My Strange Addiction
By Tamika Whitenack
Perhaps reading this title, you thought this was going to be a big confession. I'm actually just going to talk about something you already knew about me, but in the context of addiction. You think I'm being interesting, but really I'm just using the practice of reinforcement to better understand what we talked about in Psych on Tuesday. Also, please note that I do not intend to offend or make light of addiction by using it to refer to my own "addiction", and if anybody feels that the nature of this post is inappropriate or disrespectful, please let me know!
So, what is my strange addiction? Many of you probably guessed already: running. I actually don't think I am addicted any more, which I will explain later. When I "diagnose" myself with addiction to running, I am really diagnosing my past self, probably my high school self from sophomore through senior year. I believe I am in a different place with running now, and will explain more later.
One of the key features of addictive drugs is that they release dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, which is also the brains "pleasure pathway". Because dopamine affects the pleasure pathway and rewards system of the brain, the brain wants to repeat the stimulation caused by dopamine.
Running causes the release of the endorphins, which are the "painkiller" neurotransmitter.
The mechanisms and sign of addiction: increased desire for repeated use, desensitization/tolerance, decreased production, withdrawal symptoms , and overwhelming involvement.
Increased desire for repeated use: this is generally a result of the dopamine triggering the pleasure pathway, which in turn makes us want to repeat the behavior that results in this. My guess is that for running, the endorphins are the trigger that make the behavior desirable to be repeated. I definitely felt good when I started running more seriously, and wanted to repeat the behavior, which lead to a daily running schedule, and a need to run daily.
Desensitization/tolerance: The body gets accustomed to the dosage that is being used, and it compensates by reacting less to the dosage. As I ran regularly and started to increase mileage, I found that I needed to run more miles in order to feel "satisfied" by my run. When I first started running, 2 miles would be sufficient for my daily run, but soon I needed 3, 4, 5, or 6 miles as my baseline for a "legitimate" run.
Decreased production: Usually the body will start producing less of a neurotransmitter to compensate for the fact that it is in body due to addictive drug usage. I'm not sure that I have any way of knowing that this was the case while I was running, some scientific research might have an answer, but this is a casual comparison so I am not going to do that research at the moment.
Withdrawal symptoms: The addicted person has difficulty functioning when the dosage is not being administered. I used to freak out on days that I did not get in a daily run, and would often be anxious or irritable if I hadn't run yet. Prolonged periods without running (such as vacation) were a big source of stress and could lead to negativity and grumpiness.
Overwhelming involvement: The addicted person lets the addictive substance/behavior rule their life. I definitely structured my life around running, and it was a big contributor to the crazy scheduling practices that I have adopted. I would wake up early in order to get a run in before going to Caz for the weekend, or I would schedule the rest of my weekend around the times that I wanted to run.
This post is not meant to condemn my relationship, or anybody else's relationship, with running. It is not meant to scare my mom. Basically I just wanted to write this post because while I was sitting in class on Tuesday as we discussed these features of addiction, I was comparing it to my running life and found the parallels to be striking. So I wanted to share, because I think it's interesting and because running is important to me and who I am. Please also note that I am drawing parallels here that sort of attribute addictive behavior to a chemical level, but that a lot of my symptoms may have been psychological/just in my thoughts. Idk, tbh.
I said I would explain why I don't think I am addicted to running any more. This past summer resulted in a shift in my running time due to the time demand of my job. I think this was a transition period to my running life in college, which definitely feels different than my running life at home. I still love to run, and want to run basically every day. And I do run basically every day. However, that does not always mean a run that fits my minimum 6-miles-for satisfaction requirement. Often, it will be a 4 mile run with the running group or a 5 mile run by myself. I still try to get in longer runs, but I've only had one day of over 10 miles since I've been here. I'm a little sad about this and I hope to increase my weekly mileage as I get more accustomed to running here, but I'm not stressed out about it in the ways I believe I might have been in the past. I still feel healthy and happy. I think there are several possible reasons for this. One, I think the summer and the crazy new experience that college is allowed me to have a shift in mindset that has made me less neurotic about running. Two, I think I am satisfying some of the functions of running (wow, I could write a really interesting piece about running and functionalism and tie it in to cog sci theory!) through other ways. I run to feel healthy and be outside, but because I walk every where, I get the fresh air and light exercise in this fashion. I'm also doing Pilates pretty regularly, which contributes to the "yay I worked out" vibes. I also run to give myself time to think and reflect. I've been doing plenty of meditation and mindfulness activities here, which I think serve a very similar purpose. Basically, I am living a good life that I feel good about myself in, and it isn't necessarily the ideal life I might want in terms of running, but it seems to be doing okay for me. I think this is very important for my development as a person.
Okay, lastly I'm going to include some unrelated pictures that I've taken because I'm proud of myself for taking pictures. YAY!
Perhaps reading this title, you thought this was going to be a big confession. I'm actually just going to talk about something you already knew about me, but in the context of addiction. You think I'm being interesting, but really I'm just using the practice of reinforcement to better understand what we talked about in Psych on Tuesday. Also, please note that I do not intend to offend or make light of addiction by using it to refer to my own "addiction", and if anybody feels that the nature of this post is inappropriate or disrespectful, please let me know!
So, what is my strange addiction? Many of you probably guessed already: running. I actually don't think I am addicted any more, which I will explain later. When I "diagnose" myself with addiction to running, I am really diagnosing my past self, probably my high school self from sophomore through senior year. I believe I am in a different place with running now, and will explain more later.
One of the key features of addictive drugs is that they release dopamine in the nucleus accumbens, which is also the brains "pleasure pathway". Because dopamine affects the pleasure pathway and rewards system of the brain, the brain wants to repeat the stimulation caused by dopamine.
Running causes the release of the endorphins, which are the "painkiller" neurotransmitter.
The mechanisms and sign of addiction: increased desire for repeated use, desensitization/tolerance, decreased production, withdrawal symptoms , and overwhelming involvement.
Increased desire for repeated use: this is generally a result of the dopamine triggering the pleasure pathway, which in turn makes us want to repeat the behavior that results in this. My guess is that for running, the endorphins are the trigger that make the behavior desirable to be repeated. I definitely felt good when I started running more seriously, and wanted to repeat the behavior, which lead to a daily running schedule, and a need to run daily.
Desensitization/tolerance: The body gets accustomed to the dosage that is being used, and it compensates by reacting less to the dosage. As I ran regularly and started to increase mileage, I found that I needed to run more miles in order to feel "satisfied" by my run. When I first started running, 2 miles would be sufficient for my daily run, but soon I needed 3, 4, 5, or 6 miles as my baseline for a "legitimate" run.
Decreased production: Usually the body will start producing less of a neurotransmitter to compensate for the fact that it is in body due to addictive drug usage. I'm not sure that I have any way of knowing that this was the case while I was running, some scientific research might have an answer, but this is a casual comparison so I am not going to do that research at the moment.
Withdrawal symptoms: The addicted person has difficulty functioning when the dosage is not being administered. I used to freak out on days that I did not get in a daily run, and would often be anxious or irritable if I hadn't run yet. Prolonged periods without running (such as vacation) were a big source of stress and could lead to negativity and grumpiness.
Overwhelming involvement: The addicted person lets the addictive substance/behavior rule their life. I definitely structured my life around running, and it was a big contributor to the crazy scheduling practices that I have adopted. I would wake up early in order to get a run in before going to Caz for the weekend, or I would schedule the rest of my weekend around the times that I wanted to run.
This post is not meant to condemn my relationship, or anybody else's relationship, with running. It is not meant to scare my mom. Basically I just wanted to write this post because while I was sitting in class on Tuesday as we discussed these features of addiction, I was comparing it to my running life and found the parallels to be striking. So I wanted to share, because I think it's interesting and because running is important to me and who I am. Please also note that I am drawing parallels here that sort of attribute addictive behavior to a chemical level, but that a lot of my symptoms may have been psychological/just in my thoughts. Idk, tbh.
I said I would explain why I don't think I am addicted to running any more. This past summer resulted in a shift in my running time due to the time demand of my job. I think this was a transition period to my running life in college, which definitely feels different than my running life at home. I still love to run, and want to run basically every day. And I do run basically every day. However, that does not always mean a run that fits my minimum 6-miles-for satisfaction requirement. Often, it will be a 4 mile run with the running group or a 5 mile run by myself. I still try to get in longer runs, but I've only had one day of over 10 miles since I've been here. I'm a little sad about this and I hope to increase my weekly mileage as I get more accustomed to running here, but I'm not stressed out about it in the ways I believe I might have been in the past. I still feel healthy and happy. I think there are several possible reasons for this. One, I think the summer and the crazy new experience that college is allowed me to have a shift in mindset that has made me less neurotic about running. Two, I think I am satisfying some of the functions of running (wow, I could write a really interesting piece about running and functionalism and tie it in to cog sci theory!) through other ways. I run to feel healthy and be outside, but because I walk every where, I get the fresh air and light exercise in this fashion. I'm also doing Pilates pretty regularly, which contributes to the "yay I worked out" vibes. I also run to give myself time to think and reflect. I've been doing plenty of meditation and mindfulness activities here, which I think serve a very similar purpose. Basically, I am living a good life that I feel good about myself in, and it isn't necessarily the ideal life I might want in terms of running, but it seems to be doing okay for me. I think this is very important for my development as a person.
Okay, lastly I'm going to include some unrelated pictures that I've taken because I'm proud of myself for taking pictures. YAY!
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| this guy was on the track? |
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| artsy sun pics on the way to 8 am chamber rehearsal |
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| more morning pics |
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| sunlight and shadows on the chapel |
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| trees and tree shadows, also fall is here! |
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| eat local food plate |
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| eat local donut (the dining hall did a thing where the meal was made entirely from items within 150 miles) |
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| the moon cannot be captured in full beauty by an iphone |
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| this was a good stir-fry that i made |
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| a heron en route to the Rail Trail |
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| i finally tried deece scrambled eggs! also watermelon makes a rare and much appreciated occurrence |
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