Types of Addiction II: A Trauma-Informed Perspective | THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE S2 E7 P1 | Being True To YouTypes of Addiction II

Hi there. I am back with part two on types of addiction in this Nature of Addiction series. In part one, I spoke to four categories of addiction and different types of addiction within each category. Those four categories were the addiction to flavoring in food, addiction to stories on screens, addiction to euphoria from certain plants, and the addiction to the escape through drugs. Now in part two, I will share another four categories, naming a total of eight categories. As I mentioned, this is not a complete list, and that is because people can become addicted to about anything, with new types of addictions popping up and old ones emerging all the time. My objective is to illustrate a variety of different ways that addiction sets in across society, to one, break the stigma of addiction as being only related to drugs, and two, to help you and others to identify where addiction is in your life. The cost of addiction to our lives is pretty much everything that we came here for. Although relying on addictive things can provide relief and benefit in the short term, over the long term addiction becomes the opposition to our ascension. It is the phenomenon that puts and keeps people asleep, lowering and lowering standards and manipulating one's desires in life. But one of the things that I like about heavy addiction, such as alcohol and drug addiction or any kind of severe addiction, is that it gets people's attention. It creates a life and death scenario that cannot be ignored, forcing a person to either accept a lesser fate, an early death, forfeiting the fulfillment of the soul's journey, or to use this experience as an opportunity to transform and discover one's true self and ultimate purpose of the human experience. Softer addictions now suppress the human spirit and soul to a more subtler degree throughout life, which means most people are not dealing with their soft addictions because they're just easier to manage and the consequences are easier to cover up. But still, the life of the human is robbed. So whether addiction shows up mildly, moderately, or severely, the cost of staying in an addiction is about everything. I share categories and types of addiction as motivation for you to look within and identify where addiction lurks within your life because freedom from addiction starts the path of the true self. So now I'll present the second half of the categories that I started in part one, moving next into number five, addiction to things and money. This category of addiction regards all the other material world addictions, that is, the things people get attached and then addicted to. People are addicted to consuming, shopping, and having things in general. Examples of things people can become addicted to are things like money, devices, as I formerly spoke of, clothes, shoes, accessories, and jewelry, coins, gems, and collectibles, gadgets, tools, shop and home goods, antiques, furnishings, and artwork, bikes, motorcycles, and cars, and so on. Again, there are attachments to these things and then there are addictions where the obsession, compulsion, and dependence on these things is much higher. Zooming in on money-related addictions specifically, there are many different personality types when it comes to money addictions. For example, the moneymaker, the deal chaser, the compulsive spender, the broke victim, the budget obsessor, the penny pincher, the financial enabler, the money manipulator, the money or material collector, and the money worshiper. Here a person develops an obsession to accumulating, spending, or saving money to the point of losing some part of themselves. Having money or having power and control over things that money can buy helps people to feel in control, to compensate for areas of feeling out of control. Money comes with a lot of perks and it gives a sense of freedom, independence, choice, superiority, and status. The stakes can get really high with money or money-related addictions. These addictions can destroy marriages and families, devastate careers, lead to bankruptcy, loss of property, enormous debt, having to refinance one's home, maxing out credit cards, having to take out loans from the bank or family, or having to hide from bill collectors. Money-related addictions can tarnish a person's reputation, squash self-worth, and drain a person of any sense of joy, meaning, or ambition. The stress alone can greatly diminish and deteriorate a person's quality of life, lead to other addictions, and in some cases, lead to suicide. Financial stress or obsession is not to be underestimated. It is one of the biggest stressors in many people's lives. An addiction to things in general ties into all of this. Now, having money, pursuing money, or being very conscious about spending versus saving does not make someone addicted. Most people have a healthy or at least reasonable relationship to money and things. However, there are those people that do become addicted to money or things to varying degrees, meaning that they will spend more and more time, energy, and money than they have to spend despite the negative consequences. Whether addiction to things and money create financial burdens or tension in relationships, or whether they are actually toxic and perpetuating other issues and attachments, when someone is addicted, they will continue to collect or hold on to particular things. And this starts in childhood, such as becoming attached to a pacifier or a blankie, and then it continues throughout life in different forms. Things can provide a sense of comfort, purpose, and structure in life. When someone is addicted, they may not feel those same feelings or be able to relieve those same feelings without that particular thing. A person has become addicted to one or more things when they depend on these things to feel and function in a certain way, and when they cannot go without them. So it helps to draw awareness to the things that you include in your life, such as what do they mean to you, what function do they hold, what kind of energy do they carry, in what way might they be blocking you from developing another ability, and what is their overall impact in your life. Alright, turning to the next category of addiction, number six, the eminence of ego. The eminence of ego relates to addictions of the ego. These are the addictions people hold within oneself to maintain a particular identity, narrative, feeling, and sense of okayness, connection, and purpose, or even to maintain more static, powerful, and blissful states impenetrable by discomfort and hardship. Addictions of the ego are things like addiction to one's own image, reputation, and status. Addiction to popularity, likes, and followers. Addiction to having more than others or feeling superior. Addiction to being in control or self-righteousness. Addiction to being right, having knowledge, and achieving. Addiction to performance and strength. Addiction to working, working out, or avoiding work. People are addicted to themselves and being seen. Addicted to their beliefs, power, pursuits, self-interest, and personal gain. People will forgo their true self for fame in the moment. This could also include addictions to negativity, complaining, and worrying, or addictions to fantasizing, manifesting, or daydreaming. Everyone has attachments of the ego that develop and dissolve throughout life. Ego addictions are part of the egoic journey in attempt at self-vindication and personal significance. Addictions of the ego are particularly entangled with one's daily mindset and lifestyle consuming a good amount of energy and consciousness in a negative way. People are addicted when they cannot be in these ways, regardless of the negative consequences. Whether people are in denial of their shortcomings, or whether a person simply cannot stop doing it, the behavior excites and rewards the ego, helping a person to feel good in who they are and what they are capable of. There is great opportunity in understanding addictions of the ego, which by the way, are the most pronounced control patterns within one's egoic consciousness that run the show over the wisdom of the true self. So just in paying attention to these strong impulses and patterns, and the obsessive need to weave them into every conversation and scenario, will help to release these binds. To integrate positive change, it starts with awareness, and then continues with a less attached and more truthful way of being within oneself.