What is the difference between internet addiction and nicotine addiction?

Answer 1

internet addiction is associated with emotional issues that cause us to want to escape our everyday lives. It is generally different from -- for example -- porn addiction, which actually involves changes in brain chemistry caused by sexual excitation, or gaming and gambling, which stimulate the reward centers of the brain by the action of chemicals generated in the excitement or anticipation of a win. Nicotine addiction is caused by the brain's adjustment to the presence of the drug. Actual physical changes take place in the brain that cause it to require the drug's presence in order to be able to function properly. The attrraction of smoking is due, again, to the stimulation of the brain's pleasure circuitry. Eventually, we become used to the higher levels of chemicals, and when they are reduced we feel the discomfort that we call withdrawal.

The pleasure center in the brain is that portion that rewards us for survival actions such as eating, winning battles, sexual activity and so forth. Addictive chemicals mimic the chemicals involved in the reward cycle, and artificially stimulate the pleasure center of the brain. Activities such as gambling and gaming also stimulate the pleasure center by mimicking the activities it evolved to encourage.