Those seeking knowledge:
Pick up the latest Time Magazine! This special addition is called “The Science of Addiction. What we know. What we’re learning.” It’s a great read.
Interesting statistics:
Addictions in America-
Alcohol 14.1 million or 5.6 % of the populating
Drugs 8.1 million people
Tobacco 50.6 million
Caffeine 80 to 90% of the population
Food 20% of the population
Gambling 2.5 million people or 1% of the population
Shopping 6% of the population
Sex 3 to 6% or 7.4 million to 14.7 million
Internet 90% of children/teens and 65% adults with impairment varying
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I wonder what the actual numbers are for sex addicts? Honestly, I can’t believe that they have remotely accurate stats on that one.
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It’s a hard one to measure. Taboo makes it more difficult. Alcohol and nicotine addictions are serious problems, for sure, but they’ve been discussed openly for decades in research and in the news. Sex addiction walks different ground: say the word “sex addict” and watch how a video or broadcast audience responds. It’s different. It’s something that’s still on the boundaries, in terms of what people talk about in science and in the news (and in general conversation).
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Yeah, a drug addict is just seen as a junkie that doesn’t have their life together. An alcoholic is sometimes even just brushed off as someone who drinks heavily. It’s still serious, but it’s just more mainstream. Sex addicts are seen as depraved, sickos that prey on everyone you love.
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More on the science of addiction:
In 1995, scientists at NASA gave various substances to spiders to see how it affected their web-weaving. These are the results:
This is the NASA citation for the source - it’s from a NASA Technical Briefing (a collection of research done by NASA scientists) published in April 1995:
If you search the technical briefing document by its title given in the NASA link above, there is a PDF copy of the full briefing online at archive.org. The page with the briefing about the spider webs is online in a PDF doc here:
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Whoa caffeine was the second worse! Crazy how you can see a visual symbol of the effects.
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