Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
It’s another one of those questions that keeps my mind ticking. During my time working in schools and as a youth worker, (and just in every day situations) I’ve been noticing patterns of people that are addicted to drinking any form of coca-cola. I’ve noticed that a lot of autistic/adhd people have said that they are addicted to fizzy drinks, being coca-cola in particular. I know I’m a huge coca-cola fan (and I know it’s a really bad habit and all the negatives that comes with it) but I cannot stop drinking it, it’s an addiction.
My first question is, does anyone else know of someone else, or have themselves, a coca-cola addiction, and if this is something that people on the spectrum tend to get easily addicted to?
Secondly, I always wonder why coca-cola/any fizzy drink addiction, isn’t treated like an addiction or taken seriously? People say stop drinking it but I find it really difficult to stop. What’s people’s thoughts and do you think it should be taken seriously by health professionals and others?
side note, I’m wondering if it’s like and OCD obsessive disorder or something, the more I think about it. But I just wanted to know what others thought.
For me, Coca-Cola is able to offer a regular, mood-pleasing flavour. This makes it a convenient treat in life.
Treevey134777 said:My first question is, does anyone else know of someone else, or have themselves, a coca-cola addiction, and if this is something that people on the spectrum tend to get easily addicted to?
On the one hand I can be sure that I can enjoy a good flavour just by unscrewing the cap, without having to worry about the temperature and quality as I do with tea or milk. On the other hand, the carbon dioxide and refreshing taste would be a pleasant sensory stimulus.Seriously, I think I drank more Coca-Cola than I expected to.I suspect that Coca-Cola's advertising also intends to make people think that the drink will bring enjoyment wherever they drink it, so it's well worth buying. You know, there were news reports of young people willing to trade their milk and vegetables for Coca-Cola when the city was on lockdown.
Treevey134777 said:Secondly, I always wonder why coca-cola/any fizzy drink addiction, isn’t treated like an addiction or taken seriously? People say stop drinking it but I find it really difficult to stop. What’s people’s thoughts and do you think it should be taken seriously by health professionals and others?
A current popular view on addiction is that when we are unable to control ourselves from repeated behaviour/substance use that we know will have a negative effect, we can consider saying that it is an addiction to something. In this way, the range of addiction targets can be very broad. However, mental health staff usually rate how harmful addictive behaviour is to a person based on daily functioning and thinking functions, which is one of the reasons why alcohol, drugs and gambling enter the medical assessment system.Coca-Cola does have an effect, but in most cases it has a relatively small effect on people and takes some time to become visible enough to be observed. These are some of the sources I have kept which provide some explanation of addiction, professionally reviewed scientific content may be useful in understanding the views of health professionals and medical regulations.
www.youtube.com/watch
www.psychiatry.org/.../what-is-a-substance-use-disorder