NOT ALL THAT INNOCENT 6 EVERYDAY THINGS YOU MIGHT BE ADDICTED TO

While watching a small amount of television can help you to relax and unwind, if you find that your life revolves around what’s on the screen, then you might be addicted to TV. Nielsen Media Research found that the average American watches four hours of television each day – by the time they reach 65 years old, that would mean they would have spent an astonishing nine years watching television. An addiction to television can also lead to a sedentary lifestyle, which can drastically increase your risk of developing health conditions such as cardiovascular and heart disease.

We all have a favorite song that’s guaranteed to put a smile on our face, no matter how bad our day has been, and according to researchers at McGill University, this feeling can actually be quite addictive. Their study suggests that when we listen to music we like, we experience a natural ‘high’ and as a result, our bodies react in the same way as when we eat pleasurable food – by releasing the neurotransmitter, dopamine. It is this chemical that makes us want to repeat behaviors to regain that feeling again, which is why we can become addicted to listening to our favorite songs.

If you’re someone who spends a lot of their time on the internet, have you ever considered that you might be addicted to browsing the web? Research carried out in China found that an addiction to the internet can have similar effects on the brain as drug and alcohol addictions. As a result of this, anyone suffering from an addiction to the internet could face symptoms common with other addictions, such as withdrawal signs. Another study by Leeds University found a link between internet addiction and depression.

If you have a friend who’s always in a new relationship, never spending much time alone before they find romance again, you might be thinking they are just unlucky in love but it turns out they could actually be hooked on love.

According to research, you can become addicted to that euphoric feeling you get when you fall for someone. Arthur Aron, a psychologist who fronted a study that investigated love addiction found that when you fall in love, it triggers the identical system within the brain that is triggered by an addiction to drugs, which makes you look for those early heart racing feelings again once they have started to fade from a relationship.

Although this isn’t the case for everyone, a lot of people who initially set out to get one piercing or tattoo often end up with multiple displays of body art, which can feel like an addiction. While there is little research to suggest why people often end up with multiple tattoos and piercings, it’s thought that the adrenaline, release of endorphins, and artistic feelings associated with getting inked are all factors which could contribute to addiction of body art.

You’ve probably joked about being addicted to chocolate and other sweet treats in the past, but research has found that you can, in fact, become addicted to sugary snacks. Studies have proposed that the sugary foods we eat can release chemicals known as ‘opioids’ into the brain which leads to strong feelings of satisfaction. It’s these feelings we crave without sugar. A study by Australia’s Queensland University compared the effects of cocaine on the body to those of sugar and likened the symptoms that came as a result of stopping sugar to going ‘cold turkey.’