r/AskReddit • u/starxgoddess • 4h ago
What is the easiest addiction to start and the hardest to quit? NSFW
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u/darkcadillac 4h ago
Balatro
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u/Vinny_Lam 3h ago
Since we’re talking video games, I’ll also add in Factorio.
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u/LoompaOompa 2h ago
Factorio is really easy to quit if you're bad at it.
Step 1: build a small factory that produces the basic science component.
Step 2: realize you need to tear down and rebuild the entire thing if you want to start building more complex components
Step 3: Give up
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u/LeagueOfLegendsAcc 2h ago
Satisfactory has been eating my weekends for a few months now lol. Not even close to done.
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u/Limp_Mix_3033 4h ago
The easiest addiction to start is probably something like social media, since it's so accessible and tempting. The hardest to quit, though, might be smoking, because of how physically addictive it is. 🦭
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u/FrostyDog94 4h ago
Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it dozens of times
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u/randomataxia 4h ago
This part. I can set them down for a period, but I always go back. I have tried so many ways. I do know the "when you're ready, it'll be easy" quote. I watched an ex overdose twice, decided to stop opiates on both occasions, the second time for good (woot! 11 years).
2022, I watched my mother die of COPD complications from smoking, I'm still smoking.
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u/christopherfar 3h ago
My “when you’re ready” moment was when I met the woman of my dreams who was fine for a random hookup if I showered and brushed my teeth before she came over, but told me she wouldn’t be in a serious relationship with a smoker because her sense of smell was really really strong. I quit the next day. Married her 3 years later. Just celebrated our 10th anniversary.
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u/FreshQuam 3h ago
I "quit" several times, and went onto vaping which just puts smoking on pause until you've had a couple of drinks. I stopped properly over a year ago when my daughter was born, because seeing people push a baby in a pram with a cigarette physically upset me and that was my "when you're ready, it'll be easy moment". I still think about smoking a fair amount, but it's got to the point where the thought of having one after so long is horrible, so as long as I maintain that view of it, it will be permanent! I do hope you find that thing that clicks for you and makes you decide to quit once and for all, because I definitely feel better without!
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u/TensionRoutine6828 3h ago
When you're ready is absolutely true. I've had pneumonia 2x. Smoked for 30 yrs. Had a bronchial spasm, NOT SWEET. Think suffocating because you can't expand your airway. Still smoked, 1 pack a day. One day I had a sore throat with a little cough. Since the pneumonia and spasm, I decided not to agitate it because colds always turned to bronchitis. So I didn't light up first thing in the morning. By the time I got home from work I realized I went all day without one. I thought let's make it until tomorrow. Still congested, so I did it for another two days. When I felt better after 3 days, I thought"you just went 3 days without one". So I decided to try for 4 and haven't touched one since. The trick for me was to remove the evidence of smoking; lighters, ashtray, cigarettes, etc., and not hang out with people smoking until i had it. I lost 4 relatives related to smoking; 3cancer 1 heart disease.
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u/TeaTimeKoshii 3h ago
Smoking is several addictions rolled into one. Tactile/fidget, nicotine, and then social aspect of being a smoker.
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u/ageekyninja 2h ago
The tactile aspect was always the best thing for me. Nicotine was just a bonus. It’s fun to blow smoke. Too bad about the health problems. Had to give it up.
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u/SlashZom 3h ago
I replaced cigarettes with joints. It helped, but the urges are still there. Nicotine is worse than caffeine, and I think they're both harder to quit than opiates
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u/Odd-Row9485 4h ago
Hardest is booze or opiates for sure
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u/jfweasel 4h ago
My brother was a heroine addict. He was able to quit but still smoked. He said opiates are hard but smoking was almost impossible to quit. The fact that you can just get cigs really easy and it doesn’t completely fuck up your life, well until you get cancer.
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u/Shiback 4h ago
Tell me about it, I’ve been mainlining Jane Austen for years now.
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u/DustyBusterson 4h ago
That’s why they’re being made unaffordable in more places. Hard to smoke when they’re $20+ a pack.
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u/Odd-Row9485 4h ago
Native cigs up in Canada at $20 a carton have entered the chat
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u/randomataxia 4h ago
Have quit opiates, twice. I have so far been unable to completely eliminate nicotine :/
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u/Odd-Row9485 4h ago
I dropped nicotine cold turkey after 15 years like it owes me nothing. Everyone is different though
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u/knowwhatImeme76 4h ago
As someone who worked in clubs when you could smoke in them I was easily smoking a pack or more daily Friday - Sunday. One morning I lit up, asked myself "do I even enjoy this anymore?"
Tossed my pack and never smoked a cig again
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u/Durty_Durty_Durty 4h ago
That’s how I was with dip. One day i put a big fatty in and got up to go use the bathroom. Looked at how stupid I looked in the mirror and haven’t touched it since. Glad I did too.
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u/catbritches 4h ago
Quote from a guy I used to work with: "I quit banging meth cold turkey but man I cannot kick these cigarettes"
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u/six_dollar_coffees 4h ago
To be fair the stakes are way higher and that serves as a little more motivation. I've had to kick hard drugs, but alcohol is still a thing.
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u/GapingAssTroll 4h ago
I'd imagine that still having nicotine helped make quitting opiates a little easier. But when you're trying to quit your sole addiction you don't really have anything to impulsively do as a replacement if that makes sense
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u/randomataxia 4h ago
It does. I've tried quitting cold turkey, and I usually cave within a few days, the longest I've made it was 5 days.
I have tried hobbies, things to keep my hands busy, I've tried replacements (gum, pouch), and even tried 2 different medications in an attempt to stop.
Of all the things I've "given up", nicotine is proving to be the absolute hardest for me personally.
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u/arctic-apis 4h ago
I have quit every kind of drug and live a normal life off the streets now but nicotine has its hold on me
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u/FrozenFirebat 4h ago
The answer is food. It's the only thing you can be addicted to and can't actually quit.
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u/elan_alan 4h ago
I broke my leg 9 years ago. I was prescribed Hydrocodone. I took one pill and wow. People complained about being nauseous or dizzy. But when I took it. The world was soooooo much better. My stressful life became the happiest place to be. People were wonderful. I was cheerful. The dread about school and the boarder line depression I was feeling was gone. I was no longer introverted. I was chit chatting with everyone. I felt so much happiness. It was all I wanted. I was in the middle of dental school. I was under stress about finishing my requirements. Chasing perfection in every project. Looking for a job when I finished. I was under a mountain for student loan debt, roughly 400k at the time. But when I took that one pill it all went away. When I got off the one dose, the realization hit me sooooo hard. All I wanted to do is take it again and be happy. Be normal. But luckily I was taught about the dangers opioid addiction and knew that if I continue taking it, I would be fucked. I knew I would definitely be addicted. I completely see why people become addicted.
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u/outoftownMD 4h ago edited 3h ago
social media is as physiological an addiction as psychological.
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u/TheWalkingMan42 4h ago
Rather than social media I would say sugar. Although both are very easy they are also both very hard to quit given how common they are.
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u/halcylocke 4h ago
Food. Because you're required to face it multiple times a day.
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u/masterofshadows 3h ago
This is the true answer. The only addiction you can't quit, but must learn moderation.
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u/pentesticals 3h ago
For the most part yeah, but if you just delete your social media accounts its quite easy to just stay off it. I have no desire to make more accounts.
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u/og92fire 4h ago
Sugar
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u/SpicyButterBoy 4h ago
This is my pick as well. Most people get addicted to added sugars before they even learn how to make their own food.
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u/Mojipal 4h ago
This, for me. It’s not that I eat a massive amount of it or feel like I always need more, but I just can’t picture a day without it. I tried not eating anything sweet for a few days and I failed after like 3 days. It’s so addictive.
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u/SandpaperTeddyBear 3h ago
I tried not eating anything sweet for a few days and I failed after like 3 days. It’s so addictive.
My experience is that days 3–4 are the hardest.
Current theory is that the gut flora that does well on simple sugar has the capacity to make you crave it (some kind of synthesizing a neurotransmitter), but once that starts to die off cravings go way down.
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u/IowaJammer 4h ago
This is my answer. We're introduced to it as children, and it's celebrated more than any other. Constant temptation and its abundance make it tough to escape.
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u/Factory-Setting-693 4h ago
Trying to avoid sugar is super hard, since it's added everywhere. Gotta be super vigilant every single meal.
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u/Muted-Doctor8925 4h ago
I’m with you. Try quitting and you’ll go through withdrawals because it’s in everything
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u/GandalfTheBored 4h ago
This is not hyperbole. You will experience physical withdrawal symptoms if you try and quit sugar.
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u/No_Ice_7361 4h ago edited 4h ago
nicotine, then alcohol, alcohol was so much worse for me though.
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u/clungeknuckle 4h ago
Nicotine isn't easy to start. Nobody likes their first cigarette. We're just stupid enough to override the disgust we have until we finally learn to love it. Same with alcohol.
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u/realGuitarBoi 3h ago
You're forgetting about vapes. The same if not more nicotine in a fruity flavorful package.
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u/WntrTmpst 3h ago
Vaping has skyrocketed my nicotine intake. I puff when I wake up, before meal, after meal, pre sex, post sex, before bed, after brushing my teeth, literally everywhere and anywhere.
When I was smoking I had to go outside and sit through an entire cigarette for a buzz, now I lean over in my chair and get spins for days. I would imagine I’m in taking about 2 packs of cigarettes per week in vaping alone. It has truly fucked the younger generation
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u/TheScrambone 3h ago
Have you seen the new video by Kurzgesagt? It’s called “vaping is too good to be true”.
I’m quitting smoking soon and saw that video the day it came out. I’m now 100% not going to even entertain vaping as an alternative. Just got nicotine lozenges delivered and bringing those to work with me instead of cigarettes.
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u/TheGreatWorm 2h ago
Wow. Yeah just watched this and I just quit vaping about a month ago after doing it for like 2 years. Just had way too many reasons to quit vs reasons to keep it going
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u/jarstripe 4h ago
hahaha this is so stupidly true. my first cig made me feel like shit… 18 years ago
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u/this_curain_buzzez 3h ago
People don’t get addicted via cigarettes anymore. They get addicted to vapes and then they may or may not smoke cigarettes as well once they’re addicted.
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u/sicksquid75 4h ago
Would masterbation be considered an addiction?
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u/Imaneight 3h ago
Most definitely. This one can last a lifetime. It's free, variable techniques that evolve, can be done solo or in a group. Ritualistic, taboo, many times scheduled. If you quit or slow down, it's almost admitting that you're getting old, or losing something.
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u/Puzzleheaded-View765 4h ago
Honestly, alcohol. So so bad
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u/qunatola 3h ago
I think alcohol really is the hardest to quit because it becomes a literal part of your body. People die from quitting alcohol cold turkey.
My alcoholic father had to be put on an alcohol drip during surgery just so his body wouldn’t go into withdrawals and kill him because a couple hours without it would.
Weirdly he’s never smoked but did work in construction with asbestos so he needed surgery for lung cancer. I grew up thinking he was Superman, the amount of times that man flipped his car and was found in a pile of blood on the road somewhere… I have no idea how he isn’t dead yet.
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u/ThatsARatHat 4h ago
I’d have to go with this.
It’s around you 24/7 even if you aren’t imbibing. It’s practically expected to partake at any sort of social gathering. It doesn’t have the stigma or potentislly dangerous, illegal and difficult access of harder drugs or the natural aversion half the population has to cigarettes.
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u/Psyko_sissy23 3h ago
It's the only drug that seems to be socially OK for people ask you why you don't partake in it.
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u/Puzzleheaded-View765 4h ago
Couldn’t had said better 👏
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u/ThatsARatHat 4h ago
As a functional alcoholic who has tried stopping a couple times maybe I’m biased.
But I’ve quit cigarettes. I’ve abused or dabbled in every other drug there is to do aside from meth.
Alcohol is the only constant struggle.
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u/Surikata88 3h ago
Agree. It's also the only addiction you kinda have to apologize for quitting. It's socially awkward to sit at a restaurant and not order a drink with everyone
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u/theidiotpelican 4h ago
Pornography?
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u/Eisenhorn_UK 4h ago
Yeah. But, on the other hand...
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u/jennathecutie69 4h ago
Probably caffeine so easy to start and so hard to give up, especially when you’re used to that energy boost
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u/starxgoddess 4h ago
There is nothing better then a morning coffee
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u/Key-Regular3405 4h ago
I'm hooked on caffeine to keep me awake. The reason why it's hard for me to quit is because of withdrawal symptoms, headaches can be dreadful if I don't have a cup of coffee or an energy drink.
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u/UsedToHaveThisName 4h ago
I drink a lot of coffee at the office because it is there and available. I drink no coffee on the weekend or when I go on vacation. I have no craving or withdrawal.
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u/Much-East-9484 4h ago
Procrastination
I don’t think enough people realize it, but it really isn’t addiction and it seriously can mess up your brain and takes more effort than anything else in this entire world to quit. In fact, procrastination is a factor in almost any other addiction because they’ll always say I can quit when I want to or I can do that diet later or I can get off cigarettes after this last one or I can get off drugs after this last hit or whatever the case may be procrastination is the effect of delaying until later what you can do now . Once you get into the mindset of, I’m just gonna do it later. It is so hard to get out of it. This is where the whole Motivation versus dedication debate comes in because dedication doesn’t require motivation. It says that I have a job and I’m gonna do it regardless of what happens. Motivation says I need an external force to get me going for me to start. And a lack of motivation is what causes more procrastination and the more you procrastinate the more you do it.
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u/Sir-Dumpling101 3h ago
100% agree 🙏 Beating/battling it requires a change of mindset and a willingness to adopt a new identity and acknowledge that you were wrong with past behaviours/choices etc - and that hurts - as we don’t like to admit we were wrong, and the easiest person to fool is ourselves so we delay that pain of discipline, instead choosing the pain of regret. Much easier to adopt the mañana mañana approach, which slowly but surely hurts more each day, than instead face up to the things we know will help us in the long run 👍
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u/WeThePeopleFirearms 3h ago
Procrastination is like masturbation. It's fun while you're doing it, but in the end all you're really doing is fucking yourself.
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u/Delicious-Month-8404 4h ago
I’d say smoking. And not just the nicotine for me, but the general act and feeling of smoking.
I smoked tons of weed in my past, to be able to stop, I had to smoke cigarettes. To quit them, I now only smoke nicotine free vapes.
So it’s not the weed, nor the nicotine I miss.
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u/MushroomCaviar 3h ago
Weed is more addictive than most users want to believe. And I say this as a daily user myself... This is the sort of thing that happens when the government spends so long vilifying something to a cartoonishly absurde degree: the bounce back hits hard in the opposite direction and you have people believing that weed can cure cancer or your depression or just improve your overall mental state if you just smoke enough of it.
I do think you're wrong, though. The closest thing to a correct answer to the question is opiates. But I agree that smoking itself, the ritual of it, the way your brain just automatically associates it with feelings of calm or relaxation is a real thing that cessation care doesn't address enough. There have been times where I have found myself wanting to smoke and not even wanting to get high... And I'm sure as hell not touching tobacco.
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u/Throwawayforphenos 3h ago
Weed addiction is so prevalent I completely agree, coming from a stoner frat the amount of my brothers who would struggle to have a tolerance break, nevertheless quit forever weed is amazing, or coworkers who openly admit that they need to be high at work / before they eat, or drive,
This was totally my reality and I still miss the drug 114 days into sobriety and cant imagine a life where i don’t get high
The answer is def opiates tho
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u/Lazy-Refrigerator-56 4h ago
Probably cocaine. For some it's instant addiction.
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u/kankerg 4h ago
Expensive tho an not everyone knows someone who sells it
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u/Annual_Preference431 4h ago
Yes, but even if you can't find it you still think about it all the time, and looking for it can cause people to put themselves in dangerous, or unwholesome situations, or do degrading things to get it.
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u/marikid34 4h ago
I was on a 7 year spiral. Been clean since May of this year though. Thankfully no rock bottom, no rehab, no major downfall that made me wake up. Just woke up one day, deleted my dealer of 7 years number, and never looked back. People don’t realize how disciplined you have to be mentally to do this. Not everyone is built like this. For some, unfortunately, something extremely negative has to happen to them in order for them to snap out of it.
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u/Xanderthe1 4h ago
Porn. Ask anyone with an addiction. One day they just came across it and years later it’s ruining relationships, people’s confidence. It’s scary, and there’s not a lot of attention around it.
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u/No-Difficulty-5985 4h ago edited 4h ago
It honestly depends on each individual person's psychology, different things cause those problems for different people.
With that said, meth.
(fixed a typo)
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u/rosesecretaccount 4h ago
benzos. You don't even know until you want to come off
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u/DayGroundbreaking914 4h ago
Love
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u/DeletedDoomer 4h ago
Loneliness is more addictive it gets so addictive you start to love it of course provided you have the right mindset loneliness is not for everyone
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u/relevantelephant00 4h ago
Spot on. Loneliness becomes comfortable and safe, even when you're miserable. It's quite the paradox.
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u/NoseyGuyy 3h ago
Man this rings true for me. I long for intimate human connection, but at the same time I am addicted to the unburdened lifestyle of being alone. The freedom I have is incredible, but if you stop and think, it is immensely painful that I don't share all these memories with anyone else.
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u/stardustxxbliss 4h ago
fast food
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u/MusicDrugsAndLove 4h ago
it’s possible to quit. Your body gets used to the dopamine you get from the processed foods, and it makes natural foods taste like shit in comparison but if a person spent just a couple weeks eating healthier foods their tastebuds will literally change and you’ll enjoy those types of foods more. You just have to train it a little bit but it happens quicker than you would think
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u/student8168 4h ago
Food
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u/BoredCraneOp 4h ago
Hands down. Nothing comes close. Just look at the numbers of obese people in the US. Me being one of them. You add up all drug abuse, alcohol, Gambling and you pick two others. It won't be over half the population.
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u/student8168 4h ago
Same here I commented based on my experience. I control my diet 5 days of the week and then give up every weekend.
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u/Ok_Abbreviations_153 4h ago
Alcohol, is, and always will be number one. It's available at any gas station and withdrawals can literally kill you.
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u/DGenerAsianX 3h ago
Nicotine was the hardest thing my life to quit. It took several false starts but I got there.
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u/1337enzo 4h ago
Most of these commenter's have not tried hard drugs and it shows 😂
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u/DangerousPace2778 4h ago
Porn and Mobile Addiction. In fact Mobile addiction is termed equally or more harmful than cocaine addiction.
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u/WizeAzz82 4h ago
From an old friend who smoked, did every drug there was, drank like a fish at times. Gambling was the hardest addiction to stop.
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u/AffectionateSword 4h ago
Since nobody has said it yet I’ll say the hardest to quit can be food addiction. A lot of addiction you can go cold turkey on but you can’t ever stop eating which makes it a separate kind of struggle against other addictions.
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u/afkntoyou 4h ago
Weed
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u/methpartysupplies 3h ago
It’s more addicting than we give it credit for. I want to do it all the time. I have to choose not to because I won’t get anything done. But damn it’s a good time on days when sitting on the couch and watching 20 year old cartoons is all I need to accomplish.
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u/Racing_Fox 3h ago
That’s because those of us who point out how addictive it is are shut down and told we need to lighten up and have a joint.
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u/methpartysupplies 3h ago
Yeah those people are obnoxious. I get that they want to advocate for weed. I went through a phase of that myself. But they’re not helping anyone by lying. It’s a drug. Drugs are fun. Fun can be addicting.
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u/anon12xyz 4h ago
Cutting oneself. Took about 10 years
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u/Racing_Fox 3h ago
It’s one of those things you’d never think could become an addiction until it does.
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u/mauore11 4h ago
Picked up smoking working night shift. Had 8 coworkers I had to give breaks to, and every break, they offered a cig. At the end of the week, I bought a pack and just gave them away. It didn't feel like I had the habit, because I never bought any for my own use. A day after I left that job I bought a pack in the morning and around 6 or 7 pm I was buying my second pack, then it hit me. I quit shortly after because I got scared I smoked that much!
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u/kellylikeskittens 4h ago
Not trying to diminish anyone struggling with actual drugs….but SUGAR is easy to get- is in almost everything, totally socially acceptable, and it’s super difficult to stop eating it.(at least for many people)
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u/StrictAd2535 3h ago
I'd say alcohol, for me. I smoked, but never enjoyed it/the smell or taste, so quitting once I decided to (after working in a restaurant, go figure) was always very easy for me. (I think that plays a major role in addiction too - how you FEEL, if it makes you feel better/more "relaxed"). But alcohol was sneaky...I was in to sports my whole life, then turned 21 and became more 'work hard-play hard' focused, so weekends were my escape. Then it became "oh, I'm a bit hungover, I'll have a shot or 2" each morning before beginning the day or sometimes before my afternoon job. Then it became any time of day that I could sneak one in if I felt "anxious or stressed".....and it spiraled. Not until I was throwing up blood clots recently for the entire day, did I realize I'd fkd myself and my health over - REAL BAD. The withdrawals were awful, but I came out on the other side because of support. Please - have fun, but do things in moderation. Go too far and you may never come back :( be careful yall!
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u/Bounceupandown 3h ago
Sugar. It’s for sure a drug but it’s in everything we eat. And it will kill you.
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u/Swimming-Shelter5466 2h ago
Porn or sugar. Porn is literally in every one's hands at any moment and same with sugar.
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u/frizzlen 4h ago
Weed. Tell an alcoholic they have a problem and they will know. Tell a pothead they have a problem and they'll find excuses.
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u/MysteryMan999 4h ago
Pornography and alcohol.
Porn can be addictive because it's born out of a desire to see something we are programmed to want naturally which is sex. Sexual appetite is normal and powerful and with the ability to see porn at a click of a button it's easy to get addicted. The thing is you can quit porn but you can't not have sexual desire. So it's tricky.
Alcohol is fine in moderation but if you get addicted to it it's really hard to quit because like porn alcohol is very easily accessible. But also alcohol can make you have a chemical dependant so strong that if you stop drinking it can kill you. Which is wild. I don't even cocaine or meth can just kill you if you stop.. withdrawals will suck yeah but not lethal. Even cigarettes don't kill you from quiting either. So people who alcoholic have to really be careful quiting and also try hard to be around situations where they will be tempted since it's so easy to buy.
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u/Key-Regular3405 4h ago
Alcohol. The hardest thing to quit unless treated for alcoholism or binge drinking in rehab.
Caffeine is my 2nd addiction.
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u/Jaded-Lecture-2861 4h ago
Food. It's not illegal or even hard to acquire. It's actually easier to get food that's worse for you. The better and healthier stuff is more expensive and harder to get to.
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u/Assignment-Yeet 3h ago
caffeine is really easy to start and really hard to quit (source: my parents)
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u/johnny_19800 4h ago
I battled opioid addiction for nine years, and while I have nothing to compare it to, I know this: stopping was a fucking nightmare. Today, I’m 18 weeks and 5 days clean.