When it comes to the topic of addiction, most of us will readily agree that it is a miserable trait to possess. An addiction is a physical and psychological state of being that if not treated correctly could result into harmful wrongdoing. In The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, he recounts a story in which a fatigued housewife named Angie Bachmann lost all of her family’s assets, amounting to a million dollars due to a gambling addiction. Every habit has three components: a cue or a trigger of an automatic behavior to start, a routine the behavior itself, and a reward which is how our brain learns to remember this pattern for the future. According to Duhigg, “you cannot extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it” (63). Duhigg suggests that in order to change ones bad habit the “Golden Rule” must be implied. The Golden Rule is a theory of shifting a habit by retaining the old cue and reward, and tries to change only the routine. Duhigg’s answer to the question in the chapter title, “Are we responsible for our habits?” is simply “Yes.” If we have an awareness of our habits, then we are responsible for their consequences. In the case of Angie Bachmann, she should be held accountable for her gambling debts because she was well aware of her own bad habit and did not try to seek for help.
Angie Bachmann started out as a bored housewife that could not stand being by herself. She has three daughters that were constantly hanging out with friends, and not spending enough time with their mother. Her husband is a land surveyor, often left for work at eight and did not get home until six; he was also not as supportive as he should have been. This soon led to a craving for gambling since a new casino opened up close by. She thought tha...
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... addicted gamblers that they encountered. In Bachmann’s case they allegedly accused the casino for specifically targeting Bachmann by using some of her cravings to get her back into the casino. In my opinion that is totally absurd and a poor excuse for blaming a casino that she went to on a daily basis.
The addiction cycle can be scary to witness, but people that have addiction problems should always know that someone is there to help, whether it is friends, parents, or even random strangers we are all here to support those in need. Most importantly, if we encounter someone with a serious addiction, it is highly recommended that people try to find professionals who can take care of the situation. As for Angie Bachmann, she had a gambling problem that she never took care of which resulted into losing most of her assets and the trust of her nearest and dearests.
Angie started by breaking the rules that she had set for herself. “Bachmann’s rules gradually became more flexible as the size of her winnings and losses expanded.” (Duhigg 249) When someone breaks a rule, especially in gambling you will have to come to a conclusion that there is going to be a problem in the future. An example is Shirley from the article “How the Brain Gets Addicted to Gambling”; she “was convicted of stealing a great deal of money from her clients and spent two years in prison.” (American 1) Angie should have known better to quit at that moment that her losses expanded and when she stopped keeping track of herself. In my opinion, Angie realized that she had a problem with gambling when she started going to the casino every day and it would have been the perfect timing for her to quit. “The only mistake I made was not quitting.” (Duhigg 249) Immediately she should have seen that as a red flag and should have come to the conclusion that she is fully responsible for what she does. Instead of quitting she pursue winning back all of her losses, which is impossible “compulsive gamblers pursue ever riskier ventures.” (American 2) Pursuing something that is not good, in her case gambling, can lead to riskier ventures like it is said; she lost a lot of money and the line of credit of her home. To add on, Angie was
"Give me a good theory over a strategic plan any day of the week," is the opening sentence of Michael Fullan's book “Six Secrets of Change”. The read is a guide for both business and education leaders who desire to make their organizations successful. The six secrets that are illustrated in this book are offered as a theory of action. Individually each secret may appear to be simple, yet Fullen layers them with intricate details that express its value to change. Although some of the secrets may be difficult to understand the author makes a conscience effort to provide real-life examples of these secrets through organizational practices. He discusses organizational attitudes and behaviors and provides example in which execution has been successful and other areas that have not been successful. By using these examples, Fullan provides a blueprint for organizational leaders that can be used to guide their action towards successful long lasting changes. Ultimately this will improve organizational culture and efficiency. Michael Fullan is a well-known, author of works devoted to leader...
The regular habit loop gave her the pleasure when she visited the casino and the reward system in the brain was controlled and brought back to normal. Angie couldn’t control the impulse to gamble even though she knew that her gambling was hurting her loved ones. The relationships were strained and all she thought about was ‘Gambling’ whether she was up or down. It takes courage to stop an addiction, especially if you have lost a big amount of money and broke the relationships by that time. But compulsive gamblers (addicted to gambling) go through a problem of being totally out of control. It disrupts their lives, but still they won’t prefer to stay off the bet. The same case applied to Angie. She was so preoccupied with gambling that she wasted both her time and money, despite the serious consequences. There was an experiment done with rats to help visualize the case, “The rat park residents, however, resisted drinking the narcotic solution, no matter how sweet the researchers made it. While they occasionally imbibe(females more than males), they consistently showed a preference for straight water, And when the groups were compared, the caged isolated rats drank up to sixteen times more than the park residents.” (pg 167, Lauren Slater) In this experiment from the article “The rat park“ by Lauren Slater, the rats were kept in a cage and were addicted to the morphine-laced water, then they had to
It is not uncommon to view drug addiction as a problem that is created and maintained by the drug addicts. Most of
Addiction /ə-ˈdik-shən, a-/ noun 1. A strong and harmful need to regularly have something (such as a drug) or do something (such as gamble), 2. An unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something (Addiction). Addiction can cause a person to sabotage their lives in order to get their next fix, whether that be scoring another gram of coke or a double with cheese, a large fry, and a large soda. Addicts are stuck in a constant cycle of getting cravings, going through with their ritual, using, experiencing guilt, and being emotionally triggered, thus bringing them back to the beginning. Now, most people when they hear the word “addiction”, the first thing that comes to their mind is drugs. However, if a vast majority of individuals
Sally Satel, author of “Addiction Doesn’t Discriminate? Wrong,” leads us down a harrowing path of the causes and effects that lead people to addiction. It can be a choice, possibly subconscious, or a condition that leads a person left fighting a lifelong battle they did not intend to sign up for. Mental and emotional health/conditions, personality traits, attitudes, values, behaviors, choices, and perceived rewards are just a few of the supposed causes of becoming an addict.
Habits are choices that one continues to do repeatedly without actually thinking about them. Habits start with a decision, but they eventually become automatic. One can probably think about things we do every day that we wish we did less of, perhaps like binging Netflix, constantly checking social media, or snacking when not being hungry. If one can understand how habits are triggered, one can learn how to overcome them. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and “Rat Park” by Lauren Slater will reveal the main strategies to recognize and overcome habits. Angie Bachman, a women who developed a gambling habit due was well aware of her habits, but she continued to drag herself into debt, resulting in losing all that she owned and getting sued by
Toates, F. (2010) ‘The nature of addictions: scientific evidence and personal accounts’ in SDK228 The science of the mind: investigating mental health, Book 3, Addictions, Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 1-30.
Addiction is an extremely complex, moreover, controversial issue that has affected the many lives of individuals for ages. Addiction is comprised of biological, physiological, psychological, and social components that articulate behavior related to addictive behavior. Although, there are some that will not acknowledge their repetitive behavior as addictive, they
Process addictions have become rampant in our society (David Capuzzi, 2008, p. 36). It wasn’t until the 1970’s and 1980’s that the addiction field began to formally discuss the idea that a behaviour could be diagnosed as an addictive disorder. There are four process addictions researched to date that could be considered the most prominent. They include sex, working, compulsive shopping and gambling (David Capuzzi, 2008, pp. 35,36). Research suggests that when a person has a process addiction, frequently, it is accompanied with or replaced by another addiction, such as a substance or a process. For example, a male recovering from a sexual addiction develops a gambling addiction (David Capuzzi, 2008, pp. 35,36). Nevertheless, the idea of client’s losing control over a significant aspect of their behaviour does provide evidence about how this problem works (Ferentzy).
A disease is what happens in the body as a result of those choices. As has been noted, many people do believe addiction is a sign of weakness. While the first time may be by choice, once the brain has been changed and affected by addiction. Over time the addict loses substantial control over his or her initially voluntary behavior, and it becomes compulsive (Leshner.) In Marc Branch’s “Drug Addiction. Is It a Disease or Is It Based on Choice? A Review of Gene Heyman’s Addiction: A Disorder of Choice” he discusses and explains Gene Heyman’s opinions on rather addiction is a disease or not. Heyman argues that people do not choose to be drug addicts, rather they make choices that lead to their habit of addiction. Heyman however does not believe addiction is an actual disease. Many others argue that addiction is not an actual disease because people can overcome the addiction without help or treatment. On the other hand, in Alan Leshner’s “Addiction Is a Brain Disease” he declares that addiction is an actual disease and explains “using drugs repeatedly over time changes brain structure and function in fundamental and long-lasting ways that can persist long after the individual stops using them”
Although we are given free will and choice it is the choice to relinquish ourselves to God and His grace. May (1988) argues that addiction attempts to gain control over the behaviors that lead to shame and guilt. This book may be implemented into counseling to help those struggling between release of addiction and increasing spiritual growth. Ultimately, May (1988) argues that there are three simple ways in stopping addictive behavior results in “don’t do it, refuse to do it, and keep refusing to do it” (p. 178). When clients are able to face the truth of addiction, in their abilities, and longing for God they can begin to fall in love with themselves and the desire to love
Addiction, Is it just an issue or is it one’s choice? Although no one chooses to walk around in their life and decides if he or she has or wants an addiction. An addiction is a “condition of being addicted to a particular substance” (Peele, 2016). One can be addicted to nicotine, drugs, alcohol, gambling, food, and even shopping if it has an impact on their everyday life. Consequently, some people with an addiction may reach a point in their life where it can turn harmful, therefore, people need to look for assistance. Even so, people still neglect to talk about addictions because people are ashamed, or in denial, and it is probably not one’s choice of topics that is brought up at your breakfast table, or you may never have confronted anyone before. Still, addiction is all around us, and most people today still do not understand or have misconceptions about addictions because addiction is a disease, and studies have indicated that addictions are a physical defect in the brain, thus, making it hard for some people to give up their addictions on their own.
By understanding the golden mean, one can achieve a proper balance between insufficiencies and over-indulgence. Individuals who are able to control the amount of time and money they gamble are successfully able to achieve the golden mean. By giving oneself a sufficient amount of time and money to gamble, one shows that they are able to fulfill the virtue of temperance. Should the individual had not given themselves sufficient time and money to gamble, they would be deficient in the amount of temperance they should have exercised, which would be a vice. On the other hand, should the individual spend too much time and money on gambling, they would be in excess of the amount of temperance they should have used, which would also be a vice. Furthermore, many of the behaviors seen in compulsive gamblers would lead to more vices, since continuing to gamble would likely result in deficiencies in honesty and respect, and an excess in
Hirschman, E. C., (Sept 1 1992). The Consciousness of Addiction: Toward a General Theory of