To improve health and quality of life one should focus on these six lifestyle elements - Healthy life style choices and Addictive behaviors

5 minute read
Healthy Lifestyle
Healthy Lifestyle

Lifestyle

Lifestyle is the physical, psychological, social, and economical, values, interests, opinions, and behaviors of a certain individual, group or community. A lifestyle is expressed in both the work, behavior, leisure and social patterns we do, it's a combination of what we repeatedly do.

Lifestyle is the interests, opinions, behaviours, and behavioural orientations of an individual, group, or culture.

A lifestyle typically reflects an individual's attitudes, way of life, values, or world view. Therefore, a lifestyle is a means of forging a sense of self and to create cultural symbols that resonate with personal identity. Not all aspects of a lifestyle are voluntary. Surrounding social and technical systems can constrain the lifestyle choices available to the individual and the symbols she/he is able to project to others and the self.

A healthy lifestyle simply means doing things that make you happy and feel good. For one person, that may mean walking a mile five times a week, eating fast food once a week, and spending virtual or in-person time with loved ones every other day.

To improve health and quality of life one should focus on these six lifestyle elements: 

  • Regular physical activity 
  • Brain activities 
  • Social activities 
  • Regular doctor visits
  • Healthy diet
  • Avoiding risky behaviour

A healthy or unhealthy lifestyle will most likely be transmitted across generations. According to the study done by Case et al. (2002), when a 0-3-year-old child has a mother who practices a healthy lifestyle, this child will be 27% more likely to become healthy and adopt the same lifestyle. For instance, high income parents are more likely to eat more fruit and vegetables, have time to exercise, and provide the best living condition to their children. 

On the other hand, low-income parents are more likely to participate in unhealthy activities such as smoking to help them release poverty-related stress and depression. Parents are the first teacher for every child. Everything that parents do will be very likely transferred to their children through the learning process.

Adults may be drawn together by mutual interest that results in a lifestyle and as thus, lifestyle should be based on healthy living.

Addictive Behaviours

A new hobby can not only help you build up your character, but also provide yourself a great means of distraction during a drug or alcohol craving

Addiction is an inability to stop using a substance or engaging in a behavior even though it is causing psychological and physical harm.

Addiction is a chronic condition that can also result from taking medications. In fact, the misuse of opioids — particularly illicitly made fentanyl — caused nearly 50,000 deathsTrusted Source in the United States in 2019 alone.

Many people around the world are engaged in (video) gaming and gambling behaviours ,which are recognized as addictive behaviours, but usually do not result in any significant health consequences. However, a small proportion of people engaged in such behaviours may develop disorders due to addictive behaviours associated with functional impairment or distress.

The five common addiction exhibited by most people especially in young one are:

Sex Addiction: This means obsessive craving for sex, more than 30 million people suffer from a sexual addiction. Sexual dependency and compulsive sexual behavior disorder, is a condition that involves the sufferer becoming excessively preoccupied with thoughts or behaviors that give a desired sexual effect. No one factor causes sexual addiction, but there are thought to be biological, psychological, and social factors that contribute to the development of these disorders. Sex addicts suffer from a negative pattern of sexual behavior that leads to significant problems or distress.

Gambling: Gambling in many countries and jurisdictions is considered a form of entertainment, characterized by betting/wagering mechanics and monetization features. Like gaming, repetitive gambling behaviour can potentially lead to gambling disorder associated with distress or impairment.

Internet Addiction: Psychologists and psychiatrists don't generally consider Internet addiction a true addiction. But it can be a problem for some people when it involves loss of control, as well as negative consequences at work and at home. Research presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association seemed to support the idea of Internet addiction by showing changes in the brain identified by neuroimaging. The web may occupy up to 11 hours out of an "Internet addict's" day. Studies suggest that compulsive Internet use affects 6 to 14 percent of Internet users.

Video Game Addiction: Video gaming is highly prevalent in modern culture, particularly among young people, and a healthy hobby for most users. However, in recent years there has been increasing global recognition among public health professionals and academics that particular patterns of video gaming may lead to marked impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning and psychological distress for a significant minority of players. People who partake in gaming should be alert to the amount of time they spend on gaming activities, particularly when it is to the exclusion of other daily activities, as well as to any changes in their physical or psychological health and social functioning that could be attributed to their pattern of gaming behaviour.

Shopping Addiction: It's yet another behavior that, when it spins out of control, is considered to be an impulse control disorder. Compulsive shopping affects more women than men, and that it can result in big problems, both financially and personally. 

Medicinal advances and progress in diagnosis have helped the medical community develop various ways to manage and resolve addiction. Some methods include:

  • medication-based treatment
  • behavioral therapy and counseling
  • medical devices to treat withdrawal
  • treating related psychological factors, such as depression
  • ongoing care to reduce the risk of relapse

In addition, finding a new hobby can not only help you build up your character, but also provide yourself a great means of distraction during a drug or alcohol craving.

Disorders due to addictive behaviours are recognizable and clinically significant syndromes associated with distress or interference with personal functions that develop as a result of repetitive, rewarding behaviours other than the use of dependence-producing substances.

Gambling disorder has long been included in formal classification systems and epidemiological surveys, but Gaming disorder was introduced as a new condition in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) endorsed by the 72nd World Health Assembly (WHA72) in 2019.

Everyone should make healthy life choices in order to live longer and happy. Don't get too attached to some hobbies or stuff so as not to get addicted to it.

Please make this post go viral by sharing it on your social media handles, so as to help ones life especially those fighting one addiction or the other.