ADDICTIONS

Rhinotillexomania is the compulsive desire to pick your nose. If you then go on to eat what you find in there, it’s known as automucophagy.

Love addiction shows itself in more ways than one. Some love addicts become attached to one person. Others are addicted to the emotional high associated with a new relationship. They try to experience it again and again by going from one relationship to the next very quickly.

When you have an allergic reaction to something, your body releases chemicals, including endorphins. People can become addicted to this chemical high and start to crave the things they’re allergic to.

One of the major indicators of addiction is the lack of control over your actions. An addiction causes a person to want to continue a behaviour despite the consequences.

Workaholism is a compulsive disorder, meaning it’s part of the way a person’s brain functions and isn’t related to a person’s job. Workaholics will be addicted to working no matter what job they have.

Geophagy refers to eating dirt and is one form of a disorder called pica. Scientists think that it’s the body’s subconscious way of getting essential minerals a person might be lacking. It’s especially common in pregnant women. Eating wood (xylophagy) and glass (hyalophagy) are also forms of pica.

It may not seem like much, but an Internet addict spends on average 38 hours per week online. That’s almost 5.5 hours per day. When you consider most people spend 16 hours each day working and sleeping, this leaves fewer than three hours for everything else.

Studies show that genetics play a big role in addiction.

More than half of coffee drinkers say they experience withdrawal symptoms when they try to cut back. These symptoms include headaches, chest pains, fatigue, nausea and restlessness. Dehydration, on the other hand, is sometimes caused by caffeine consumption, not withdrawal.

People who suffer from body dysmorphic disorder are obsessed with their looks, especially what they see as flaws in their appearance. One of the symptoms of this disorder is being obsessed with modifying the appearance through cosmetic surgery.