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indigo_nite
May 1, 2003, 3:39 PM
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did anyone read this?
did you test as a climbing addict?
do you think there can be such thing as a positive addiction?
I've been thinking about this story since reading it yesterday. it's an interesting story and a very different type of cover story than I've seen on a climbing mag. wondering about other people's reactions...
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phaedrus
May 1, 2003, 4:12 PM
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Yup... I read it. It was a pretty good article. Shared with the school nurse since she and I had just been discussing the idea of climbing as an addiction a few days before. I was hoping that R&I would have posted it on their site by now; I was going to put up a link to it here.
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rockhippie
May 6, 2003, 4:14 AM
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I personally think that addiction is not the right word, more of a choice or even a priority, but you wouldn't kill someone for $10.00 to get a new Quick draw or mug an old lady for a chaulk fix... I hope not anyway!
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iamthewallress
May 6, 2003, 4:23 AM
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In reply to: I personally think that addiction is not the right word, more of a choice or even a priority, but you wouldn't kill someone for $10.00 to get a new Quick draw or mug an old lady for a chaulk fix... I hope not anyway!
I think the person that risks getting killed for the fix is most often the person who's looking to fix.
Yes, I totally think that climbing can be addictive and persued to disfuction. I have no more data than that article. (It would have been cool if the author had really researched the subject instead of scratching the surface of research and then sharing his personal feelings.). It seems to me that at least 2/3 of the serious climbers that I know either have current substance abuse issues or are 'recovering.' I don't think climbing 'addiction' is necessarily bad though.
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climbsomething
May 6, 2003, 4:41 AM
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I thought the story itself was kinda weak... like wallress said, it was pretty shallow. But I do believe that you can form a "dependency" on climbing. If you develop an obsessive (and compulsive) NEED for, say, the adrenaline that comes from the fear or exercise, and will go to whatever ends to achieve it, even if that means dicey free-soloing past your limits, out in the boonies, then yeah, climbing "addiction" can be pretty serious.
I did not score as an "addict," but I take this to be a good thing ;)
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legless
May 6, 2003, 5:58 AM
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havent read the article (the magazine aint in thailand...), but it seems fairly trivial to make the argument that someone seriously involved in a"non-essential" activity that involves excitement, adrenaline and opens one to personal risk is an addict of said activity.
the same thing is said about bungee, sky diving...hell, you can stretch the analogy further...some people go into withdrawl if they dont (for instance) climb for a few days...or they flout responsibility and live like camp 4 bums...thats all fine...but in my opinion its an analogy with limits...depending on how narrowly you construe the clinical definition of addicition.
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tori
May 6, 2003, 6:59 AM
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the high i get after first leading a climb that is hard for me is very sweet and lasts over a day. then i start thinking about the next route i want to try, and if rain or other things get in the way i get pissed. no other sport has had such a clear cycle of reward and pursuit for me. i like it, but i could see how it could get out of control. it feels much more like an addiction than kayaking or mountain biking, probably because of the adrenaline response to the very obvious danger. ohh, the article was weak.
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robmcc
May 6, 2003, 1:58 PM
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Got the magazine, read the article. I don't think I tested as an addict and don't buy for a minute that climbing is an addiction. It is simply an activity that some people find so enjoyable they'd rather be doing it than most other things. I'd like to find someone who can say they really want to quit climbing, but just can't do it. I quit for ~9 years. Calling it an addiction is just sensationalism.
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indigo_nite
May 7, 2003, 9:17 PM
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In reply to: don't buy for a minute that climbing is an addiction. It is simply an activity that some people find so enjoyable they'd rather be doing it than most other things. Calling it an addiction is just sensationalism.
in response to your comments and others...
it reminded me of stories about chocolate and how it can stimulate your brain like drugs. I could imagine a similar study for climbers (though funding could be pretty scarce I guess).
the reason why I found the story interesting was b/c it was maybe one of the first climbing cover stories (that I've seen; not that I read that many) that was not about a person and about a particular feat but about a topic that could affect alot of people climbing at a range of levels. that's what was impressive.
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tucsonalex
May 8, 2003, 12:22 AM
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No I didn't test as an addict, I think I had five yes answers to the questions. I thought the article was mildly entertaining but I thought it was a little dissappointing. I think some more research would have made it more worthwile.
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erockguide
May 8, 2003, 1:36 AM
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I read the article, after my wife did, who thinks I'm addicted. I scored 6 on the test. I was actually a little pissed by the article because it gave my wife more ammo to use against me. When she gets really mad she will say something like: Would you be more upset if I died, or if you fell and broke your neck and couldn't climb for the rest of your life? What kinda question is that? That's like choosing between two children or something.
I'd say I'm an addict. If I can't climb two to three times per week for any reason, I go into a sort of depression. When it last longer than that I get mad, non-stop. I almost quit my job because I got so mad a customer, but really it's because I hadn't climbed for two weeks.
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krestkid
May 8, 2003, 1:46 AM
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I want to read the article but I don't have the mag and it's not online...anyone able to help me out?
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ikefromla
May 8, 2003, 2:10 AM
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according to the only two psychologists i know, an addiction is something that you not only love and would rather be doing than just about anything else, but it aslo is hurtfull to yourself and/or others. climbing, as such, is not an addiction, unless you'd rather continue to climb than help out a fellow climber who has taken a groundfall or something.
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rockzen
May 8, 2003, 3:05 AM
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which R&I? No. 125?
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