a serious sickness the problem is its hard to reflect on whether your tendencies are dangerous when everybody everywhere seems to be addicted to somethingor at least thats what they say im so addicted to these cookies friends confide to each other or these jeans these spinning classes that dating show search the hashtag addict on twitter and discover a world of habits and cravings real and exaggerated people confess addictions to shoes diet soda forever 21 nail biting and naturally twitter even lifealtering dependencies are now regarded in a more casual way in the cultural ground zero of hollywood for example addictions once shameful and scandalous are almost completely out of the closet celebs speak openly about needing rehab and their relapses somehow seem less shocking the entertainment industry has been quick to adapt see gwyneth paltrows upcoming thanks for sharing a movie about sex addicts in a 12step program its a comedy were living in a time when addiction can be said without shame and thats a good thing says anna david executive editor of the fix a website dedicated to addiction and recovery the increased acceptance might help some addicts seek treatment without fear of judgment says david but it also has the potential to have a far less helpful effect according to neuropsychiatrist dr timothy fong codirector of the ucla gambling studies program with addiction so glamorized and addictiontalk so common it can be hard for many addicts to see their problem as a problem before its fargone disease and diet outsmart your dna destiny names and identifying details have been changed more from womens health addiction mechanics in other words seemingly harmless addictionspeak can give true addicts blanket permission to act out their obsessive impulses under the cover of normalcy says fong take for example one of his recent patients a woman who started stealing small items from bigbox stores three or four times a week because it was the only thing that calmed her down she didnt want to do it but she had to she told him even so says fong she never thought of it as an addiction she thought of it as bad behavior therein lies the crux while addiction memes on twitter may be frothy hyperbole addiction in real life is a lifealtering miseryone that almost always starts in the brain its hard to fathom but many nonsubstance addictions affect the brain in almost exactly the same way as a drug or alcohol dependency says psychologist david shurtleff phd acting deputy director of the national institute on drug abuse nida mri scans have shown that snorting cocaine and snarfing a fastfood hamburger light up the same pleasure center in the brain the hamburger is highly pleasurable explains shurtleff some people might find it so pleasurable that they will overeat to the point of bingeing they want more and more and more because their compulsive craving for it has overcome their ability to stop while all addictions