerance, which is that by more and more behaviors, she has to have her mood smooth; because she wouldn’t be satisfied with one winning. The more you get will make you happier if you are addicted to something or you gain happiness on something. So that’s the tolerance stage. And the next is withdrawal symptoms and conflict. But I have not observed these two aspects on my mother’s example. Because the withdrawal symptom means that the person feels lousy if he or she is unable to get the behavior, which is that my mom did not present that way. And the conflict is that when he or she is not able to play or behave that habit, she will get into the conflict with others or environment or the social (society). And my mother did not behave that way so I cannot explain them in my example. And the last is the relapse and it means that when the person gives up and later she gains the habit again and it is when…I notice that when my mom gives up the game she would put down her phone and to do other things, like washing dishes or clothes. When she finishes the house work she would return and play game. So these are the six steps of addiction.
Olive: Uh…I…my question is why do you want to analyze these six aspects?
Milano: Oh, because the third annotation I wrote about the candy addiction but I did not talk very much about what an addiction means. I just mainly talk about why people are addicted to something. So I think it’s…I have to define the addiction.
Olive: So do you think that addiction…what is addiction related to happiness? Do you think…because your topic is…
Milano: Because in third annotation I wrote about video game addiction and because that topic is related to first and second annotation which I talk about video
Olive: Pleasure?
Milano: Pleasure in first annotation and visual reality in second annotation. And I refer these two elements to game addiction.
Olive: So visual reality is…虛擬世界?
PART II
回覆刪除Milano: Yes.
Olive: So you are not talking about happiness anymore?
Milano: I’m still talking about happiness, like the pleasure you get from…
Olive: Playing video games?
Milano: Yes, and I think to the ones who gets addicted to the video game, the behavior of playing is happiness at that moment.
Olive: But if they lose games, they won’t feel happy anymore?
Milano: But like I said, the last stage is relapse. It means that when they get beaten down by the level and they put down for a while and they’ll return to the game.
Olive: So you think these whole addiction process all comes from the happiness? They will get the happy feeling in the end?
Milano: But I think it depends on how someone is addicted to something.
Olive: This is how to define the addiction?
Milano: Yes…
Olive: So you use the example of your mom?
Milano: because I don’t think she is that addicted to something. In her example, I think she just has the game as a habit but to me it’s a bad habit, I think. Because I don’t think she should spend some much time and paly. Because it’s like every breakfast and dinner and before sleeping she will play for one hour of the game. I think she spends too much time at it.
Olive: So…But I think the happiness is not the addiction because there are good happy and bad happy…
Milano: I think this habit to her is a bad happy but she don’t think it’s a bad habit, so it depends on what standpoint you’re on.
Olive: Ok…so I just want to know more about how do you…because your original topic is happiness and to me the addiction thing is definitely not a happy thing; because you will get into one thing and you can’t get out of it. And it is very painful because you can’t get out but you can’t force yourself.
Milano: Because in the viewpoint of the ones who’s getting addicted, I know that some researchers say that when one feels happy, there’s a chemistry which is called
Olive: 多巴胺…?
Milano: 之類的! It will increase the person’s excitement and they will want to get more fun from that.
Olive: Playing video games will increase 多巴胺?
Milano: Yes, it increases and it makes people feel that they are happy.
Olive: I know that if you are playing games, you definitely feel happy.
Milano: I think the…like I said, it depends on which standpoint you’re at. I don’t think it’s a good habit to have a game addiction, so I don’t think that getting…it is happiness to have to get addicted to something. And so…in my first annotation, I said about happiness should be other things.
Olive: Do you want to define happiness to addiction?
Milano: I don’t think I define it in addiction. I kind of stand this point…
Olive: Huh…so what is your overall topic? Because it is annotation 4 and what is your…according to your annotation 1 to annotation 4, what is your overall topic because this is about happiness and this is about addiction but the two things seem not really have a…close relation and you still need to have some common…
Milano: Oh…I think my topic is…is addiction a good way to get happy or something like that. I’ll put my third and forth annotation at the front and talk about the addiction people get from video games and they will talk about the theory of happiness to define my point of what happiness should be like rather than a game happiness addiction. It should be something else.
PART III
回覆刪除Olive: So…what…I remember your annotation 2 is about the theory of happiness. What is the theory can be put in addiction?
Milano: Hmm…a theory talks about the experience. And the theory talks about if there’s a machine and people can’t plan about what they want to get. For example, if you want to become a pop star, and if the person goes into the machine, you’ll eventually become a pop star. But the experiment questions that whether it’s the process of becoming a pop star does mean something the person wants or becoming a pop star is the thing that the person wants to get. So the process…is the solution…the process is the result. And my playing games...I think it’s the same question in game addiction. Whether the excitement during the game the player wants to get or…winging the game is the player wants to get.
Olive: So this kind of happiness, like somebody wants to get right now, it is not for the long time happiness. Because to me…I think when you play the vide game right now, you’ll feel…
Milano: Oh! Because I think that people will get blind with the situation now. Because we just see what we have now and we want to live…but we don’t have further...use?
Olive: Because I think some people play video game now…he will no think about the future.
Milano: Because it is about the future, so he won’t think abut the future. So it’s like stucking someone in a situation now and make them feel that the situation is perfect for them and happy. I don’t think it should be like that. So that’s why I talk about game addiction.
Olive: So you want to break this addiction link about happiness?
Milano: Yes, I don’t think the addiction is the happiness. So that’s why I put this issue in the front of my issue paper and later I’ll talk about the experiment whether the goal or the process is the important thing someone will seek for happiness.
Olive: So…if the resolution to your paper, it will be: ”Don’t play video games?”
Milano: It will be like…
Olive: Don’t be addicted to something?
Milano: It will be like…whether in the presence or in the future we should be in control of our behaviors and not to get over to something. Because It’s about self-knowledge about what we’re doing and we’re going to do as important. If you want to contribute some behaviors.
Olive: So…to me, if you want to control yourself, it is your thought. You need to change your thought and then you can control yourself not be too addicted to something. Like me, I used to watching episodes, but later I know that it is not good for me in the future so I won’t do that anymore.
Milano: So having happiness knowledge of one self is important. I think, and maybe that will be my conclusion of issue paper.
Olive: And how about happiness?
Milano: I mean like seeking happiness and the process and the result is…
Olive: to know what you are doing now?
Milano: Is important but we have to have self knowledge because getting control is what…
Olive: is something important to know not t be addicted to video games?
Milano: (Laugh)
PART IV
回覆刪除Olive: So...hmm…uh….so…to you…happiness…what is the meaning of happiness.
Milano: I think happiness is something people seeking in the long term but couldn’t figure out what it should be. We devote ourselves into all kinds of things and try to figure out what it means to us. But sometimes we get involved in something and think that oh that’s something we’re seeking for but sometimes it gets ourselves addicted but, luckily, we have other people around us to remind that that’s not the happiness we should find. And there’s a lot more things you need to do. Like the career and the responsibility, you have to pay for the career and the family. You have to face the reality and also face your problem while seeking for happiness. So it’s a long term issue to be.
Olive: So your conclusion is the addiction thing is…temporary.
Milano: It’s a track on the long term seeking happiness.
Olive: It is a track?
Milano: it’s a track that blinds us.
Olive: How to solve the track?
Milano: You have to know what you’re doing and what you should be doing.
Olive: But people won’t listen to if you told him, “You need to know what you are doing, you can’t do this anymore.” But he just says, “I just want to play video games. Leave me alone.” But…
Milano: That’s the reality he has to pay for responsibility.
Olive: but if you are addicted to video games and you couldn't…you skip a lot of classes and you can’t get passed.
Milano: So that would be the reality reminding you shouldn't be addicted to something.
Olive: So…take your mom for example. What would you do?
Milano: Because I think she’s just not that addicted…it’s just a habit for her once she gets rid of it, she might not play.
Olive: So you think one day she will get rid of it?
Milano: Because she spends three hours a days playing, like after breakfast, after lunch and after dinner. Each hour.
Olive: But you say there’s may be the stage of relapse. So…
Milano: After lunch, she plays for an hour. And after that she puts down the phone. And after dinner, she plays another one hour and then she will go to sleep. SO the relapse for her is not frequent. It’s not like one who’s really addicted.
Olive: I want to ask the solution. Because you say if you leave someone alone, after a period of time, he will give up this addiction of himself. But I think there must be some…uh…some actions to…
Milano: But I’m not talking about how to predict…how to solve the addiction. I’m just talking about how addiction might be a track seeking for happiness in the long term. So if I talk about the solution of addiction, it will be away from my issue paper.
Olive: So you think..
Milano: Addiction is just one example of happiness. It’s a track.
Olive: But it is bad? I mean you want to make sure…
Milano: I just want to get addiction as the example in long term seeking for happiness. But this is not what I want…
Olive: Okay…!
Milano: Okay.