Soft Addictions: Are You Hooked

686 Words3 Pages

Being unavoidable soft addictions can often take complete control over anyone’s life. “Although soft addictions aren’t life threatening unlike hard addictions, they can act as roadblocks that people often times aren’t fully aware of” (McLaughlin, 2010, para. 3). Most of the time, soft addictions can interfere with a person’s life when they begin to take priority over other people in their lives. For instance, “according to an addiction specialist Jennifer Ginsberg, when you place something over important people in your life, you can cause harm. Eventually, this can lead to strained relationships, productivity, and even your own personal well-being” (McLaughlin, 2010, pg. 137). Thus, doing so could be harmful in the long run to not only you …show more content…

As explained by Judith Wright soft addictions are “an escape from your uncontrollable feelings” (McLaughlin, 2010, pg. 137). Yet, soft addictions are all around us making them easy to use as a getaway from your own reality and or the stresses of everyday life. Therefore, most experts believe that these habits such as stress snacking, and drinking excess coffee, etc. can eventually turn into soft addictions when they used excessively. In example, “in the current state of our economic times, soft addictions can become even more predominate.” (McLaughlin, 2010, para. 4). As well as, “more than 90 percent of the 1,000 respondents in a Harris Poll Survey experienced a soft addiction in some way” (McLaughlin, 2010, para. 3), whether it be shopping, drinking too much caffeine, or excess internet activity, etc. This being such a high percentage of people, just imagine how many others are out there dealing with a soft …show more content…

Most importantly, getting over any addiction even a soft one can take time. Psychologist Elizabeth Lombardo Ph.D. explain that you need to “figure out what caused you to become susceptible to these soft addictions, eventually removing the crutch slowly is just one step of the process. In addition, experts recommend that moderation is key when kicking an addiction, slowly removing the behavior till it no longer becomes a crutch” (McLaughlin, 2010, para. 13). In conclusion, even though soft addictions are out there, it’s important to realize the value of the people in our lives. Whether it be for a short amount of time or for the rest of your life, these important people are there for us, willing to help us and love us unconditionally. On the other hand, these soft addictions are just mere habits that can spiral out of