Are you addicted to food, TV, sex, music, eating dirt, or one of these other weird afflictions?
#1 Internet Addiction
Internet Addiction Disorder occurs when internet use interferes with daily life. It can be linked to playing video games, online shopping, social media, adult content, and other types of entertainment that can be found online.
Internet addiction can ruin people's lives as hours online can interfere with work, school, and personal addiction. Internet addicts can also have physical problems like obesity, heart disease, atrophy, and repetitive stress injury from spending days or weeks online at a time without any real physical activity.
#2 Television Addiction
You may think you are addicted to 'Mad Men', but some people have a genuine addiction to watching television. These people can have trouble sleeping or leading normal lives because they watch so much TV!
This is a tricky one because researchers have yet to draw the exact line between normal TV watching hours and that of an addict. We think this might be because most Americans are probably TV addicts.
#3 Lying Addiction
Some people are addicted to lying. They can't stop telling lies, even when they have nothing to gain from lying.
There are three kinds of lying addicts: chronic, pathological, and compulsive liars. They all lead to serious problems from problems maintaining relationships with family and friends to jail time.
#4 Ice Chewing Addiction
Chewing on ice seems harmless, right? Well for some people chewing ice has become such a serious addiction that they have to seek treatment.
Chewing ice incessantly can interfere with jobs as well as social lives, and it can lead to dental problems. There are a number of theories as to why people develop ice chewing addictions that range from sexual frustration to an iron deficiency in their blood.
#5 Animal Hoarding Addiction
You've heard of hoarders, but have you heard of animal hoarders? Animals hoarders collect animals, and lots of them, usually in their homes.
Animal hoarders often live in crowded living conditions that are unfit for animals or humans. In fact, they are often people who are not fit to care for themselves, much less dozens of animals. Did we mention that animal hoarders often hoard inanimate objects as well?
#6 Pica (Dirt-Eating) Addiction
Pica is a psychological disorder that compels people to eat things without any nutritional content. This can range from earthy things like dirt, mud, and clay to more hazardous items like coins and buttons.
People with pica can get very sick or die from either malnutrition or the consumption of dangerous items like nails and tacks. Anemia, or iron deficiency, is thought to be one of the major causes of pica.
#7 Shopping Addiction
You may have seen the MTV True Life on shopping addiction; yep, it's a real thing. A shopping addict can have trouble holding onto any amount of money without spending it wastefully.
In some cases people are left homeless because they are unable to pay their rent. The advent of the internet has made things especially tough for shopping addicts, with sites like amazon.com putting everything at their fingertips.
#8 Addiction to Body Modifications
Some people are addicted to both the pain and the aesthetics of body modifications like tattoos and piercings. These people will sometimes render their faces and bodies unrecognizable through body modifications in as little as a year.
There are also people who suffer from plastic surgery addiction. These people will spend countless dollars trying to 'improve' various parts of their bodies. Once they start running low on cash, they will even go to shady, cheap, unlicensed doctors to get their plastic surgery fix.
#9 Video Game Addiction
This one hits kind of close to home as we remember sleepless childhood nights trying to finally beat Super Mario 3. Hardcore video game addicts have been driven to murder, suicide, and death by exhaustion.
Video games are meant to be addictive and keep us playing. But when your gaming habit interferes with your daily life, and drives you to do harm to yourself or others, you should seek help.
#10 Music Addiction
Ok, the jury is still out on this one. But there is a man in Sweden who has won the right to receive disability because of his addiction to heavy metal music.
The Swedish man is allowed by the courts to listen to his metal music while at work and to take time off so that he can go see live heavy metal concerts! You think the American disability board would go for this one?
#11 Social Media Addiction
This is one that is popping up more and more with the increased popularity of sites like Facebook, Pinterest, and Likes.com (whoops!) Social media addicts spend so much time on these sites that it interferes with their sleep schedule and day-to-day life.
Social media addicts feel anxious or sometimes even physically ill when they don't have access to their social media accounts for even just a few hours. A new study says that Americans spend 16 minutes out of every hour using social media, so this one could be a widespread problem.
#12 Reading Addiction
Okay, so reading is a great way to spend some time, engaging your brain and helping you learn something in the process. Most people wish they could read more than they do. But for some, reading can actually be a crippling addiction.
Reading provides an escape from the outside world, and for reading addicts, this escape is too good to let go of. Reading addicts lose sleep at night because they can't stop reading, and some reading addicts have trouble holding a job down because of the constant desire to read.
#13 Food Addiction
Ok, so everybody eats, right? But some people can't stop themselves from overeating, it can even get so serious that they eat themselves to death.
Food addiction is actually very similar to drug addiction. It's an addiction to a pleasurable feeling brought on by a substance that is so strong that it overshadows any concern for the consequences. When we come across a box of donuts, some people might fantasize about taking down the whole box, then think about the stomach ache and the effect it will have on their health and their waistline. A food addict's impulse to eat is too strong to heed any of these warnings.
#14 Sex Addiction
The recent Tiger Woods scandal has made the condition out to be a bit of a joke. But true sex addiction can induce sexual harassment, molestation, and even rape.
People who have sex addiction often feel the need to have sex or please themselves constantly. They are obsessed with hooking up with large numbers of anonymous partners, which makes having any kind of real relationship impossible.
#15 Gambling Addiction
Most people like to hit the casinos on vacation or play the lottery from time to time, but for some people gambling is a serious addiction. Some people lose their whole life savings and still can't break the habit.
Gambling addicts have support groups, just like alcoholics. Gambling addiction can lead to serious consequences, as gambling addicts have turned to theft, murder, and even suicide as the result of an unshakeable gambling habit. If you can't go a week without gambling, you might have a problem.
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