One of your friends claims to have a shopping addiction and another reports being addicted to internet games. what is one potential danger of considering these types of excessive behaviors to be addictions?

An addiction is a disorder characterized by the compulsive engagement in some activity, or the compulsive consumption of a substance. Most of the time, it is used to refer to people that are reliant on substances like drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

It has become increasingly common to refer to certain types of behaviours as addictive. A common example is gambling. Some benefits of thinking of excessive behaviours as addictive is that people might be more likely to think of them as a disorders and thus seek medical help. They might also try to increase their understanding of addiction in general.

However, the term can also be misused. A behaviour pattern that is constantly repeated is not necessarily an addiction. The confusion is increased by the difficulty in defining mental disorders. More research would be needed before we can come to a complete definition of what addiction is. However, a potential danger of considering these types of excessive behaviours to be addictions is that people might think their situation is unfixable without medical treatment. This could make them feel powerless and it might lead them to not attempt to control the behaviour. It might also make it more difficult to reach a better understanding of substance addiction.

dear friend:

  i hope this letter finds you in soaring spirits and vibrant health. as you had expressed the wish to know about culture, traditions, and unity of india in your previous letter, in the following lines i have tried my best to give you glimpses of our culture, traditions, and unity. you will be amazed to know that our culture is the oldest culture in the world and the birth place of hinduism, buddhism, jainism, and sikhism. you won’t find any other culture as varied and multi-colored, multi-lingual as ours. each region has its own unique culture, traditions, language. there are 22 official languages in india.

  basically, india is a spiritual country with orthodox traditions. for example the people of india believe in traditions set by their wise forefathers. arranged marriages, joint-family system, universal brotherhood, vegetarianism, celebrating festivals such as diwali, holi, eid, etc., are the salient features of our culture and traditions.

  another unique aspect about our country is ‘unity in diversity’. in spite of the multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi-traditional, multi-cultural society, people live peacefully together, respecting one another’s views, cultures, traditions, and differences. i am sure you would love to visit india soon, and have a first-hand experience of the multi-colored culture. give regards to uncle and aunt. do visit india with your family and experience our hospitality.

your friend,

it continues in business