How Many Of You Are Addicted?

[K1024]

To start off with, I've never been addicted to anything. I know this because I've tested it throughout my life. I use to drink like 5-10 can of mountain dew per day, and then one day just decided to stop. I have done the same with hookah over the past few years. I smoke at least 1 bowl a day (3 hours), but alot of days I will smoke 2-3 bowls (6-9 hours). But one different breaks for college I have always stopped because my parents do not approve and I don't feel like taking all of my hookah stuff back with me over break. I have never experienced a need to smoke hookah like people describe with cigarettes, and do not get adverse reactions from not smoking.

But I am wondering how many people out there feel this same way.

which has led me to want to do a test. I'm going to completely stop for a week, and keep a sort of journal of any cravings/headaches/symptoms that I feel correspond to my stop in hookah smoking.

but for such a test to produce any reliable information, it would need more data. In fact, me just doing this would provide no new information because I already know that I am not addicted...which is why I am posting here. If anyone would be willing to subject themselves to such a test and post their results that would be amazing. I think it would be interesting to see how addicted the average hookah smoker is..

[joytron]

I am down in fact I wont be smoking from the 22nd to about the 1st and havnt smoked in the last two as i have had a cold. I generally smoke about one to two hours a night six nights a week.

[delSol_si]

i won't be smoking until new years i think since im at my parents house...ill try to journalize if i can remember. i don't really think im addicted. im addicted to HF, but i don't think im addicted to hookah. its fun for me, but i have no physical addiction to it i don't think. maybe a little mental addiction since it is on my mind a lot.

[Scrappydoo]

[quote name='delSol_si' date='21 December 2009 - 07:50 AM' timestamp='1261371052' post='440677']
i won't be smoking until new years i think since im at my parents house...ill try to journalize if i can remember. i don't really think im addicted. im addicted to HF, but i don't think im addicted to hookah. its fun for me, but i have no physical addiction to it i don't think. maybe a little mental addiction since it is on my mind a lot.
[/quote]


I am the same! I know I am not physically addicted, I can go for days, not feel the slightest twinge of withdrawal. I am definitely mentally (emotionally?) addicted. When I've had a bad day, it's all I want to do is smoke.

[Vladimir]

You may in fact be addicted to being not addicted...

Addiction comes on two levels, physical, and mental. If this were just hookah, no I am not addicted in any way (physical or mental). I can abstain from hookah and have no physical or mental problems.

Nicotine in general however, I am [b]not[/b] physically addicted (don't ask me how)- I have no headaches, no physical symptoms of addiction or withdrawl... however, I am strongly addicted on a mental level. I crave that chew/dip/cigarette. I am working on quitting chewing right now- well more specifically "dipping", I feel much better about "chewing" but true chew is hard to find on this side of the state.

In fact I have what I swore would be my last dip out of my last can of Skoal in right now. Hope I can keep with it, though I am not naive, I know I will break down and have one every now and then. They key is to keep it in moderation, and reign victorious over not only the physical addiction (which is not an issue), but the mental addiction as well. A chew here and there because I want one is far preferable than a chew here and there because I [i]need[/i] one.

EDIT: No I am not being overly generous to myself. I can go from smoking a pack a day at my old job and not smoke a single cigarette at home (nights, mornings, weekends, etc). Edited December 21, 2009 by Vladimir

[Jacob Shock]

i am addicted. i generaly smoke 3-6 small eqyptions a day (3-5 hours). i get withdrawl symptoms but there not as bad as cigarettes. there also a bit differnt.


i smoked cigarettes for 5 years so something in my body may make me crave nicotiene, regardless of how i get it.

I started smoking at a young age (14 cigarettes) (17 hookah). they say the younger you start smoking the higher your chances of becoming addicted are.

[Jacob Shock]

Ill add a little something here.

my hookah nic fits are alot more mental than a cigarette nic- fit
But My hookah nic fits are a bit less phsyical than a cig nic fit.

[ezxen]

probably addicted

I work nights10-6(sometimes 6:30,7:00) and before i go to work and when i get off i smoke a bowl or two and then a bowl or two during afternoon .

I used to be able to go with out hookah for days now seems i want (rather than need to smoke). Main reason i may be addicted is that even tho its freezing in the garage(where i have to smoke [where im smoking right now and posting .Proper use of brackets FTW]) i still smoke .
I could probably go with out it but i dont wanna .Going to sleep in a few and got some tangires on the way so gonna smoke when i get off and got the day off so will probably smoke all day.I think its more mental than physical .

[maestroelite]

I'm addicted to intoxication.

That said, tobacco is one thing I find super easy to regulate. Once I start not wanting to smoke or feel my lungs being taxed, I stop. I would be willing to participate in such a test but there's too many other factors in play for me ATM.

[Arcane]

i can't say i'm addicted to hookah, and i don't think i've ever been...i know i was addicted to cigs, but that's not anymore (woohoo!)

i do smoke hookah a lot, but its gotten to the point where i'm not really making time out of my day to smoke...i just smoke when i happen to have time. if i can smoke, great...if not, no big deal.

[Stuie]

I have an addictive personality. I can't say I am addicted now. It's more of a comfort than anything.

[Jacob Shock]

I think ill try your test sometime, but im addicted and i know what will happen. ive got some khan el khalili coing today so ill be busy for a while.

[Ralleac]

There have been times where I smoked multiple times a day on a regular basis for months on end, but I usually get bored of it and quit for a similar length of time. I smoked a lot between Jan-April this year, and then cut it out completely May-July. I picked it up again Aug-Nov aside from getting sick once. Currently it has been almost a month since I've smoked anything. I just haven't felt like it. That'll probably change if I get a new hookah over the next few days. Edited December 24, 2009 by Ralleac

[Canon]

ill start my 7 days on monday.

[delSol_si]

itll be 7 days for me tomorrow, unfortunately, i haven't journalized but i can say that i do want to smoke...not because of the nicotine, but because i think hookah is fun. kinda drinking for me, i can take it or leave it, if someone said i can never do it again, im fine without it, but i still think about it. not something i need, something i want.

[Click]

not addicted as a smoke maybe 1-2 small phunnels a week since I'm a school.  When I'm home maybe 4-5 smalls.  I often don't smoke for more than 7 days and I don't feel any withdrawals

[LZ22]

I was smoking about 1 bowl of 25-30g a day. Some weeks would be less if I had a lot of studying and homework to do. I would crave hookah when I was at the library, but I think thats because it calmed my stress after 5 hour study sessions. Half of the times I would smoke I wouldn't really want to that much but my roommates really would, so I'd pack a bowl for them and smoke with them. Now that I'm home, I haven't had hookah in about 10 days, and I won't have it until end of January when I'm back at school. (Same reason about not wanting to do it in front of my parents because they do not approve of it...out of respect). So far, I have not had any cravings at all. I haven't had any 'withdrawal' symptoms, or crazy urges to run off to a hookah lounge. Only times I want to do it is if I am sitting around my house bored out of my mind. No physical symptoms.

[sine]

I find that I'm addicted in a habbitual sense more than chemical sense. While the nicotine is nice, I don't itch for a fix, but if I don't smoke for a while, I just find myself missing the act of sitting down, hose in hand, and taking a couple hours to sit back and enjoy those delicious, fluffy clouds... dammit I want my hookah ><

[Bulldog_916]

I dont know if there's any such thing as a physical addiction. For example, I know that some people get withdrawal which manifests physically. But at the end of the day your mind can control those symptoms. It isnt a situation where mind over matter doesnt apply. Most places that deal with [bad stuff] addiction make you go cold turkey and they go through some pretty crazy withdrawals. If they had a choice they wouldnt be going through withdrawal. They'd just stop. But their brain chemistry has come to depend on it. They could cope with it mentally. There's just one thing that controls how we perceive withdrawal and that's the brain. Without that stimulus, there wouldnt be physical symptoms.

[delSol_si]

[quote name='Bulldog_916' date='28 December 2009 - 12:02 AM' timestamp='1261980139' post='442078']
I dont know if there's any such thing as a physical addiction. For example, I know that some people get withdrawal which manifests physically. But at the end of the day your mind can control those symptoms. It isnt a situation where mind over matter doesnt apply. Most places that deal with [bad stuff] addiction make you go cold turkey and they go through some pretty crazy withdrawals. If they had a choice they wouldnt be going through withdrawal. They'd just stop. But their brain chemistry has come to depend on it. They could cope with it mentally. There's just one thing that controls how we perceive withdrawal and that's the brain. Without that stimulus, there wouldnt be physical symptoms.
[/quote]


i used to be addicted to caffeine and here is physical addiction: i drank caffeine soda all day long. i think at my peak, i was up to like 2-3 32oz sodas, and then another like 8-10 cans of caffeine soda a day. i had to have a constant supply of caffeine or else i would get a head ache and get jittery.

everyday, the first thing i would do is drink a soda. every day at work id get a 32oz before going to work. every day i was off work, i would sleep in and just by sleeping in, i would get a headache from lack of caffeine since i couldn't drink soda while sleeping. One day, i woke up after i had slept in, i had a HUGE headache. i went to the kitchen to grab a soda and calm the headache a little, but then i stopped and realized i was being controlled by caffeine. The ONLY thing i tolerate being controlled by is my parents and God and my parents refuse to control me, so that leaves God.

I went back to my room and just laid down again, i couldn't get to sleep because my head hurt so bad, so i got back up, closed the blinds, and made my room as dark as possible and just sat in my chair rocking back in forth, massaging my temples crying because it hurt so bad. i spent the rest of the day doing that. luckily, i had the next day off work and spent the better part of that day doing the same thing. i don't cry, i have had my pinky almost cut off, like, it to the bone and had to get like 15-20 stitches and didn't cry. this pain from lack of caffeine made me cry.

I had a migraine headache for the next 3 months, after that i had another headache for another 6 months, and after than, a mild headache for another 3-5. these are not 100% accurate, just estimates. i just remember it hurt like hell and hurt for a LONG time. going cold-turkey really hurt, but i felt it was necessary.

To this day i can't drink any caffeinated beverages. that means no coke, dr. pepper, TEA, reg coffee, nothing unless it is caffeine free. pretty much if i go to get a fountain soda somewhere, i generally have 1-2 choices. powerade or sprite is about it. If i do slip up(i don't anymore) and have even 1/2 a coke or something, i get a HUGE headache and my heart starts racing and skipping beats.

THATS physical addiction.

[Toxik916]

I know for a fact that I'm not addicted. I probably smoke the less than everyone else on the board. I only smoke once or twice a month.

[thatonethere]

I'm not addicted at all. I've never been addicted to anything in my life, however I have been exposed to a lot of things. I used to smoke ciggs for some years, and one day I just quit cold turkey. I didn't really have any trouble, but detoxing from that stuff is horrible. Not even close in comparison to the person who mentioned their physical addiction to caffene, but having to clear my lungs of all of that nasty tar and stuff was disgusting.

Hookah is a lot easier on the lungs, plus I can put it down anytime. I don't have any urges to smoke at all. I just do it when I feel like it. Some days I just won't smoke.

[joytron]

[quote name='Bulldog_916' date='27 December 2009 - 10:02 PM' timestamp='1261980139' post='442078']
I dont know if there's any such thing as a physical addiction. For example, I know that some people get withdrawal which manifests physically. But at the end of the day your mind can control those symptoms. It isnt a situation where mind over matter doesnt apply. Most places that deal with ------- addiction make you go cold turkey and they go through some pretty crazy withdrawals. If they had a choice they wouldnt be going through withdrawal. They'd just stop. But their brain chemistry has come to depend on it. They could cope with it mentally. There's just one thing that controls how we perceive withdrawal and that's the brain. Without that stimulus, there wouldnt be physical symptoms.
[/quote]

I assume you have not dealt with a serious addiction. I understand what you are saying, in the end the mind controls everything, but you are physically addicted because your mind depends on the substance. In order to function you need the substance, diarrhea and vomiting are physical responses to a mental addiction. I guess we should actually call them psychological addictions and mental addictions. Anyways they actually give you methadone and other medications to help with the addiction because people with extreme dependencies can die from withdrawal.

[joytron]

Oh forgot did a week with no hookah and got sick, purely coincidence. Had a dream about hookah but not really any urges, although i was really busy with the holidays. Probably wont smoke for the next couple days as I am still getting over being sick.

[blagage]

I would not say addicted. I find that the "urges" are only when boredom strikes and dont do it daily.

But i definately enjoy it to the point at which i could get addicted if i could afford the coals to do so