Addicted to Coin Collecting


syrakusos

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About 15 years ago when Usenet still ran the newsgroups, on rec.collecting.coins, one poster said that he missed a mortgage payment because a really great bargain came by on eBay. He wondered if that meant that he was addicted to coin collecting. So, I took it from there, posted about 60 lines and said that collecting can be - often is - an addiction. Rewards are easy to find as you pursue objects, snipe other collectors, and contrast your purchase price against the nominal retail prices of official guide books.

The point here is that anything can be an addiction. It is not the object, but the subject:you.

Barbara Branden wrote about her experiences with cigarettes. For years, she accepted the false claim that they are "addictive." She tried to quit and failed more than once. Then, she learned a new fact -- and she quit smoking without the nagging withdrawal symptoms.

Addiction is all in your head.

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The word 'addiction' is used so loosely and is so poorly defined and has so many shades of unclear meaning that it is questionable whether it is a useful word.

There are what are called 'withdrawal symptoms' (which is a somewhat misleading term). These can be real and not merely imagination. Headaches, mouth tasting like something crawled in it and died, these can be real. But what are they really? Are they symptoms of deficiency of the poison that one is trying to quit? No, they are not caused by deficiency of the poison. They are caused by prior indulgence. The poison tolerance level has lowered, resulting in release of the poison into the bloodstream to be removed from the body (or whatever else might be happening to get rid of the poison). These symptoms are not caused by deficiency of nicotine but by prior indulgence of nicotine (or caffeine or whatever).

Is experiencing 'withdrawal symptoms' (as they are called) the same as addiction? I don't know what 'addiction' means. Does that word even have a meaning? If you see the 'withdrawal symptoms' as purely bad and as something that must be stopped at all cost and if the only way to stop the symptoms is to go back to the poison, then maybe in some sense you will be addicted. But if you know that the symptoms are healing processes, then maybe you can rejoice in the knowledge that something wonderful is happening, and the effect on you will not be addiction. And the worse it is, the better (the more vigorous the healing process). So the antidote to 'addiction' might be knowledge. Knowledge will make you free.

On the other hand, I heard that cold turkey withdrawal from hard drugs can be dangerous, even fatal. Sometimes it's just a healing process and sometimes it's a real problem. Dr. Alan Goldhamer (who supervised 8,000 fasts) said in a lecture that fasting must be supervised (I don't necessarily believe it) and the reason why is that it takes an experienced doctor to know the difference between a mere healing process and a real problem.

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There's more to addiction than what's in your head; it concerns how that got into your head and why it's staying there. For instance, we are all addicted to food. After a day without I started climbing the walls (I slightly exagerate). I understand after a few days those hunger pangs tend to go away and it's more clear sailing while you starve yourself.

--Brant

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There's more to addiction than what's in your head; it concerns how that got into your head and why it's staying there. For instance, we are all addicted to food. After a day without I started climbing the walls (I slightly exagerate). I understand after a few days those hunger pangs tend to go away and it's more clear sailing while you starve yourself.

--Brant

Your odd humor always cracks me up, Brant... :smile:

The addiction to collecting just needs to be properly channeled into practical constructive pursuits. While I'm not addicted to collecting coins, I am addicted to collecting money. :wink:

Greg

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Your odd humor always cracks me up, Brant... :smile:

The addiction to collecting just needs to be properly channeled into practical constructive pursuits. While I'm not addicted to collecting coins, I am addicted to collecting money. :wink:

Greg

Send me all your money. After a few years it won't feel so bad.

--Brant

honest

the sacrifices I make helping people (a regular Father Teresa)!

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There's more to addiction than what's in your head; it concerns how that got into your head and why it's staying there. For instance, we are all addicted to food. After a day without I started climbing the walls (I slightly exagerate). I understand after a few days those hunger pangs tend to go away and it's more clear sailing while you starve yourself.

--Brant

About "addicted to food":

This raises the question what is the difference between need and addiction? What is the difference between need for water and addiction to alcohol? Some people compulsively consume alcohol to the point of seriously harming themselves. Does anyone do that with water? I always thought of need and addiction as very different.

About hunger:

With me, second day hunger is dead dead dead.

About starving:

Fasting is not starving. Starving is not fasting. The difference between fasting and starving is that during a fast the body is living on fat and other resources and during starving the body has run out of fat or other resources. When bears hibernate they are fasting, not starving. Hibernating bears can go all winter without food without starving. Most humans can go without food (water only) about 6 weeks without starving and without harm to health.

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Your odd humor always cracks me up, Brant... :smile:

The addiction to collecting just needs to be properly channeled into practical constructive pursuits. While I'm not addicted to collecting coins, I am addicted to collecting money. :wink:

Greg

Send me all your money.

That would only make me feel bad to feed someone else's something for nothing sense of entitlement.

After a few years it won't feel so bad.

But collecting money feels good.

Greg :wink:

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  • 3 weeks later...

There's more to addiction than what's in your head; it concerns how that got into your head and why it's staying there. For instance, we are all addicted to food. After a day without I started climbing the walls (I slightly exagerate). I understand after a few days those hunger pangs tend to go away and it's more clear sailing while you starve yourself.

--Brant

About "addicted to food":

This raises the question what is the difference between need and addiction? What is the difference between need for water and addiction to alcohol? Some people compulsively consume alcohol to the point of seriously harming themselves. Does anyone do that with water? I always thought of need and addiction as very different.

About hunger:

With me, second day hunger is dead dead dead.

About starving:

Fasting is not starving. Starving is not fasting. The difference between fasting and starving is that during a fast the body is living on fat and other resources and during starving the body has run out of fat or other resources. When bears hibernate they are fasting, not starving. Hibernating bears can go all winter without food without starving. Most humans can go without food (water only) about 6 weeks without starving and without harm to health.

There are people who drink too much water which leads to hyponatremia which is a dangerous electrolyte imbalance which can become life-threatening. Some do that intentionally with some goal in mind e.g. an imprisoned inmate who hopes that by causing hyponatremia he will be moved from segregation to an infirmary or intensive treatment unit rather that to remain in the hole. The treatment is to limit water intake which will bring the Na back into the normal range.

gg

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