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THE TOP TEN ADDICTIONS
1. Anger has only been seen as an addiction by treatment programs in the last few decades. More people complicate their lives through anger addiction than any other known behavior.
2. Talking or verbalization, including gossiping, boasting, bragging, telling lies, or excessive talking. There is no such thing as a harmless addiction. All addictions leave those addicted with shame, guilt, and fear along with dark negative thoughts, depression, stress and the need to escape.
3. Sex and it did not get to be number three without someone having a problem with it. It is personal, private and easy to hide. It should not be a surprise that it is the escape behavior of choice by those in high positions and religious communities. It is shame based and heavy in guilt and fear.
4. Food is the number four addiction and there are four forms of food addiction; overeating, bulimia, anorexia and food phobia: all four forms are harmful and potential fatal. Our society is overweight, not because of fast food, but because pain carriers are common. 98% of people in our nation carry emotional pain in at least one area of their lives.
5. Tobacco which is often a secondary addiction and easy to quit, but no primary addiction is easy to stop without being trained to do so. Tobacco is costly to personal property, health, and lives. It often harms those who do not even use it.
6. Alcohol is believed by most people to be the number one addiction because it was the first behavior that was attempted to be treated in our country. The early efforts did not address the reason for the behavior but sought to contain it. Failing to address the reason for any behavior will result in relapse, addiction swapping, or a tortured form of holding on always wanting to engage in the behavior.
7. Drug abuse is not limited to illegal drugs. The same society that is quick to condemn street drugs is often caught up in prescription drug abuse. Hurting people frequently seek relief from their emotional pain through drug distraction. Very few homes, schools, churches, or communities teach people how to remove emotional pain through skill development and healthy thinking.
8. Stealing is an addiction that we all pay for. It includes behaviors like shoplifting, opportunity theft and deception. The justification for a behavior does not have to be strong in order to work in the mind of a hurting person in need of escape. Shop lifting is a false attempt to elevate self-esteem and it is fed by weak justification.
9. Gambling in its advanced stages is overpowering and controlling. Victims of gambling are often those who do not even gamble. It is acceptable with society but costly and potentially deadly to those who suffer from the addiction.
10. Work is not only acceptable to society it is respected by all and provides rewards and respect. Escaping from emotional pain through work appears to be honorable on the surface, but it is harmful to everyone in the addicted person’s life. This form of addiction is not limited to the job but can include church work, volunteer work and social work.
There is no such thing as a harmless addiction. Those addicted to work can be expected to follow the same predictable behavior cycle as those who are addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex, or any one of over one hundred other identified behaviors such as shopping, spending or even sports.
Children are not protected from addiction. They are often victims of someone else’s addictive behavior. There are enough of them involved in self-destructive escape behaviors to form the largest category for suicide in our country: The ages between nine and nineteen years old. Children are not usually taught how to remove emotional pain.
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