Question

Write short note.

Causes of addiction

Answer 1

Each type of addiction has a set of possible reasons. Some common causes of addiction are as follows:

1. Personal factor: An individual will have several reasons why one becomes an addict. Generally, individuals do not opt consciously to become an ‘addict’. It is what they become over a period of time. 
2. Peer pressure: Friends in a group may knowingly or unknowingly pressurise others to adopt certain habits in order to ‘fit in’. This is especially common among students but it can also cut across other age categories.
3. Social status: Certain addictions seem to make people feel that they have attained a certain degree of social respectability or position, which they might then flaunt. For example, consuming narcotic drugs may be considered as a fad in certain groups.
4. Validation of the ‘Self’: It is especially true in the case of social media networks like Snapchat, Facebook, and so on. It makes people feel important. Today, selfitis is regarded as a mental disorder.
5. Psychological factor: Individuals can become addicts due to various psychological conditions such as inferiority/superiority complex, psychological insecurities, fear or anxiety, frustration or failure, loneliness and so on.
6. Inadequate role models: In an environment where there are few or no role models to emulate, one may be left with imitating disruptive traits of people in their immediate social circle.