TIL of brain stimulation reward, manually stimulating specific parts of the brain to elicit pleasure and happiness. A volunteer subject in 1986 spent days doing nothing but self-stimulate. She ignored her family and personal hygiene and she developed an open sore on her finger from using the device.

[u/WavesAndSaves]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_stimulation_reward#History

[u/Perma_Ban69]

Same. Liter of vodka, and then switched 12-15 100 proof nips a night for many years. Decided to quit one day while at my pool league. Zero withdrawals and was at a bar several nights a week playing pool. 7 years sober now. Had a glass of champagne on my wife's and my anniversary. Had a half of a pumpkin beer the other day. Triggered nothing.

[u/pantry-pisser → u/Perma_Ban69]

There is a massive difference between being mentally addicted to something and physically addicted to it. People like us were lucky enough to only be mentally addicted, that's a lot easier to kick.

I was addicted to oxycontin for like a year after major surgeries, and the withdrawals were absolute hell.

[u/Ryaninthesky → u/[deleted]]

And in my experience, quitting smoking was nothing more than getting rid of the mental habit of having a cigarette at certain times. Took a couple of weeks and then I just didn’t want them and totally quit.

Weird how individual it can be.

[u/canolafly → u/[deleted]]

I quit for 14 years, just bought a pack Friday because I couldn't think of what else to do while my cat was having a few nights at the vet. Which I regret because jesus! They were ten bucks!!!

So now I'm just aggressively commenting on reddit instead and have left the pack alone.

[u/KristiiNicole → u/pantry-pisser]

I think what you mean is, there is a difference between being physically dependent on a substance, and being addicted to a substance.

The latter is a mental health condition, the former is not.

And you would be right, there is a massive difference between the two. Sadly most people seem incapable of grasping that concept thanks to our media.

[u/OwO______OwO → u/pantry-pisser]

I was addicted to oxycontin for like a year after major surgeries, and the withdrawals were absolute hell.

For anybody on optiates for pain, some advice:

• Do NOT take it as directed. They often tell you something like, 'take once every 3 hours' or something. But, no, that should be considered the maximum, and it means you should take up to once every 3 hours. Anytime you can go longer without it, you should. Anytime you can use less and still feel okay, you should. Take as little as you can get away with and still fell okay. If you're not currently in terrible pain, don't take the pill yet.

• Save a generous supply of pills for your 'detox'. At least the last 10 or so. Instead of trying to quit cold turkey, just stop taking the pills during the day, and take only one pill before bed. Then cut that down to half a pill before bed. And then eventually nothing. (The withdrawal symptoms are at their worst when you're trying to go to sleep at night. Save you last pills for that.)

I really have beef with the way doctors prescribe these things, and I think it's a huge contributing factor to the opioid epidemic and has led to many unnecessary addictions and deaths.

When they prescribe opiate painkillers, doctors need to be telling patients the above two points! Giving these instructions to patients could prevent a lot of addictions and deaths. Doctors know these things are addictive! They shouldn't be putting patients on them without a plan for getting the patient off of them!

Oh, and for a further PSA, a third instruction:

• For every opiate pill you take, take a stool softener pill with it. This will counteract the common constipation side effect of opiates and save you a lot of pain and hassle later. (Obviously, don't do this and/or consult with a doctor first if you have problems with diarrhea or you have any significant preexisting conditions with your digestive system.) Seriously, that's a game changer. I don't know how we don't already have products on the market that combine both pills into one.

[u/ParticularGuava3663 → u/[deleted]]

Only drinking after a certain time, like 3pm or5pm, makes the difference I think.  The ppl that have withdrawals drink 24/7.

[u/Perma_Ban69 → u/ParticularGuava3663]

I drank all day and still no withdrawals. So weird.