Addiction is a combination of physiological and mental desires, in which the use of substances begins to occupy the highest place in a person's value system. The main characteristic of addiction is an irresistible need to take chemical and psychoactive substances.

Female alcoholism is a terrible disease that requires immediate treatment. Occupational therapy will help to cope with the problem.

Substance abuse has much in common with drug addiction, so the formation, consequences, and principles of treatment of these diseases are similar.

"Salts" are synthetic drugs that have a devastating effect on humans. There is no such system of the body that would not be subjected to their negative influence.

Spice harm

Spice is a smoking mixture containing a drug in its composition. They have a devastating effect on the psyche and health of a person. Drug use has a particularly devastating effect on the brain.

Verbosity is a serious symptom that indicates the presence of very serious disorders in the mental state of a person. This is a definite reason to consult a specialist.

Emotional dependency

Emotional dependence is a serious psychological disorder that significantly impairs the patient's quality of life. Treatment of psychological problems can restore the ability to normal life.

food addiction

Food addiction is a psychological disorder that needs to be treated. Most often it occurs with a lack of positive emotions in a person's life.

Gambling (slot machines, sports betting, casino, lottery) can form a strong psychological addiction that requires the help of a professional.

Narcissism is a psychological illness

Narcissism is a serious psychological addiction that interferes with the normal perception of reality and requires qualified treatment.

Religious fanaticism (sects and cults)

Religious fanaticism is a kind of psychological disorder. It requires immediate treatment to a specialist who will help a person return to normal life.

internet addiction

Internet addiction is a psychological disorder that is associated with a painful desire to be online all the time. It is fraught with serious consequences for the health and social realization of the individual.

Many people are sure that all addictions come down only to well-known and “promoted” alcohol and nicotine addictions. While in their practice, a psychiatrist and psychologist have to deal with a huge number of addictions, the existence of which most people do not even suspect. Some of them cause much more serious harm than the same smoking or alcohol.

Efimov V.A. From struggle to sanity. Allen Carr Center "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking"

It is quite simple to understand that you are a real shopaholic, since neither the lack of money in the wallet, nor the presence of debts, which sometimes reach huge amounts, does not stop him. He is unable to correlate his income with his spending, and, in fact, is a pathological spender. Such a person is obsessed with buying new things, which he may not even need. Scientifically, this mania is called oniomania. For him, shopping for the purpose of buying is both relaxation, and the meaning of life, and entertainment. He simply needs to buy new things, which he subsequently discusses with his friends, he constantly looks through new magazines in order to study fashion and find future purchases. If a shopaholic does not make the desired purchase for some period of time, he becomes indifferent to almost everything in the world. This state is called apathy.

Fedor Uglov - A letter to a smoking girl. Understanding Factor

Everyone knows that TV is an uninterrupted stream of entertainment, a kind of Pandora's box, which is full of pleasures for absolutely every taste. However, for a person who has already become addicted to TV, it does not matter what to watch, because for him television becomes the backdrop of his real life.

If you pull him away from the TV, so to speak, “disconnect” him from the broadcast, he will instantly turn into an irritable, quick-tempered person, and after a certain period of time he will become depressed. Television offers people a unique opportunity to watch other people, find out how they live, while a person feels completely safe.

And for a person obsessed with TV, this is the most important thing. Such dependence is especially dangerous for children, since their nervous system is not yet fully formed, so they do not know what is bad and what is good. In addition, they absorb everything they see like a sponge.

Channeling. Latuya. The way to connect with true meaning

A term like " gambling addiction” is known to many, some even saw real gamers. Periodically, they write about them in the media. For example, a couple of years ago in Thailand, a teenager died in a gaming club from overexertion, because for two weeks he did not leave the computer, constantly playing. He did not eat, did not drink all this time, and his nervous system simply could not withstand such a load.

In essence, computer games replace people's real life with a virtual one in which they can be whoever they want to be and do what in real life is considered immoral or what they are simply not physically capable of. The latest innovations in the gaming world are so realistic that the gamer gets hooked on them more than on a drug. He stops eating and spends huge amounts on game clubs and online games, where he is ready for anything to upgrade his character.

There is an opinion that gossip immediately kills three people - directly the narrator, the listener and the object of the story itself. But meanwhile, the very habit of gossip is so woven into everyday life that it is simply impossible to separate it from a person. After all, gossip is the most popular method of communication in absolutely any team (office, school, university).

Through gossip, you can establish the closest and most intimate relationship with another person. Some people intentionally resort to gossip in order to gain some influence, although everyone knows that it is not good to gossip. But very few can resist and not tell new information to someone "in the ear."

Roman Milovanov - ISC Seminar 17

Although this food is fatty and unhealthy, it is affordable, quick to prepare and inexpensive. The experiments of a famous American scientist named John Hebel from the University of Pristan proved that the passion for such restaurants leads to the formation of a serious addiction. It should be noted that his conclusions were subsequently confirmed by other American scientists.

While eating fast food, a person actively produces the hormone dopamine, which is responsible for getting pleasure. In addition, dopamine in this case is produced according to the same principle as it is produced by drug addicts. Therefore, overcoming such dependence turns out to be a very difficult task. A fast food lover not only gains excess weight, but also earns a huge number of endocrinological diseases, which ultimately turns a mental illness into a physical one.

Pornography

With the development of multimedia technologies and the Internet, pornography has ceased to be difficult to access. Now being on a pornographic site is much easier than finding an essay. Advertising specialists say that nothing sells as good as sex. And this is practically true. For some people, watching such films at a certain stage ceases to be just innocent entertainment.

It turns into a complete replacement for sex life. This addiction in psychiatric practice is called pornophilia. It is recognized that over time, pornophilia leads to serious disorders, including psychological impotence, when a person without background viewing of pornography simply cannot have sex with a real girl.

There are people, especially hypochondriacs, who cannot imagine their life without taking medication. In addition, such people absolutely do not care which medications they take. They move from one course of treatment to another, and then to a third, and so on. They are constantly concerned about their health and are sure that if they do not take medicine, they will get sick.

Any of their sensations pass into the status of abnormal and unpleasant. They are sure that, in addition to the main disease, they have many others. However, in an attempt to cure a non-existent disease, they provoke the development of a real disease in themselves. For example, with prolonged and unreasonable use of antibiotics, they bring themselves to dysbacteriosis. And taking untested drugs, especially in large doses, cause poisoning, provoke the development of such actions.

Chuck Norris' message to Russian youth

gambling addiction

The dependence on computer games was mentioned above, but in psychiatric practice, as a rule, it is not considered separately, it is a type of gambling addiction, which is called gambling addiction or pathological gambling. This is a mental illness in which a person feels an irresistible craving for gambling (these are casino games, playing slot machines, betting on sweepstakes, etc.). With such an addiction, he constantly participates in the type of gambling that interests him.

Such interest is by no means short-lived and rare. This goes on for many weeks and months, and over time the frequency of participation increases. He gets into debt, not really worrying that he will not be able to repay them, because he is sure that in time luck will smile at him. Even quarrels in the family and superiors, dismissal, life on the street and so on are not able to stop him.

Often such people are energetic, emotional, some of them are even talented. Some of them used to go in for sports, but for some reason had to leave it. At first, they start playing for the sake of quickly earning money, but over time this fades into the background. The priority for them is getting pleasure, rest, for them it is a kind of escape from problems.

Food addiction is anorexia, which is usually called with the prefix neuropsychiatric, and bulimia. Anorexia This is stubborn fasting in order to lose weight. Psychiatrists make such a diagnosis when a person (the vast majority of them are girls) weighs 15 percent less than the prescribed norm.

In an attempt to reduce weight, they begin to exercise intensely, strive to always be on their feet, thus increasing energy consumption, stop eating (although at the beginning they only limit themselves in some products), not paying attention to the constant feeling of hunger. Over time, they develop oligo- and amenorrhea (that is, scanty periods, which then stop altogether), they stop exercising because they do not have enough strength, as a result, they lie more often than they stand.

This is accompanied by lesions of the skin and internal organs. Outwardly, such patients are emaciated, pale. bulimia it often accompanies anorexia, although it is an independent disease. In the people, this disease is called wolf appetite, as people with bulimia are ready to eat everything that comes to hand. Although many of them watch their weight, exercise, visit doctors, etc. However, on average, they have bouts of binge eating twice a week. They swallow food in pieces, without even chewing it and without feeling its taste.

After an attack, as a rule, people with bulimia provoke themselves to vomit, or take a large amount of laxatives with diuretics. There are people who have such attacks, there are several times a day.

The last decade has added so many new diseases to the treasury of diseases that did not even exist before. Internet addiction is one of them. This is a broad term that encompasses a wide range of behavioral disorders associated with attraction. These include:

• this is cyber sex addiction, in which a person experiences an irresistible desire to visit a porn site and engage in cybersex;
• this is addiction to make new virtual acquaintances;
• this is obsessive need for the internet- this is a game in an online casino, this is constant purchases, this is participation in various auctions, and so on;
• this is information overload, in which a person endlessly surfs the Internet, looking for information, etc.;
• this is computer addiction in which a person constantly plays online games.

It should be noted that such common manias as kleptomania (when a person strives to steal everything that, in his opinion, lies badly and is freely available), were not mentioned, coprolalia (when a person speaks a lot and often foul language), pyromania (passion for arson ), codependency (when a person constantly needs another person or a certain object), workaholism, fanaticism, film addiction and collecting.

Addiction Treatment Methods

To begin with, it should be noted that all addictions (they are also manias) are a mental problem, that is, the problem lies in the patient's psyche. In addition, many manias are characterized by a staging of the development of the disease, in which the occupation of something is episodic at first, turning into a permanent one; and at the initial stage there is a mental dependence, when a person gets pleasure and enjoyment from doing something, in the future, a physical dependence is formed, in which the cancellation causes a “withdrawal”, which is so characteristic of drug addicts.

Cartoon - Habit Sisters

For example, in alcoholics this is called "delirium tremens" (scientifically delirium), in the attack of which they become aggressive and see hallucinations. This occurs because the body is used to working according to a certain scheme, producing specific substances under the influence of mania. When canceled, the body begins to “panic”, as it has lost the habit of working differently.

In addition, many manias eventually turn from a mental problem into a full-fledged physical illness, when mental problems, so to speak, fade into the background for a while and all treatment methods are aimed at restoring the main organs and systems of the body.

So, in any case, you need to contact a specialist who will select the right treatment. For the treatment of mental dependence, as a rule, they do not resort to prescribing drugs, although symptomatic treatment is possible, which involves taking drugs that relieve irritability, suspiciousness, sexual desire, etc.

Often these are conversations during which the doctor tries to determine the cause of the mania. During the conversation, he influences the patient, trying to convince him that there is no need to perform such actions.

For the treatment of some manias (for example, gambling, smoking, alcoholism), they resort to hypnosis and suggestion, during which the person is convinced that drinking alcohol and smoking a cigarette can lead to unpredictable results. For example, when suggesting alcohol intake is often associated with the worst moment of life, and when a person is about to drink, he becomes so ill that he refuses.

Sometimes they resort to such suggestion that when inhaling alcohol vapors or drinking it, a person begins to vomit. In addition, alcohol dependence is sometimes treated teturam. Teturam causes vomiting in alcoholics immediately after taking alcohol, even after a small dose. There is a conditioned reflex, as a result of which, over time, even the smell of alcohol causes bad sensations in alcoholics.

In the treatment of physical addiction resort to taking medications, the main purpose of which is to relieve symptoms. For example, in the treatment of heroin addiction, drug addicts are transferred to methadone. Methodon relieves a withdrawal attack, but does not cause euphoria in drug addicts, as a result of which the addict simply becomes not interested in taking the drug. Over time, the dose of methadone decreases.

Luciano Rosso ft. Juana Maggi / Playback 35 / Cover Girl

A lot has been written about the causes of addiction, I offer a non-standard view of this problem.

All addictions (alcoholism, drug addiction, smoking, etc.) have common mechanisms that are directly related to a particular type of personality.
Whether a person has a tendency to addiction or not can be determined immediately after the birth of a child by studying his horoscope.

However, addiction is not addiction. The upbringing of the child and the environment in which the adult lives determine whether this tendency will manifest itself or not. Ignoring the needs of the child, depriving him of his independence, excessive guardianship, criticism that reduces his self-esteem leads to dependence.

Close people who are forced to take part in the fate of a drug addict (alcoholic, gamer, etc.) perceive the situation as a tragedy, because they do not have information. They don't know why it happened and how to solve the problem.
Helplessness and misunderstanding in this matter concern not only “ordinary people”, but also “educated” professionals. And it’s not that professionals don’t have theoretical justifications for addiction or developed methods of help. It is, there is no result. To remove the withdrawal syndrome, doctors can interrupt the process for a while. But to return a person to a full independent life is not.
And it's not their fault. We are all hostages of an inferior, narrow worldview that is now accepted in our society.
So let's look at the phenomenon of dependence "wider".

Addiction- 1) inability to do without something;
2) subordination to someone else's power in the absence of independence and freedom.

With drug addiction (alcohol, tobacco, food, etc.), physical and mental dependence are distinguished.

Cause of physical addiction

The reason for physical dependence is the ability of some plant or synthetic compounds to compete with the internal regulators of life processes in humans.
With frequent or constant intake, they replace the "native" connections. The organism, maintaining homeostasis (the constancy of the internal environment), will “close internal production”. There is a dependence on external income.

Causes of mental addiction

What pushes a teenager to the “first test”, and then to the second, third?
Imitation, herd instinct or desire to stand out, assert oneself, curiosity, desire for pleasure or weakness of character?
Everyone has their own. The causes of mental dependence are in human nature itself. And we can only come closer to understanding them.

The opportunity to learn about the character of a person, the characteristics of his personality, the key moments of fate, the tasks of life according to the astrological birth chart suggests that we do not come into this world with a “clean slate”, but with certain tasks and the potential to solve them.

It so happened that we do not know our future. But we can still navigate the path of life. We have at least two tools for this: intuition (the call of the spirit) and a sense of satisfaction.
We can orient ourselves in the direction of movement by listening to our inner voice (adjustment of audibility is a personal responsibility).
Confirmation of the correctness of movement along the Path (if there is such a movement) is satisfaction. A person is satisfied with his life, activities and results, if they lead to the goal of life.

Our main task is to reveal our true nature, to use our potential, fulfilling our life purpose.

The trouble is that we live in an artificial world dominated by the ideology of consumption, orientation towards social success, prestige, comfort, etc.
Someone finds his place in this life, someone adapts, but there are also those whose purpose clearly does not coincide with the social values ​​imposed on us.

What to do if the desire for mystery and adventure is in the nature of a person, and he is offered to wipe his pants in the office?
The strong in spirit go against stereotypes and find opportunities to express themselves in this world.
Others simply walk away from the imposed reality.
They are not attracted by alien stereotypes, the pursuit of prestige and the accumulation of all sorts of junk. They want “something like that…”. But it is not there, and surrogates come to replace it.
Movies and TV replace adventure, alcohol gives self-confidence and a sense of significance ("do you respect me?"), drugs open the door to the mysterious world of hallucinations.

We are all dependent, but someone finds salvation in the methods of satisfaction approved by society, and someone chooses condemned and destructive for themselves.
Someone resides my life, and someone - drawn on the screen. Or he fights other people's battles, trying to force an alcoholic to take the “true path”. This is also a way of avoiding responsibility for one's own development. It is easier to tell someone else what to do than to go about their own tasks.

“And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the beam in yours?
How can you say to your brother: “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” but, behold, there is a log in your eye?
Hypocrite! first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see how take the speck out of your brother's eye" "Gospel of Matthew" 7:3-5.

Avoidance of responsibility is the main cause of addictions.

When a person is free, he has the right and the need to choose. And the choice is always made in a situation of uncertainty and there is no one to blame if the consequences are undesirable.
After the fall, Adam immediately found someone to blame: “ wife, which You gave me she is gave me of the tree and I ate." And the wife is good: snake deceived me and I ate.” ("GENESIS" 3:12-13)
The one who is dependent and submits to someone else's power feels comfortable - he has shifted his responsibility to another (person, society, drug). He doesn't want freedom!

On the other hand, there is excitement in situations of choice. The tendency to gamble and at the same time the desire to escape responsibility for one's choice leads to gambling addiction.

But whether we like it or not, whether we realize it or not, the responsibility for our life, our development lies with us. Each of us is responsible for the direction in which he moves: "up" or "down".
And if a person has strayed from his Path, who can know his Path?
So let's solve your problems and our loved ones let's give an opportunity decide yours.

The text of the song and the very tragic fate of a talented bard and a person who suffered from drug addiction, Vladimir Vysotsky, can serve as an illustration for the article.

Give the dogs meat, they might fight.
Give hungover kvass - maybe they get drunk.
In order not to get fat to the crows - put more scarecrows.
And to love - give a secluded corner to those in love.

Throw seeds into the ground - shoots may appear.
Okay, I'll be submissive, give me freedom!

They gave meat lumps to the dogs, but the dogs did not fight.
They gave the drunkards vodka, but they refused.
People scare crows, but crows are not afraid.
Pairs connect, and they would be separated.
They poured water on the ground - there are no ears of miracle.
I was given freedom yesterday - WHAT WILL I DO WITH IT?!

3 million from 143 million is so little at first glance. Only 2% of the population of Russia regularly use any kind of drugs. But this is according to the most conservative estimates of unofficial statistics, according to the bold, and, perhaps, the most truthful - There are more than 8.5 million drug addicts in our country.

More than 18 million people have tried drugs at least once in their lives. The majority of drug addicts for a long time were sitting on heavy opiates (heroin, desomorphine, drugs of the opioid group). Today, cannabis is in “fashion”.

And this despite the fact that only 850 thousand drug addicts (that is, in fact, a tenth) are on official medical records. It can be concluded that the real percentage of “hidden” drug addicts, although unknown, is many times (or even tens of times) higher than the official figures.

Statistics over the past 15 years show that the number of official drug addicts has been constantly increasing: from 300,000 in 1999 to 850,000 in 2013. However, unofficial statistics for 1999-2001 indicate that the number of unregistered drug addicts was dozens of times higher than those registered: for example, according to conservative estimates, in the early 2000s there were over 3 million drug addicts in the country, 60% of whom were between 16 and 30 years old. years, and 20% schoolchildren.

“According to expert estimates, there are from 3 to 8 million drug addicts in Russia. This is a very large figure, and it is growing like a snowball. Drug addiction is socially contagious,” Boris Tselinsky, head of the department for interdepartmental cooperation in the field of prevention of the Federal Drug Control Service, said at a press conference (from the news article “In Russia, 5.5% of the population are drug addicts. Official statistics are 16 times less” from newsru.com from June 15, 2005)

As we can see, the statistics have always been underestimated, but in fact, terrifying, and, in general, almost the same, from the “drug peak” (1995-1997) to the present day. Since 2005, unofficial statistics have remained at the same level: at least 8 million drug addicts.

The reasons for the increase in the number of drug addicts after 1990, according to various opinions, lie in the growth of drug production in Afghanistan, and in the collapse of the Soviet Union. After the introduction of NATO troops into Afghanistan, the number of opium poppy crops increased (with the encouragement of the US occupation troops), Russia became one of the three largest consumers of Afghan heroin.

In addition, the "fashion" for drug use among informal youth groups, which began in the middle of the last century, came from the West, as an element of imitation of many rock idols.

The statistics that are not progressing at the moment is also due to the fact that active drug addicts are often almost doomed to death, their life expectancy generally does not exceed 30 years (when they start using drugs in adolescence and young age).

The average life limit of the patient is 28 years, the curability is only 3%. Many fall ill with AIDS, tuberculosis, etc., and die on the background of manifested complications with weakened immunity. There have been cases of drug addiction in children aged 6-8 years.

Existing rehabilitation centers for drug addicts cannot accept even a tenth of even the official number of drug addicts. They just don't know what to do with drug addicts. The percentage of cure sent for compulsory treatment is several times lower than that of a conscious decision of a drug addict to be treated. The recovery rate of drug addicts is higher in private and expensive clinics. Which again puts drug addicts, even those who have realized the need for treatment, at a standstill, since most of them do not have financial means, and often relatives. The latter either turn away from a stumbled member of society, or fall into depression because of worries about their son / daughter, the percentage of falling into dependence is also high among people who are initially lonely, orphans who left the orphanage, etc.

In recent years, the number of “light” drug addicts has increased: those who take amphetamine, cocaine, use various smoking mixtures, and marijuana. The number of drug addicts and female drug addicts has increased.

“According to information from our sources, cannabis is in first place in Russia. On the second - opioids: heroin, morphine, opium. The consumption of "synthetics" is also growing .... ... In general, it is necessary to approach the fight against drugs in a comprehensive manner, and not be limited to punishments. Even if the borders are completely closed, drug addicts will find a way to get something or do it themselves. Therefore, our department has developed international standards for the prevention of drug addiction, which we presented in many countries, including Russia, for the Federal Drug Control Service. We need to talk more about the dangers of drugs, and also try to return drug addicts to normal life. It is a thousand times cheaper than dealing with the consequences.”

- UN Deputy Secretary General Yuri Fedotov - on the impact of drug trafficking on geopolitics

From the report of the Research Institute of Rosstat for 2011, it follows that there were 12 million alcoholics in our country, and about 4.5 million drug addicts. If we take approximate unofficial statistics on drug addiction, then the number of alcohol addicts must be proportionally multiplied at least twice.

Alcohol addiction is an insidious disease. It is not as obviously negative as the drug. After all, many people drink “a little bit”, and often with stress and problems, people prefer to relieve tension with a “glass”, and then it drags on. Children, teenagers, seeing their parents drinking, often go in the same circle. A huge number of Russians die from alcohol poisoning - at least 600-700 thousand people a year.

What has changed in the field of alcoholism? Various government sanctions have led to an increase in the number of surrogate alcohol poisonings, but the number of alcoholics in the whole country has become lower. The percentage of “light” (beer, alcohol-containing cocktails) and female alcoholism has increased.

If you add up the figures of unofficial statistics of drug addicts and alcoholics, as well as those on the verge, you will get terrifying numbers. At least a quarter (or even a third) of the Russian population is affected by toxic addictions, if you add those suffering from nicotine addiction here, it will be even worse.

The imposed sanctions against smoking have not yet had time to act properly. Periodically drinking a man poisons future offspring (not to mention a woman). To exclude fetal abnormalities due to alcohol intoxication, you should not drink anything at all for at least three months before conception. Since in the majority no one observes these rules, and against the backdrop of ecology, the country's gene pool is noticeably suffering. Although the problem of the degradation of the gene pool was not tied to anything, everyone sees that we do not have very good quality and quantity of births, but no one is able to radically and instantly change something, and there is no exact reason. There are several of them, and the correction of the situation, at least partially, depends on each individually.

Where is the largest percentage of drinking people? In villages, villages, in the outback, provinces. Why? The answer is clear: there is nothing else to do. Why were there fewer drug addicts and alcoholics in the Soviet Union (although they were still in decent quantities)? From 1992 to 1997 the number of alcoholics in Russia increased by 45%.

There was work, factories, farms, the village lived, sowed fields, maintained farms, etc. Work, as you know, ennobles a person. Yes, and in the city there was more employment, except for employment - stability, albeit called slave contemporaries.

The people, not accustomed to freedom, were given it with a vengeance and they did not know what to do with it. Even the alcoholics that existed at that time were not so aggressive, people had inhibitions inside that were not eliminated by drunkenness. True, I personally did not participate in events so distant due to my age.

Well, now, if we move a little away from the numbers, graphs ... and look around, what will we see? ..

How often do you see drug addicts on the streets, in the hallways? Probably, all the same, the answers will differ not only depending on the understanding of the situation of the country as a whole, but also on the city, place, area of ​​​​residence.

I do not live in the capital, but not in the Russian outback either. I remember drunk on the streets in the early 2000s, drug addicts, from childhood friends, several boys died of overdose in the late 90s as teenagers. Crowds of drunks on big holidays, some members of the intelligentsia periodically smoke weed and do not hesitate to talk about it to others, to “advertise”. In nightclubs I know (in absentia) about the almost free sale of “all kinds of pills” and “powders”. Drunk driving is a problem, there are probably more of them behind the wheel than on the streets.

But in general, the world has somehow changed, become smarter or something ... There are drug addicts, but they either sit in minks, or they really have become smaller. Perhaps somewhere there are villages of drug addicts, consolidating the unfortunate in one area, but we do not know about them. The stats are from somewhere.

Among young people, in addition to drinking light alcoholic beverages, smoking, and obvious sins can be difficult to find.

However, talk about what is happening at Dom-2, about new computer games, about clothes can be found much more often than drunkards.. And it's kind of like "neutral" kinds of addictions. Adults themselves have become an example of what they are now trying to eradicate in children.

A lot has been said about Internet addiction, including by those who themselves do not “stick off” from the computer. It's clear to everyone what it's about. Nevertheless, the percentage of people not only constantly using the World Wide Web, but also unable to live without it, like without air, is multiplying.

Internet addiction was listed as a mental disorder in the DSM-5 (Guidelines for the Diagnosis of Mental Disorders in the United States). In Russia, the problem has not yet been singled out as a separate column, but is considered as part of and as a symptom of other mental disorders.

Gerald Block, the doctor who initiated the inclusion of Internet addiction on the list, described the problem as “excessive indulgence in computer games, Internet pornography and e-mail.”

A person addicted to the Internet, with a sharp break in connection with the virtual world, “breaks down”, loss of appetite, anxiety, depression, a narrowing of the circle of interests, a break in contact with reality, etc. are observed. Internet addiction refers to impulsive-compulsive disorders. Whenever possible and without special need, a person connects to the network, gradually increases the time spent near the computer, acquires new equipment for better communications. In connection with the recent recognition of the deviation, the criteria for its diagnosis are still being established.

According to some reports, 10% of Internet users are network dependent.

Chinese scientists (in China, Internet addiction was equated with mental illness back in 2008) revealed, during a brain scan of young people addicted to the Internet, video games, disturbances in the internal connections of nerve fibers of brain structures that directly affect emotional and volitional regulation behavior.

Changes in the orbitofrontal cortex and other areas of the brain are similar to those in ordinary drug addicts.

That is, from a biochemical point of view, Internet addiction causes the same abnormalities in the brain as real types of drugs.(except for toxic damage to the body caused by chemical poisons of drugs). Moreover, the narrowing of the world to the size of a monitor produces metamorphoses with a person, similar to the action of narcotic drugs: a “drug addict” deprived of access to the network shows aggression, becomes violent, uncontrollable, and can harm those who try to reason with him. And at the moments of reunion with an idol, he experiences euphoria, but the more he sits on the Internet, the less he is able to live without him.

Of course, in most cases, not everything is so scary, and with the help of strict instructions and warnings, you can tear a teenager away from the computer. But if the alarm is not sounded in time, a growing child can acquire many phobias and mental disorders, the treatment of which is already a difficult task in itself. Not less than teenagers, quite physically mature people fall under the target of enslavement.

“Internet addiction and cybersexual attraction in particular are usually symptoms of an underlying problem that has been present in the family since before the Internet entered the lives of spouses. This problem may include:

• insufficient communication
• sexual dissatisfaction,
• differences in approaches to raising children,
• he refuses the support of family and friends,
• financial difficulties"

— Dr. Kimberly S. Young

Most Internet users think that all this is not about them, that they are certainly free, but it’s worth turning off the network for a while and see what will happen to people who are used to sitting in it unnecessarily and for a long time.

The Internet itself is not evil, it was only an indicator that displayed, showed the consequences of already existing problems.

Let us recall such an acute and still painful thorn in society as gambling addiction - dependence on slot machines, casinos, lotteries, computer games, etc. The struggle of the authorities against this vice turned out to be quite effective at first, but by eliminating only the possibilities for the implementation of dependence, it is impossible to defeat it. Society, struck by the spirit of dissatisfaction with life, went to look for an outlet elsewhere, in general, they shut it up in one place, and it crawled out in another.

I want to separately say about such a scandalous social phenomenon as “Dom-2”. It may be ridiculous to call the dependence on viewing the project a disaster, but it is worth it to designate it as a problem. And it’s far from the dependence on watching “House-2” that is terrible, but the effect that it has on fragile minds.

Now let's take a closer look at the situation. “House-2” is 10 years old. The main idea of ​​the program is that young people build relationships online when they are watched by millions of viewers (without outright pornography, although with a sufficient amount of vulgarity and debauchery).

I was little interested in the project, but I often heard from acquaintances and famous people from the screen that Dom-2 is evil, it needs to be closed, it corrupts youth, etc. Anyway, I decided to see what was really going on there. To be honest, it’s just boring for me to watch the development of love stories, and it’s disgusting: is there anything to do, except for thoughts about someone else’s mental garbage? I think people watch the program from idleness, for emotional nourishment (like grandmothers on a bench need to discuss someone in order to live), so as not to drink, not to inject when they are unable to replace the craving for inner fulfillment with something more noble.

According to statistics, most of those who clearly deny that they are watching Dom-2 just cannot part with it. True, it is not clear how this fact was found out, perhaps due to an anonymous survey or by establishing a discrepancy between unofficial ratings and official ones. The project is constantly watched by 30-40% of young people, according to unrecorded data, the percentage is much higher.

Undoubtedly, there is nothing good either in the program or in its ideas. There is no smell of bright feelings there, a game for the public, a struggle for attention by any means. But the project condemned and criticized by many, having survived several attempts to close it, is still alive. If they wanted to remove it from TV, they would have removed it long ago, but since it does not disclose any political secrets, but only promotes life for the sake of the narrow-minded goals of satisfying sexual, material needs, it exists and apparently does not interfere with anyone.

If a more or less conscious and adult part of the audience can view the release as a story about nothing, passing all the true meanings of the project past their ears and eyes, without taking them upon themselves, then with teenagers, the situation is more serious. They soak up information like sponges. Of course, parents are more responsible for the upbringing of children than society. But the growing generation is becoming more and more uncontrollable, there are many incomplete families among families. For example, a mother who works and supports her family alone is not able to track all the ways, and often prevent the development of the child's psychological problems. Love, trust between children and parents mean a lot, but sometimes, understanding the gap between the opinions of parents and society, peers, the child begins to hide his activities from mom and dad.

Everything seen is deposited in the mind of a teenager as a phenomenon of the norm.

Truth, there is another unpleasant moment regarding “House-2”, which not everyone likes to voice .

Most of the country's population does the same as the project participants, but they don't advertise it. Guys change partners like gloves, they don’t get carried away with anything worthwhile, girls are looking for a rich sponsor, but on the way to the goal they get lost in dozens of dubious candidates, periodically remembering that there must be love somewhere. By the age of 25, or even 20, so much rubbish accumulates in the soul that it is no longer possible to shake it off just like that and see it, accept some kind of bright feelings.

“Sex… With sex, everything was simple - sex was everywhere. He was not given much meaning. Love... Love has always been hard to find. Even if you were looking for her, which few did, and even if you found her, which few were able to do, and even if she was under your nose - how could she be noticed among all this sex?

(quote from the movie "Gia")

But admitting one's own mistakes, sins, problems is always more difficult than discovering them from others. So they made a punching bag out of “House-2”, so as not to face the truth, diverting attention from the reflection in the mirror. And all those fighting for the truth, bright, white, fluffy ... It is not known who started to bring the essence of the project to life earlier: the audience or the participants.

“Every virtue has privileges: for example, the privilege of putting one's own bundle of firewood on the fire of a condemned man”

— (F. Nietzsche, “Human, too human”)

In general, "he who is without sin - the first to throw a stone ...". The project only expressed, embodied, revealed what the society wanted. There is no supply without demand.

“When you are young and you watch TV, you think that the TV companies conspired and want to make people dumb. But then you grow up and understanding comes: people themselves want this. And that's a much more frightening thought. Conspiracy is not scary. You can shoot the bastards, start a revolution! But there is no conspiracy, TV companies are just satisfying the demand. Unfortunately it's true."

— (Steve Jobs, Wired, 1996)

However, this does not remove negative colors from the project, if any person is placed in a certain environment, with constant propaganda in various forms of free love, the importance of satisfying animal needs before spiritual ones, destructive metamorphoses will inevitably begin to occur with him. And even more so - teenagers with an immature psyche, they eat what is offered to them.

A person should have freedom of choice and it is. And it is bad that, even though it exists, he often chooses the unwholesome.

According to the Russians one of the main and dangerous addictions of a psychological type, with a progressive negative impact on society, are sects. True, many put anything into the concept of “sect”: both Protestant branches of Christianity, and other religious movements, and organizations that promote a healthy lifestyle, and various groups of people united under the idea of ​​holding a revolution, greening the city, helping stray dogs, etc. .d.

And indeed, why, in particular, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, “prophets” promising a happy life appeared like mushrooms after rain - thousands? The pattern is the same as in the situation with the increase in drug addicts, alcoholics - the people have lost their foothold. The old system of values ​​collapsed, it had to be replaced by something, otherwise madness could come. Everyone is used to living with faith in the best; against the backdrop of the collapse of illusions, any mirage looked plausible. Even those who fragmentarily found that era remember how many people around were waiting for the End of the World, leaving for dugouts, etc. Even MMM was much more than just a pyramid scheme. People with the last hopes for a bright future and expectations of prospects invested money, respectively, the collapse of the organization was a fatal event for many.

There were many options for choosing who to follow from the moment of the collapse of the SS and until recently: from the leaders of the “light” sects - Vissarion, Lazarev, Kashpirovsky, healers with body cleansing programs, Grabovoi to the leaders of the “heavy” ones - satanic nurseries, etc.

But even today “sects” have not become smaller, only, perhaps, their level has ceased to be primitive in the vast majority of cases. They have become smarter, transformed into a new kind of associations not for stupid people.

But in this vinaigrette, Christian Protestant trends are often added to sects. There are those who really are “not with Christ”, but present everything as if it were so. In the wilds, we will not understand now. According to the Orthodox Church, all other teachings, except for Orthodoxy, are sectarian. However, in large Protestant churches, confession is very similar to Orthodoxy, besides the fact that the former do not accept icons and communicate with the people easier, they provide a chance for newcomers to become ministers without many years of study at the theological seminary.

It often happens that a person, even in a large Protestant church, comes out “traumatized” - in his opinion. Like, “they were afraid that I would die without a church, that I would fall into the clutches of the devil, if I marry someone from the“ world ”I would be unhappy, in addition, all unbelievers for believers are sinners with whom you should not communicate.” And the church is to blame for mental disorders, fears, phobias. No one forces you to go there, either to Orthodox or Protestant. The person makes this choice.

Few Russians dare to deny the truth of Orthodoxy. But even if you have a heart-to-heart talk with a truly believing priest who is disposed towards you, who is not indifferent to your fate, he will not beat around the bush when talking. And he will not bless for sin, he will call a spade a spade, for those who want to live there is a law that is written in the Bible. And then there is the book "The Revelation of John the Theologian" in the New Testament. How can you read it to the end and then be afraid that you can fall into the clutches of an allegedly illusory, invented by someone devil (as the most terrible of all possible prospects)? The book in colors speaks of a terrible judgment and what will happen to those who did not accept God. And you cannot erase these lines from the Bible, even in the Orthodox version of the edition of the publication, even in the Protestant version.

Life, in principle, is finite, and it is worth thinking about sins, repentance for them.

It is possible to place some kind of seal on churches, to judge the community by its individual members.

Churches are needed, and not all Protestant churches are sects. And if you don't pay due attention to the spiritual world, you can fall into the trap of more primitive teachings without even noticing it.

Another modern addiction is shopaholism.. As we can see, the word is a bit like the name of a more terrible addiction - alcoholism. Recently, the sphere of sale of goods and services has acquired a special scale. Women sometimes can not stop buying everything unnecessarily. About 75% of the fairer sex think about new purchases every minute. Shopping is moving from being a cure for depression to a new kind of addiction.

In addition, girls, girls become overly concerned about their own appearance, and therefore childbirth, pregnancy, aging processes are equivalent to a disaster for some.

Addictions, both chemical (drug addiction, alcoholism, substance abuse, smoking), and their more intelligent and subtle counterparts - psychological - are caused by spiritual emptiness, a vacuum of life values, laziness, idleness, lack of love, life dissatisfaction.

Summing up, I will quote the lines from Wikipedia ( From the article “Internet Addiction”):

“The easiest and most affordable way to solve an addiction is to acquire another addiction. Leading a healthy lifestyle, communicating with wildlife, creative applied hobbies, such as drawing, as a rule, take a person out of addiction.”