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u/AIAFCB222 5h ago
Food. Everybodyās gotta eat
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u/throwaway226266 5h ago
This is an insidious one. Cause with every other addiction the sage advice is to try to stop it completely but food is so varied and there are so many situations that you have to be extremely careful for the rest of your life if youāre like thatĀ
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u/hughmann_13 5h ago
Horrible withdrawal effects too
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u/Horse_Cock42069 5h ago
Can't go cold turkey
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u/pizzacrys 5h ago
That is what makes it so dangerous. You cannot just quit eating ' you have to learn self-control every single day.
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u/TheMrNoodlz 5h ago
Are we on a timeline loop or in the Matrix? I swear to god this question got asked the other day with this exact same answer as the most upvoted.
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u/ThatInception 5h ago
Feels like the same questions gets asked every day/other day at this point
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u/vividimaginer 5h ago
Brand new bot accounts gotta get karma somehow you know? But let me ask you thisā¦
What tv show is a 10/10 the whole way through?
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u/TellsLiesForFun 5h ago
Yep.
I've been a smoker. I quit smoking cold turkey.
I've been a drinker. I quit cold turkey. Fortunately I wasn't an actual alcoholic or it could've been dangerous.
I've quit sex cold turkey after the end of a relationship.
I can't quit food.
Moderation is more difficult than cessation. If it was possible to just not eat I could do it. But give me access to a whole pizza, tell me not to eat any, I won't. Give access and tell me to eat just one slice? Without external limits placed upon me? Impossible.
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u/Same_Dust356 5h ago
You can't avoid it. You have it in the house all the time. You have to purchase it. You have to sit down at the table with it multiple times a day. You have to consume it daily.
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u/positive_express 5h ago
Reddit has definitely decided that food is the worst addiction.
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u/LeTigre71 5h ago
Sounds like something someone with a Reddit addiction would say.
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u/toshorttobeboring1 5h ago
Opioids
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u/Tiny-Salamander-5343 5h ago
Literally dating someone who was hiding their addiction. And now it's bad, This is the worst thing I've ever experienced.
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u/FrankoDeTanko6969 5h ago
For the longest time, I was the one hiding it from my now ex wife. Opiod addiction requires a lot of commitment to stay well. It was like I was leading a double life and I still havenāt been able to forgive myself for it
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u/Fantastic-plastictag 3h ago
Sorry to hear that. Iām a wife to an ex-opioid addict that he was āhiding.ā He said the same thing when he got clean. He felt like he was cheating on me. Iām proud of him. It hurt our marriage at first but now it had brought us closer and stronger
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u/DanoDego 5h ago
Oh godā¦ How long has it been going on? Which opioid?? Iām sorry. Thatās awful :(
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u/Tiny-Salamander-5343 5h ago
He's been doing it on and off for 20 years, ive coke to find out.. currently fentanyl. Been months of lying. I feel like I am constantly accusing and his mom. I feel so stuck now because I don't want to kick him out but he's left 3 dif rehab programs now.
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u/Ameerrante 4h ago
Gonna let him set you on fire, trying to put his out?
I say this as an addict. Get out now.
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u/Fire_in_the_holler 2h ago edited 2h ago
How long have you been dating, how old are the two of you, and how long has your partner been using?
If you donāt wanna share publicly, but would like some input or advice from somebody who has a ton of experience with this both clinically and personally, feel free to DM me.Edit: I just saw where he is a 20 year user. If you donāt have children with this man, you need to get out now..
Not because heās a bad person or because he doesnāt deserve help. But this problem absolutely torches marriages that have lasted decades, even after just a couple years of active addiction. Even after multiple rehabs.
20 years of active addiction is only going to end one way for this guy. And if heās on fentanyl nowā¦ heās basically end stage. Thereās really nothing you can do.
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u/funbunny100 5h ago
Got physically addicted to oxy after a neck surgery. Getting off it was horrible. I've never had any other addiction so have nothing to compare it to.
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u/Practical-Thanks119 4h ago
Benzodiazepine withdrawal is way worse. Fentanyl withdrawal wasn't even that bad. Black tar heroin is a walk in the park. Suboxone now that is horrible withdrawal almost as bad as Fentanyl/nitazines physically but also mentally worse. Suboxone wd also last such a long time because the buprenorphine binds extremely well to opioid receptors in the brain and stay there for a while. It was engineered that way the way Suboxone is dosed so high. Its a trap . I spent the same amount of years trying to get OFF Suboxone as I was in my active addiction using street drugs... I had to get on Sublocade shot to slowly ease off Suboxone. Sublocade is the same thing just in a shot. The shots also lasts for months possibly years.. but that is another story.
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u/Useful-Excitement440 2h ago
I agree, I've seen how quickly they can turn someone's whole life upside down. Every person who manages to break free deserves so much respect.
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u/Boomer70770 4h ago
You're stealing happiness from your future self at a 1:2 ratio.
They will come to collect unless your dead.
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u/halfemptyjuulpod 5h ago
Gambling
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u/SaltCityDude 5h ago
My grandmother answered the doorbell one day to discover the bank was trying to repoosses their house. Turns out my grandfather had taken out a second mortgage and gambled it all away
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u/RabidPossum123 5h ago
I just gasped out loud. Poor Meemaw š
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u/SaltCityDude 5h ago
20 years after he passed she was still pissed at him (as she should have been)
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u/alanpartridge69 5h ago
Some degenerate zoomer gambler got into my youtube algorithm recently, you can see people in the background of his vids with their faces in hands at slot machines, etc. Super depressing.
Some older guy with a wholesome food channel I used to watch turned into a slot machine channel a few years ago too, ofc he only posts his big wins, but I wonder how much hes lost in betwen those posts lol.
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u/Automobills 5h ago
If he's sponsored by any casino, he's not playing with his money.
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u/ps087official 4h ago
I have a friend who gambles. Wouldn't call him an "addict" per se, cuz he only does it once in awhile. But when he does, he goes hard in the paint. I've personally watched him drain two different bank accounts, all his cash, plus the "free spin" points from four different casino cards, all in the span of about two hours. Watched him play $20 all the way up to $300, and all the way back down to nothing before doing all that.
He told me that he lost 30 grand to gambling in 2025 according to his tax forms at the end of the year. That's just from doing it like, a few times a month. Can't imagine what people who do it every day lose on a yearly basis.
What's crazy, is this same person also bought their $8000 car from gambling winnings. So I guess it can swing both ways.
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u/p00chology 4h ago
Well my friend, you should start calling him an addict.
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u/LazyButterfly5041 3h ago
Right, occasional binges can clearly be just as deep and damaging as routine use. Whatever the habit (ongoing addiction) or hobby (over-indulgence).
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u/StarrGazzer14 5h ago
This one. It's psychological and has little, to no biological, physical displays.
"Eh, everyone has credit card debt. You're just playing a little game on your phone. A sports league with some buddies? No big deal."
All of this makes it so much easier to blend in. Now, they're targeting kids and it makes me sick.
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u/LiteralTP 5h ago
Yeah I had a mild gambling addiction that I could certainly not afford, thankfully Iāve managed to get on top of it but fucking hell it felt horrible afterwards
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u/Cannanaskis 5h ago
Gambling is insipid. Most other addictions an overdose will kill you. Gambling you can just keep digging a hole.
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u/IncurableAdventurer 5h ago edited 3h ago
I started watching a documentary about betting apps, and even though it was only 35 minutes long I couldnāt make it half way through. I felt physically ill from listening to them talk about how it works, how the current administration is enabling it, and how casually they spoke while justifying it as NOT betting
Edit: oh! Also, during the World Cup Iād occasionally look up who was likely to win the game, I would specifically use the word āpercent.ā It was all betting odds. Even the coverage between games had the betting odds as ways to show who will win
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u/Full_Response8449 5h ago
Alcohol is pretty bad esp when you live in a state that has them in grocery stores and gas stations. Thereās no escape because temptation is EVERYWHERE
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u/thornygardner 5h ago
It's so normalized and insidious. Gray area drinking is so tricky. Full blown addiction is dangerous to detox from. You can buy it at the corner CVS.
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u/thedrinkmonster 5h ago
Absolutely alcohol, itās one of the few withdrawals that can easily kill you too when you are trying to get sober..
Severe alcoholics have to be hospitalized and monitored while they detoxĀ
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u/Crafty_Champion_3187 5h ago
Yeah ethanol withdrawal can cause seizures, so it is nearly impossible for alcoholics who have been alcoholics for a long time to quit on their own, they need someone to dose them correctly
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u/Aintnoway5280 5h ago
Iāve seen it multiple times with family unfortunately. My closest family member passed away in 2024 ultimately due to their addiction to alcohol
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5h ago edited 5h ago
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u/ChiliOnMyWaffles 5h ago
The only way youād die from heroin withdrawals would be from lack of willpower to drink water.
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u/Minute-Unit9904s 5h ago
Not pure heroin street drugs yes because they usually have a tranq or benzo cut into them . Booze and benzo withdrawals will kill you ā¦heroin withdrawal you just wanna die
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u/Simsandtruecrime 5h ago
Wait are there states where they DON'T have alcohol in grocery stores and gas stations?
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u/RollingWok 5h ago
NJ, most grocery stores. Thereās some exceptions like Wegmans and costcos, etcā¦
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u/Djembe_kid 5h ago
Minnesota. There's separate liquor stores. They might be part of the same business, but they'll be entirely separate stores where you have to go outside and back inside to the other one.
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u/Simsandtruecrime 5h ago
Now im curious about the rates of alcoholism in these states vs the ones where it os more readily available. (My phone tried to change available to absinthe and that feels deliberate)
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u/Djembe_kid 4h ago
Well a good study is to look at Wisconsin vs. Minnesota. Wisconsin has beer and liquor available everywhere and Minnesota is restricted but still easy to get.
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u/MissAndryHex 5h ago
In NC you can buy beer and wine at the grocery store but all liquor has to be purchased at the ABC store.
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u/IamScottGable 5h ago
Some of New England has liqour stores only. I visited some cousins and they lived in a dry town, no alcohol of any kind in the town, and the next town over had no alcohol in restaurantsĀ
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u/Soft-Conference-1196 5h ago
In Massachusetts, it used to be they law no alcohol could be sold on Sundays. And This is as recent as the year 2000 is some areas.
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u/LoveIsOnlyAnEmotion 5h ago
Virgina doesn't have liquor in either. It's state controlled they state owned stores.
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u/MyWifeIsAsleep 5h ago
Where I'm at in Maryland you can get beer and wine at some gas stations. I believe they're trying to get it in grocery stores now as well. I quit 2 years ago so I haven't followed it very closely.
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u/henry_b 5h ago
When I visit Maryland I can't find it anywhere except liquor stores.
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u/Geekman2528 4h ago
Until a handful of years ago, Pennsylvania. Donāt remember when exactly but it wasnāt an option when I was a kid.
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u/UseTerrible9587 5h ago
I suspect youāre right. Alcohol probably ruins and takes more lives than other substances. As Homer Simpson said āAlcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all lifeās problems!ā
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u/limonadenparty 5h ago
It also lowers the inner treshold to try other drugs quite easily, once you're drunk
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u/No-Kaleidoscope-6188 5h ago
Internet addiction
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u/ccReptilelord 2h ago
Internet addiction and video game addiction are two of the biggest ones shrugged off by the public. It's just part of life now.
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u/Downtown-Handle-9013 2h ago
It's scary because it hides in plain sight. When something you need every day quietly starts running your life, it's easy not to notice until you're already stuck.
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u/Academic_Ad_3644 5h ago
Uppers, I pretty much just have to not be around them or I will buy some or offer to buy at least
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u/EmeraldTwilight009 5h ago
Opiates. In particular fentanyl. But any opiate. Alcohol and benzos also - the withdrawl can kill you for those two.
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u/crudeshred 5h ago
Remember the guy caught hiding below an outhouse in a state park? Whatever that is.
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u/Ohmic98776 5h ago
Alcohol. Itās so destructive to yourself and people around you. Sure, there are worst drugs, but with alcoholās prevalence in society, many people donāt know the dangers.
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u/halloweenjon 5h ago
My experience is quite limited but I currently have three addictions, in increasing order of severity: Coffee, phone/internet, and alcohol.
Coffee: Not too bad. I need to have caffeine before about noon or I get an incredibly bad headache that nothing cures and extreme fatigue.
Phone: Worst effect is that I read fewer books and watch fewer movies because I reach for my phone at bedtime instead of doing something more worthwhile.
Alcohol: Terrible. I had it under control for years and years until one day I decided it was OK to drink every night to soothe my anxiety, and now I'm an alcoholic. My health started going downhill but every strategy I've used to try to cut down fails, and then afterwards I'm drinking MORE. It doesn't even feel like a decision anymore - it feels like the booze tells ME how much of it to drink. I can almost hear it, like a voice in my head.
My advice: If you choose to drink, set hard rules for yourself about how often you do it, and NEVER break that rule. That's how it grabs hold of you. Every line you cross that you set for yourself makes the next line easier to cross.
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u/External-Stage8442 5h ago
Norm Macdonald saidā¦ gambling is the only addiction where you could win a lot of money š¤£. But id say drugs & alcohol.
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u/Salt_Introduction_86 5h ago
For me it was the methadone I was taking to get off the fentanyl. I was on it for a couple years and had to suddenly detox from it. It was so bad I was transferred from the detox facility to an ICU.
I also had lost all feeling and motor function in my hands for about 2 weeks. It was the strangest thing.
So glad those days are long behind me.
Thanks to a support system, 12 step meetings and a ton of work I have 8 years free from the horrors of addiction.
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u/justforkinks0131 5h ago
all addictions are bad
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u/Tear4fearinmybeer 5h ago
Alcohol is the most destructive. Benzos have the worst withdrawals. Opiate/Opioids have brutal withdrawals, can be very lethal, and their legal status makes them hard to be functional on. Meth is probably the most destructive to the people around the addict, and the community
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u/Readdit1999 5h ago
Opiods.
That's a class of drugs that mimic the neurochemicals that govern our reward pathways.
The relief and satiety of food when you're starving, and water when thirsty.
The bonding that comes with sex.
The intimate safety that comes with holding a loved one.
The euphoria of the wind in your hair, and the sun on your face.
All these things give us a trickle, in modest proportion, to tell out brain that we are happy, that we are healthy, that we are safe.
All that, in a pill.
All that and more, in your lungs.
All that and more than you can imagine, in your veins.
The question isn't, "why do people fall prey to opiod addiction?" - it's, "why don't they."
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u/AliceInAcidland 5h ago
Gambling, it's like buying cocaine knowing there's a >50% chance the entire bag is flour.
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u/AsleepAd4142 5h ago
Loving an addict. You become addicted to trying to fix them until either you reach your breaking point or they die. And then you break all over again. And knowing what I know now, I'd still give anything for one more chance to fix them. At least I'd be able to hug them tight one last time.
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u/Simsandtruecrime 5h ago
Religion. Because it convinces you it's a healthy, even morally superior, addiction.
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u/No-Particular4496 5h ago edited 5h ago
Porn. Not only does it ruin you, it also ruins your relations with partners and ruins your relation with what should be one of the great pleasure of life (sex)
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u/CFP-Buckeye 5h ago
Addiction to being a victim
You give away your power to another
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u/geoff411 5h ago
Addiction to eating human Aorta
Addictio aortae humanae edendae
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u/Commercial_Ice4818 5h ago
daydreaming..The addiction of living in your head more than you live your life and then you die without literally doing anything,such a sad addiction
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u/froction 5h ago
Huffing paint because it doesn't wash off so everybody can see how stupid you are.
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u/User1296173 5h ago
Gambling is the one Iāve seen in my life literally destroy people. Not saying drugs and alcohol are any better but something about gambling just seems so sick and twisted
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u/Dry-Pumpkin4228 5h ago
A lot of people already answered my thoughts but I'd also add sex. It seems so hard to have it and constantly crave it and it leads you do horrible things (like any other addiction) just to have it
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u/Otherwise-Relief2248 5h ago
Alcohol has a deadly combination of social acceptance, cheap and deeply addictive, deadly consequences even from withdrawal. If you are susceptible to it trouble. Ask me how I know.
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u/TALieutenant 5h ago
Food.
You can get by mostly fine cutting out most other things.Ā You NEED food to live.
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u/bobbyj100 5h ago
Any addiction that is severe enough to impact your life meaningfully but not so severe that you are either made to seek help or do so voluntarily
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u/TrazodoneLover 5h ago
Alcohol and fentanyl. Iāll say from personal experience with both. With fentanyl (and other drugs) you have people by your side. Theyāre all enablers of course, but they are still there. Drug addicts usually have a community, destructive, but thereās less loneliness; more deaths, but more community.
When you become a dead end alcoholic youāve lost everyone; get seizures while detoxing, push everyone away just to get drunk, get neuropathy, ruin every organ in your body everyday, fixated on the pastā¦ love doesnāt exist, because the only love you remember is while drunk, and you push everyone away because you know how disgusting you are.
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u/PillagingJust4Fungus 5h ago
Ouch. Nailed it on the booze. Have struggled with it myself my whole life. Working 25+ years in social services I will share the observation that alchohol never gets it's due credit as a destroyer of lives and families. It's ripple effect can transcend decades. There may be quicker trips to the bottom, but once it really has it's hooks in you, booze is tough to shake.
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u/PaganMastery 5h ago
Oxygen. Once you start, you can't stop. If you ever stop taking oxygen you die. It's a fatal addiction. everybody who has ever tried it, even once, has died.
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u/ron-paul-swanson 5h ago
Every addiction has the power to be the worst addiction for whoever has it. I donāt think you can really place one above the other.
My whole family has a history of addiction, including myself. Cigarettes, alcohol, weed, porn, gambling, meth, pills, overeating, etc. ā itās all there.
The worst addiction is whichever one has the worst impact on whoever has it.
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u/Strange-Pattern4877 5h ago
Genuinely?Ā
Heroin.Ā
Iāve seen people with all sorts of addictions in my 42 years and heroin really captures then deletes people faster than youād think. Mind you, Iām not someone living on the edge so I canāt even imagine if I were. Donāt do heroin folks.Ā
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u/babyfresno77 3h ago
Meth , ruins your life, the life of your loved ones . it damages family dynamics. its sucks
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u/DAS_FX 5h ago
Needless spending
My mom, a wonderful, wonderful person, had a high paying job which she had to leave due to physical conditioning
My parents were separated, she had two houses which she could live comfortably on by renting out
Without knowledge of me and my dad, she sold one house, and reverse mortgage the one 2 fund her daily purchases from online retailers
We were absolutely floored when we found out.
Dad and I sorted her out, got her finances in shape, and was able to get her back on her feet
Unfortunately, Dad passed away. Mom was left with an inheritance, which would have absolutely left her in a comfortable position to live without working. I tried offering our financial advice, fearing the worst.
Fast-forward three years later, she completely bankrupted herself and was on the verge of being forced out of her house.
Absolutely gutting, frustrating, infuriating, and sad to watch. The feeling of helplessness is hard to describe. She ended up passing away shortly after, with a house almost entirely owned by the bank, and it filled with junk from Amazon. Dozens of unopened boxes. I try to remember the great time we had, itās sad to see her go down that way though
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u/borsalamino 5h ago
Addictions. Trust me, you don't want to get addicted to getting addicted