Body Mod Addictions (2024)

FAQs

Why is body modification addictive? ›

Some people also experience an endorphin rush during the body modification process, creating a strong want for further piercings or tattoos. Further, body modification can align with co-occurring disorders like body dysmorphic disorder, indicating other mental health issues.

The brain can recover – but it takes time!

However, after 14 months of abstinence, their brain is returning to a more healthy baseline, and the dopamine transporter levels (DAT) in the reward center of the brain are able to return to a nearly normal level of functioning.

You may be experiencing a concern like pain from an injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression. Instead of addressing the root cause, substance misuse temporarily numbs pain or psychological health concerns. You might hear this called "self-medicating," but it is a dangerous coping mechanism.

One of the widely recognized frameworks to understand addiction is the 4Cs – Craving, Compulsion, Control, and Consequences. In this article, we delve into these components, shedding light on how they define addiction and what can be done to address them.

Within the clinical psychology literature, penal or forensic studies seem to highlight body modifications as potential indicators of deviance or mental disorder, whereas studies relating to outpatient disorders (e.g., Bui et al., 2013; Caplan et al., 1996; Claes et al., 2005) suggest that body modifications may be ...

Additionally, some activities, such as female genital mutilation and sadomasochism that results in bodily harm, are recognized as neither socially useful nor morally acceptable, and therefore cannot be legalized by consent, even if the person is an adult.

Age of first use

Starting alcohol, nicotine or other substance use at an early age is one of the strongest and most consistent predictors of an increased risk of addiction.

Maladaptive coping mechanisms, or maladaptive coping strategies, are the methods a person uses to attempt to reduce their stress or anxiety, but in an ineffective, unhealthy way.

depressants – slow down the function of the central nervous system. hallucinogens – affect your senses and change the way you see, hear, taste, smell or feel things. stimulants – speed up the function of the central nervous system.

Thessalonians5:6-8. “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”

How does addiction hijack the brain? ›

Drugs or alcohol can hijack the pleasure/reward circuits in your brain and hook you into wanting more and more. Addiction can also send your emotional danger-sensing circuits into overdrive, making you feel anxious and stressed when you're not using the drugs or alcohol.

To recap, addiction involves a three-stage cycle—binge/intoxication, withdrawal/negative affect, and preoccupation/anticipation—that worsens over time and involves dramatic changes in the brain reward, stress, and executive function systems.

People may seek to control, “correct” or “perfect” some aspect of their appearance, or to use their bodies as a canvas for creative self-expression. While some seek to improve their body-image, this is not necessarily a motivating factor for everyone who engages in body modification.

That's because addiction develops when the pleasure circuits in the brain get overwhelmed, in a way that can become chronic and sometimes even permanent. This is what's at play when you hear about reward “systems” or “pathways” and the role of dopamine when it comes to addiction.

In addition, tattoos and piercings were not significantly associated with either lower or higher selfesteem. However, participants with tattoos and piercings differed from participants without tattoos and piercings in that they had a greater propensity for sensation seeking.