Q: What do bodybuilders, hoarders and alcoholics have in common?
(It’s not a riddle, but the last one is a hint.)A: Addiction.
Bit of a blanket statement, but hear me out. Addiction doesn’t only refer to substance abuse, that’s merely the most obvious and injurious version. As long as you can’t live without relying on it (basic survival needs aside, clearly), I hate to break it to you: yous an addict.
Let’s use your good-looking mug for the analogy. It’s as harmless as thinking your skin will disintegrate without skincare—quick pause for the 10-step-regimers to recover from that resounding gasp—; as harmful as genuinely believing it will finally be perfect with just one more surgical enhancement.
Hot take 2: Possibly no amount of expensive external help can beat a consistent combination of proper hydration, adequate rest and clean diet—in the long run, that is. Which is precisely what corporations want to exploit; our laziness to commit effort, and misguided faith in a short-term solution.
The structure rarely deviates from ‘Here’s a new problem you never knew you had, but fret not! We provide the quick fix, and it doesn’t even cost much! Only a growing reliance conditioned by constant use!’ How does that apply to trailers, you ask, since they are technically ads too?
Great question, anonymous caller. I’ll do that annoying thing where I answer with another question: Do we absolutely need to spend every evening watching another episode of that TV series, or the latest movie that dropped on [insert favourite streaming service]?
Addiction goes beyond what enters our system, regardless of outward application or internal ingestion. It’s also what exhibits in behaviour control. It’s all manifestation, and not your-dreams-coming-true kind. Some ongoing theories of addictions paired with their respective root causes for consideration: Work and validation, doom-scrolling and boredom, pornography and intimacy.
The mechanisms are no different from the dynamics of gambling where we experience a short buzz of thrill, and return for more when it subsides. Except the cycle doesn’t repeat quite so similarly because humans have in-built habituation. That’s psych-speak for where repeated exposure to the same stimulus leads to a decreased response over time. Meaning the next dose always has to be stronger to achieve the previous level of high.
Say we don’t subscribe to genetic excuses causes, and reckon that stress is a highly subjective factor (compare what the wealthy and the poor consider distressing). All that’s left is to be honest with ourselves and address the crux of the issue. Heck, I’ll even throw in a Leo Tolstoy freebie: “People think of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
Who likes to be held accountable anyway? We’ll continue to temporarily soothe dissatisfaction with retail therapy, loneliness with social media, insecurity with cosmetic treatment, body dysmorphia with body modification, a failing marriage with begetting child, and that nagging question of our true purpose in life with another vacation!
