All Addictions are Addictions of Present Hedonism

The Discovering Alcoholic has a fascinating post I wanted to share with you called Why Kids Don’t Wear Watches and Drunks Never Learn. It's based on this video about how your own personal perspective of time affects your work, health and well-being, including addictive behaviors.



TDA says:

Pay close attention to the last half where he talks about kids living in a world they create seperated from reality, where knowledge of consequences doesn’t necessarily change behavior, and why they don’t wear watches. I think another example he could have used is why drunks never learn. It’s this kind of stuff that reinforces my belief in the mental disease (faulty brain programming/training) aspect of addiction.

I think this also illustrates why it's such a challenge to reach people at risk of addiction with prevention messages. If all addictions are addictions of present hedonism, warning against the future consequences will be little deterrent. Perhaps we in the prevention field need to better understand the addict's perspective of time and tailor our messages accordingly. What do you think?