# Okay, let's be honest: what are you addicted to? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 1, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787 "2010-08-01T13:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/21 "2010-08-01T16:37:08Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Where’s the cheese? Cheese is not an addiction. Cheese is the gift of Tiamat to bring hope to a world grown cold and chaosdragonless. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/22 "2010-08-01T16:40:42Z")
chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/23 "2010-08-01T16:43:07Z")
Gaming. If I know I’ll just get frustrated by playing Modern Warfare 2, but I still want to play it, that’s an addiction, right? ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/24 "2010-08-01T16:57:27Z")
Caffeine, the internet and the SDMB, and dancing. I don’t think I can survive without dancing! ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/25 "2010-08-01T16:58:01Z")
> [@evilbeth](#): > > Mtn. Dew. > > Not the caffeine, as I can happily drink caffeine-free–it’s the Dew. I have withdrawals if I stop and I crave it. How do you know it’s not the Dew? You said you can happily abstain from caffeine but Dew has a crapload of caffeine in it. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/26 "2010-08-01T17:01:55Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > > > I put that I’m addicted to pornography but I don’t know that I actually am. On some days I’ll check out porn several times and sometimes I’ll go a week without watching it. I don’t have a problem with missing it for whatever reason (road trips, etc). > > > > I’m definitely addicted to the internet. No question about that at all. > > > > And I put _other_ as well: Gaming. > > > > Used to be addicted to caffeine. Don’t drink caffeinated drinks anymore. > > By _gaming_, do you mean gambling or video games? Heh. I remember when we were in NOLA, there was a bar near our hotel that advertised GAMING in neon - we went in cause it’s fun to play video games and drink… Imagine our annoyance when it was all video poker and stuff. Bah! I had been hoping for Drunken Pac-Man! Seriously though, I think that would be awesome - set up an internet cafe/bar, with old school video games in the rear. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/27 "2010-08-01T17:07:42Z")
I listed caffeine, but it really is just Coke Zero that I struggle to go without. I love the taste of the stuff! I’m actually disappointed when only regular Coke is available and I hate Diet Coke. I am not a fan of other colas either, though I’ll drink them if that’s all that’s around. I limit myself to a maximum of 2 cans a day, though. I always have one mid-morning at work, then one with lunch. I’m actually rather sensitive to caffeine, so more than that and I’m wide awake all night or worse, suffering from a migraine! If they ever make caffeine-free Coke Zero that tastes the same, I’ll stockpile the stuff. More than I stockpile Coke Zero now, anyways (you should see our bar fridge…!) ---
**Author:** ![Gil-Martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Gil-Martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gil-Martin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/28 "2010-08-01T17:13:37Z")
Nicotine for sure. I accidently made it through the day recently without any caffeine, but when I got home, realized what I had done, and realized that I felt a little different than ususal, I drank a Pepsi. So then, caffeine . . . maybe, maybe not. Unlike a pack of Marlboros, I’m willing to leave the house without it and not fret. It’s been suggested that I’m a compulsive book-reader and movie-watcher, but I’m not sure such predilections actually constitute addictions. I like sex a whole lot, but my activities in that realm haven’t gotten me into (too much) trouble over the years. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/29 "2010-08-01T17:22:04Z")
Coffee. I’ve had my two or three cups a day since I was eight or nine. My mother and grandmother thought it was cute. In the past: - Smoked cigarettes (less than a pack a day) for a year or so when I was 17-18, got tired of it, quit forever. No big deal. Thank god. - Smoked a LOT of grass from age 19 to 35. Semantic hairs might be split over whether or not I was truly addicted, but for all of those years I was very definitely psychologically dependent on the boo. For about the last five of those years I desperately wanted (and tried) to quit; after many failed attempts I finally succeeded. I haven’t even seen a joint for over 25 years now, and I can honestly say I haven’t missed it for one second. . ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/30 "2010-08-01T17:53:23Z")
I feel kind of good about being one of the few not addicted to caffeine. The only thing that has even a little caffeine in it that I consume is chocolate but I don’t do it to wake myself up, just because I’m addicted to chocolate. (Oh, wait. You left that off, **Skald**!) ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/31 "2010-08-01T17:59:17Z")
My drug of choice is food. It’s every bit as addictive as alcohol or tobacco, imo. I notice that there are no meth users and no Fox News addicts… Can I deduce, then, that only meth-heads watch Fox? Somehow I believe that… ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/32 "2010-08-01T18:05:07Z")
Skald, I can’t help but notice that you left out good old fashioned non-anonymous non-degrading sex (I’ll let you have the tawdry, it’s always more fun if it’s just a little tawdry). Why do you think that is? I’m addicted to analyzing people over the internet. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/33 "2010-08-01T20:58:07Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > I notice that there are no meth users and no Fox News addicts… Can I deduce, then, that only meth-heads watch Fox? Somehow I believe that… Nah, meth-heads just watch the local news so they can see themselves on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/34 "2010-08-01T21:31:48Z")
Books. I have had what were suspiciously similar to withdrawal symptoms when I couldn’t find a book to read. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/35 "2010-08-01T21:52:48Z")
Caffeine, SDMB (to a certain extent), and the Real Housewives of New Jersey.:o ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/36 "2010-08-01T23:08:37Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > How do you know it’s not the Dew? You said you can happily abstain from caffeine but Dew has a crapload of caffeine in it. It’s the Mtn. Dew itself that I am addicted to–taste, chemical in it, whatever–not the caffeine. I know this because I can get my Dew fix either with regular or caffeine-free Dew, doesn’t matter but nothing else works. I can, and have, gone for several weeks denying myself any Mtn. Dew, drinking only water. Eventually, I just have to have some. Strangely, Diet Dew doesn’t have the same effect (and neither do other diet or non-diet sodas–including the “yellow” ones like Mello Yello, Sundrop, etc.) but regular and caffeine free Dew are interchangeable to my craving. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/37 "2010-08-01T23:39:14Z")
Books are the closest I come to a real addiction. I own way more than I’ll ever really read. Whenever I feel down, I go to a bookstore to cheer up. I spend too much on books. I get annoyed if someone suggests I spend too much on books. Sometimes, I tell myself I’m going to thin down my book collection. But when I try to pick out books to sell or give away, I get nervous and anxious until I give up. There are worse addictions to have of course. The secret to stopping an addiction is to want to stop it. But I don’t want to. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/38 "2010-08-01T23:48:58Z")
Sugar. It is harder to give up than any of the meds from which I had withdrawal (although after each operation it seems that stopping the oxycotin is more and more a trial.) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/39 "2010-08-02T01:00:45Z")
How the hell can you leave out FOOD??? Especially junk food, with lots of the wrong kind of carbs. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787/40 "2010-08-02T01:05:23Z")
I’m so addicted to meth I voted for it twice. On the other hand, I quit smoking three weeks ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-lets-be-honest-what-are-you-addicted-to/548787.md?page=3)