Words of wisdom and miscellaneous facts by Dr. Wysong and others.
This is an accumulation over several decades and the accuracy cannot be attested to.
32. ADDICTION
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12/18/2019
​There is wide consensus that addicting drugs are a bad idea. They can obviously suck the life right out of a person. But what is not generally recognized is that there are many other ruinous addictions, many of which are not even recognized as such because of their social acceptance.
Actually, life is filled with addictions. We are addicted to eating and sleep, for example. Also, to lesser degrees, we can be addicted to exercise, sex, work, and interpersonal relations. The body and mind are designed to feel comfortable if we do these things. Pleasure chemicals are released to the brain by doing them, and discomfort results when we don't. Addiction to the things that keep us alive and healthy is a survival mechanism. But the leisure and technology of modern life permits the perversion of this pleasure chemical mechanism. In the wild we would never be able to brew coffee every morning, smoke packs of cigarettes a day, drink pop, take drugs, overeat, play video games, snack on sugars, jog obsessively, and the like. Almost anything can become addictive and ruinous to health if we permit it to monopolize life and let society and commercial interests convince us it is hip and normal. How do we know if we are addicted? The thing enslaving us is one of the first things that comes to mind in the morning and the last at night. Life seems incomplete without it. Any threat to its continuance brings on a sense of panic or a defensive rage. Criticism of it results in twisted self-justifying logic. Creative ambition and self-exploration are compromised. Everything is subordinated to the addiction. When health problems arise, they are almost always attributed to something other than the addicting thing. Nobody sets out to be addicted, but we are given to ease; ease creates routine, and routine fosters repetitive acts that lay the seeds of addiction. The modern world also gives us every means and opportunity. Even seemingly innocent behaviors and foods can ruin health over time. The dose makes the poison. Without breaks—which addiction does not permit—the body cannot detoxify and recuperate. Over time, irreversible damage and crippling disease can result. Runners can destroy knees and feet, soda drinkers erode their teeth, caffeine addicts exhaust metabolism, television and computer slaves cripple their minds and subject their eyes and bodies to radiation of unknown danger, and smokers age their skin, loosen their teeth, and ignite the germination of cancer. Since virtually all addicts are in denial, it takes honest self-examination and an open ear to clues from those around us who have our welfare at heart to recognize our addictions. Admit them and break the pattern. Everyone knows enough to rotate the tires. Life needs rotation too or it will wear unevenly. Be alert to addictions creeping into routines and the danger they present not only to health, but also to the freedom we must maintain to be the best we can be.
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12/18/2019
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Introduction
1. We Can Agree 2. Possibility Thinking 3. The Solver Principles 4. Our Owner's Manual 5. We Live in A Unique Time 6. Being Health Smart 7. The Illusion of Youth Health 8. The Good Old Days 9. Timing Life 10. Exercise 11. Hormones and Steroids - A Two-Edged Sword 12. The Female Hormone Problem 13. Growing Older 14. Squaring the Curve 15. Healthy Dos and Don'ts 16. The Medical Profession 17. The Greatest Threat to Health 18. Don't Surrender to Medical Care 19. But We Live Longer Today 20. Dollars Don't Make Health 21. Disease Does Not Strike Us 22. Germs Don't Cause Disease We Do 23. From Where Does Healing Come 24. The Best Food 25. Food Ethics 26. Healthy Weight 27. Healthy Eating Ideas 28. First Things First 29. Hopelessness 30. Depression 31. Memories 32. Addiction 33. Blaming the Parents 34. Surviving Tragedy 35. Touch 36. Music as Healer 37. Humor 38. Pets as Life Savers 39. Pet Keeping - A Serious Responsibility 40. The Myth of 100 Complete Pet Foods 41. Feeding Pets as Nature Intended 42. Industry vs. Earth 43. Population 44. Modernity's Deception 45. Animal Rights 46. Biophilia 47. Respect for All Life 48. Doing Good With Business 49. The Global Economy 50. The Power of Money 51. Financial Affairs 52. Work as Friend 53. Government 54. The End of Civilization 55. Freedom Is Not Equality 56. Sex 57. Being in Love 58. Marriage - The Union of Opposites 59. Divorce 60. The Family Nest 61. Having Babies 62. Children 63. The Empty Nest 64. Experience 65. Education 66. Life Is Uncertain 67. Things Mound Up 68. Murphy's Law 69. Life's Predictability 70. Finding Home 71. Learn From History 72. Shaping the Future 73. The Other Line Always Moves Faster 74. Little Things Add Up 75. Growing Up 76. Alone 77. Hope 78. Paying the Success Price 79. Change A Wonderful Thing 80. Being the Best You Can Be 81. Do Something, Something Happens 82. Change the World 83. Growing Good People 84. Words 85. Genius 86. Listen and Learn 87. Mind Over Matter 88. Looking Good 89. Protecting Yourself 90. Self Sufficiency 91. Life Is Math 92. Ethics 93. Conscience 94. The Long View 95. Being Real 96. Change 97. End and Beginning |