tolerance and addiction

When you use a drug you may find that over time you need to increase the dose to get the same effect. The phenomenon is called tolerance. It happens because your body metabolizes the drug faster or builds more receptors for it or both. You adjust to the ever present chemical. The presence can lead to compensatory changes everywhere so that you both need the drug to stay healthy and show physical symptoms when your blood levels drop. This is called (physical) dependence. Concurrently, you may also experience intense craving and loss of control and be in a state called addiction. Most everyone agrees that this is not desirable.

When you get a new gadget like a car, a cell phone or a blackberry, your use will increase over time to the point where you can no longer live without it. Much like your body making lots of minor adaptations to an ever present chemical, you are adjusting your lifestyle in subtle ways to an ever present gadget. Instead of making firm appointments for example, and waiting five minutes until the other party arrives, you are likely to call many times beforehand to double-check and "stay up to date."  You are equally likely to reach for that phone as soon as you reach your destination and call the others "to see what is keeping them." 

You may also experience a craving to reach for that phone and play with it to "check your messages," or take your car and cruise around. You probably feel like you have enhanced flexibility and are empowered but the reality is that you lost control.

Adaptation is a universal biological law and it has clear survival benefits. But like anything else there are drawbacks and tolerance, dependency, and even addiction are some of them. Once these set in, you are likely to rationalize your behavior in any way possible so as to avoid confronting the truth. You are better off now, you are more popular and more desirable, your life is easier, you are in control.

If a drunk or a junkie on the street told you this you would laugh. But hold on, the phone is ringing. Time to hop in your oversized car and rescue the world!