Allergy Info NZ

Auckland Allergy Clinic


It can be seen, therefore, that cosmetics are an important part of our daily life. It is estimated that the average adult uses at least 7 different skin care products each day, so it’s not surprising that reactions to these products are very common. Reactions can be seen after the first application or after years of use.


In New Zealand, like the rest of the developed world, there is a trend towards using "natural products", with the misconception that natural products are "healthier" and cause fewer reactions than artificial products. This myth is debunked when people are reminded that most allergens are "natural” proteins.

Cosmetics Legislations

Unlike drugs, cosmetics do not undergo governmental approval before marketing. The cosmetic industry is primarily self-regulated (by The Cosmetics, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association).

Cosmetics, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association (CTFA)

CTFA represents the industry’s interests at the local, state, national, and international levels, promoting voluntary industry self-regulation and reasonable governmental requirements that support the health and safety of consumers.

CTFA has approximately 600 member companies. Active members are manufacturers and distributors of finished products. Associate members are suppliers of ingredients, raw materials, packaging, and other services used in the production and marketing of finished products, as well as consumer and trade publications.

CTFA also supports the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR), a program it helped establish in 1976 which assesses the safety of ingredients used in cosmetics in an unbiased, independent forum with an expert panel comprised of world-renowned physicians and scientists.

Cosmetics Regulations in New Zealand

Cosmetics in New Zealand are only self-regulated by CTFA. The CTFA in NZ was formed in 1972 by a core group of cosmetics companies who were manufacturing their products in NZ at that time. In NZ there is a reasonable code of practice through the local CTFA. The problem arises where cosmetics are brought in from Asian countries where no similar requirements are applied. Some of these products can have undisclosed allergens, including peanuts.

What is even more worrying is the fact that there are at present no regulations in New Zealand that cover cosmetic ingredient labelling. In October 1991, the Cosmetic Ingredient Labelling Regulations were introduced in Australia. These regulations define the term “cosmetic product” and require that all ingredients be listed in descending order of concentration (although no naming convention is specified nor is there a minimum print size requirement apart from it being legible). This is a major step in helping consumers become aware of exactly what they are rubbing into their skin and putting in their hair. In New Zealand it is still possible to buy cosmetics with no proper labelling, with known allergens omitted from the label or with the term "hypoallergenic" used loosely on the label.

In USA a cosmetic can be removed from the market if the US Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) demonstrate that the cosmetic may be harmful to the consumer under customary conditions of use. The federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 with its colour additive amendment of 1960 and 1962 and the Fair Packaging & Labelling Act of 1966 are the two primary federal laws that regulate the cosmetic industry. The FDA and the Federal Trade Commission enforce these laws, and two industry-sponsored groups review the safety of cosmetic ingredients.

In the European Community (EC), cosmetic products are regulated by the council directive 76/768/EEC of 1976, which has been subsequently amended and adapted numerous times. The Commission of the European Communities to examine the scientific and technical issues concerning cosmetic regulations established a scientific committee on Cosmetology in 1977.

The new Dangerous Preparations Directive (DPD, 1999/45/EC) introduces a special labelling requirement for skin sensitizers in products that are regulated under this Directive. The packaging of products containing 0.1% of a sensitizer must bear the inscription “Contains ‘name of sensitizer’. May produce an allergic reaction.” The aim is to protect individuals already sensitized by providing information, which enables them to avoid products containing ingredients, which may elicit their allergy

In Japan cosmetics are regulated by the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law, which is implemented by the Ministry of Health & Welfare.

In New Zealand Product Safety Standards are regulations made under section 29 of the Fair Trading Act 1986. The purpose of these regulations is to prevent or reduce the risk of injury to any person. At the present time cosmetics are not included under the Product safety standard. From verbal communication with Medsafe & Consumer Affairs, there is no proposal for cosmetic labelling in New Zealand at this stage.

Misleading Terms

Manufacturers of cosmetics use various terms to sell their products to allergy-prone people. In NZ there are no standards that govern the use of these terms. Some of the terms misused include:

• Hypoallergenic usually means that the manufacturer believes that this product is less likely to cause an allergic reaction than others. There is no requirement to substantiate their claim.
• Fragrance free or unscented do not guarantee that the products do not contain chemicals. They simply imply that they have no perceptible odour.
• Natural implies that the ingredients are extracted directly from plants or animal products as opposed to being produced synthetically. There are an increasing number of ‘natural’ ingredients causing allergies.

What can legislation achieve?

In most western countries nickel is the most common contact allergen, and it is clearly related to body piercing. In 1991 Denmark implemented a statutory order calling for the reduction in exposure to nickel in nickel-plated items in close contact to the skin.

In a retrospective analysis, a comparison was made of the number of positive reactions to nickel seen in private practice of dermatology before and after this statutory order was implemented. The sensitivity fell from 20.81% pre-1991 to 16.7% in 1999.

A nationwide outbreak of alopecia in USA associated with the use of hair relaxing formulation (Arch Dermatol.200 Sep; 136(9): 1104-8)

Between 1994 and 1995 a nationwide outbreak of hair loss with scalp injuries involving tens of thousands of women (and some men) occurred following the marketing of a chemical hair-relaxing product. Most of those affected reported substantial hair loss, with a majority indicating growth of new hair that was abnormal in quantity & quality.

An epidemic of allergic contact dermatitis due to epilating (hair removal) products in France & Belgium (Contact Dermatitis 2002 Aug; 47(2): 67-70)

Over a period of 19 months, 33 cases of acute allergic contact dermatitis from Veet epilating waxes were observed in France & Belgium.

The lesions started with the legs and spread to other parts of the body, especially face, and were sometimes so severe that hospitalization was required.

With proper cosmetic legislation (government approval before marketing & proper labelling) epidemics like those mentioned above can be prevented or quickly curtailed.

Problems associated with cosmetics and skin care products:

• Contact Urticaria & rarely contact Anaphylaxis
• Irritant Contact dermatitis
• Allergic Contact dermatitis
• Photosensitivity

Contact Urticaria & Anaphylaxis (Contact Urticaria Syndrome)

Contact urticaria reactions appear within minutes to about 1 hour after exposure of the urticariant (allergen) to the skin. The patient may complain of a local burning sensation, tingling, or itching. Swelling and redness may be seen (wheal and flare).

In some cases, this exposure may include the application of cosmetic products, especially to the face (cosmetic intolerance syndrome).

Cosmetic Intolerance Syndrome

This is a particularly difficult group of patients who complain of severe facial burning & discomfort with or without any obvious facial inflammation (redness, swelling etc). These individuals are no longer able to tolerate the use of any cosmetics. The cause of this entity is multifactorial, and includes:

• Irritant & Allergic contact dermatitis
• Contact Urticaria
• Photoallergic contact dermatitis
• Atopic Dermatitis
• Seborrhoeic dermatitis
• Rosacea
• Significant psychological disorder

Contact urticaria is caused by a number of cosmetic ingredients including fragrances, preservatives, and particularly ammonium persulfate in hair bleaches.

Bare Organics - baby care

Just putting it out there, this is how I wish all ingredients lists looked! I can recognize all the ingredients and there are no chemical names which might make sense to dermatologists, but not to the average consumer. 

Mahu Skin-care sample

Break down of IPBC toxicity

Final Report On the Safety Assessment of Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate (IPBC)

1. Rebecca S. Lanigan

1. 1101 17th Street, NW, Suite 310, Washington, DC 20036, USA

Abstract

Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate (IPBC) functions as a preservative in a wide variety of cosmetic formulations. Although concentrations as high as 0.1% have been reported, most applications appear to require this preservative at less than 0.0125%. IPBC readily penetrates through the skin. The average acute oral LD₅₀ in rats is 1.47 g/kg. Rats fed IPBC for 4 weeks had increased liver weights and decreased plasma cholinesterase activity, and rats fed IPBC for 13 weeks had transient behavior alteration, increased liver weights, hepatocyte enlargement, stomach lesions, and decreased weight gain. Rats administered IPBC as dusts and liquid aerosols had labored breathing—lung edema, emphysema, and reddened lungs were observed after exposure. Dermal irritation, but no evidence of skin sensitization, was seen in animal studies. At concentrations of 0.5%, IPBC caused iritis and conjunctival irritation in rabbit eyes, but exposure to concentrations up to 0.015% produced only slight conjunctival redness. IPBC was not genotoxic, with or without metabolic activation. No evidence of carcinogenic potential was found in a 104-week chronic oral toxicity study using rats. Reductions in weight gain were observed, along with inflammation of the nonglandular stomach and lesions in the submaxillary salivary gland. In reproductive and developmental toxicity studies using rats and mice, IPBC had nosignificant effect on fertility, reproductive performance, or on the incidence of fetal malformations. IPBC was found to be mildly irritating, but not sensitizing in clinical testing. At concentrations up to 0.1%, IPBC was not comedogenic in clinical tests. Given the acute inhalation toxicity observed in animals, the potential for mild irritation, and the absence of any data on comedogenicity at concentrations higher than 0.1 % in clinical tests, the Expert Panel concluded that IPBC is safe as a cosmetic ingredient at concentrations ≤0.1 %, but that it should not be used in products intended to be aerosolized.

Skin-care Products- keeping to claims?

Skin care products under the spotlight

BY NICOLA BOYES - 14/08/2010 Waikato Times

The Hamilton maker of a range of mother and baby care products says she has done everything she could to withdraw products containing a banned ingredient.

Mahu Mother and Baby Skin Care products are marketed as natural, NZ-made and the "safest choice" for you and your baby, but Consumer NZ found Mahu products on sale, including a baby lotion, that list a preservative called iodopropynyl butylcarbamate (IPBC).

IPBC is not allowed in moisturisers or any other "leave on" preparations for children under three years of age or anything used on the lips or large part of the body. In its pure form, it was classified by the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) as having acute oral toxicity and inhalation toxicity. It was considered safe in some cosmetics such as shampoos and deodorants in low concentrations.

Mahu director Kathryn Fromont said Mahu had stopped using IPBC as soon as it was banned from use in skin creams, two years ago. She said Mahu sent a recall to all their stockists.

Consumer chief executive Sue Chetwin said the company should issue an immediate recall but Mrs Fromont said despite Consumer claiming the products had been found in Wellington it had not told her exactly where. "This is pretty devastating. They [Consumer NZ] are putting this information out there and it's not accurate."

Ms Chetwin said products sold as natural or organic needed to demonstrate they lived up to their claims.

Second Life “Avatar” Advertising Campaign?

SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 2010

Second Life “Avatar” Advertising Campaign?

It seems that not only has Linden Lab started doing some advertising for Second Life, but they’ve decided to take advantage of the hype over the highly popular movie “Avatar.”

The woman is not technically a Na’vi avatar. She isn’t wearing tribal clothes, and has no pointed ears or catlike features. But the connection to the movie is obvious.

Peter Linden has been asked about the ad, and had the following response:

"While we’re certainly fans of the Avatar film and of blue avatars (not to mention pink, green, yellow, and robot avatars), we do not want to cause any confusion between Second Life and the movie with this advertisement, and we plan to change it to avoid any misunderstanding."

The advertising campaign does seem to have made the desired results. After slowly declining for much of 2009, their “user concurrency” numbers suddenly rose. Tateru Nino of the “Dwell on it” blog had her own comment about Linden Lab’s ad campaign in comic form. The Lindens will probably want to take their time before removing the ad.

Linden Lab isn't alone in taking advantage of the "Avatar" bandwagon. Social network IMVU has also come out with their own banner, featuring a blue woman with the caption "Get Your AVATAR."

It is notable that a number of people have created various Na’vi avs up for sale in Second Life. While there are a few cheap and demo ones, most cost hundreds, even thousands of Lindens. Some Pandora roleplay areas have sprung up in some sims as well.

Bixyl Shuftan

Sources: New World Notes , Massively

2nd life site

http://secondlife.com/ - Current Snap shot of the main feature on their website to entice people into joining. 

Games + 2nd life in the same world

2nd Life - Business advertising

Timex info

TIMEX SINCLAIR 1000 REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY MAKES THIS COMPUTER POSSIBLE

The Timex Sinclair 1000 is the first personal computer featuring our new microchip design. The design utilizes four powerful microchips, including a unique Master Chip that replaces as many as 18 chips on other personal computers. The Timex Sinclair 1000, with the optional 16K RAM Pack accessory, is a compact computer with all the power and high-performance capacity you are likely to need for personal use.

Excerpts taken from “Timex Sinclair 1000” Box (back)

The new computer from Timex represents a major breakthrough, a real computer at an almost unreal price. What makes it possible are our advances in microchip technology and computer circuitry. And, as technology increases, price decreases. It happened to the calculator. It happened to the digital watch. Now Timex has made it happen to the computer.

The Timex Sinclair allows you to use your own TV as a display monitor, and your audio cassette recorder to store your programs. For $99.95 you get everything else that you need, including our step-by-step learning guide that’ll have you running programs within hours. And writing them within weeks.

Excerpts taken from a “Timex Sinclair 1000” Sales Ad. - spacious mind.

Image was featured in Popular Science Magazine MArch 1983 as found on google books.

Classic Computer ad's

101 Classic Computer Ad's - looking at how visual communication design was influencing computer use and how it connects with the key points I've been looking at.

2nd Life experiences of addiction

Second Life" internet game addiction

jcb
New Member

Joined: 29 Dec 2009
Posts: 9

 Tue Dec 29, 2009 12:43 am

Does anyone else out there have a husband who lives on "Second Life" (internet game)? Mine plays all day and sometimes all night and then all day again with no sleep. He can easily play for 36 hours at a time with breaks only for a brief meal (30 mins max) and a few trips to the bathroom. He only leaves the house when he has to (eg for a meeting or an occasional, reluctant short walk with me). When he has been away from his game too long he bcomes exhausted and grouchy and when he is back on he is happy again and sees no need to sleep or spend time with the family. Added to this is the complication that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease so in a sense the game is an escape from reality. He has changed from being an outgoing, social person to an introvert recluse who is totally absorbed by this fantasy world. Any ideas on survival and how to deal with this problem?


Hookedonkronik
Full Member

Joined: 02 Jun 2008
Posts: 186

 Tue Jan 26, 2010 7:25 pm

Be straight forward with him about it, no point in beating around the bush.

Tell him that you see this game is controlling his life. Internet addictions can do this. I was 'addicted' to World of Warcraft for three years, in which I basically gave up on my social life and spent most of my hours on that game. 

I basically had become burned-out from it (it had lacked offering new content) so it got really old for me, which I guess helped me in my quitting. One day I just stopped, so I don't think it will be hard for your husband, although he may perceive it as something he needs.

Tell him he has a family to care for, and you as well. He can't just ignore that for his own benefit of escaping from reality. It's sad to say, but if he can't wisen the eff up, then maybe you should consider if this guy even deserves you.

I wouldn't give up on him, just like how I wouldn't want my S.O to give up on me. Addictions can turn wonderful people into little monsters but it's only temporary. Deep down there is that great person still there, who surely knows that his family is more important than a video game.

My advice is be up front about it. If he refuses to recognize the problem than maybe suggest going for therapy together. If he makes no effort, after you have given your best, there is not much else you can do.

Eventually the game will diminish in his eyes, and then he will realize the mistake he has made...hopefully.

Good luck, I hope he learns that his actions are harmful.

Account of 2nd life experience

Second Life, Second Chance

Since my days as a member of the Palace and as a cyberpsychologist studying that community, more than a decade ago, I haven’t paid much attention to the newer avatar/graphical worlds that have come, and in many cases, gone.

Recently some colleagues and journalists have been encouraging me to take a look at Second Life. My reaction, even after I visited the SL web site, was similar to how I responded in the past: been there, done that. However, noticing all the media publicity SL is receiving, and hearing how a million people have joined it, I thought I’d give the idea of visiting it a second chance.
So I downloaded the program and dragged myself through the registration process. Fortunately the install and registration posed no technical problems for me and my Mac. Thank you Linden Labs. Optimistic, I even provided my credit card info so I could collect my free $250 Linden dollars - the equivalent, I discovered later, of about one US dollar. I promised myself I wouldn’t spend it all in one place.

Spotting Newbies by How They Walk

Before logging on, I mentally prepared myself for the possibility that I would, at first, feel like a completely awkward newbie in this unfamiliar virtual world. It was a good idea I did. It took me several minutes just to figure out how to move my avatar, and then I was literally walking into walls and trees. I spent most of the first day learning how to move about without looking like a complete idiot, how to visually survey and interact with the environment, and, most fun of all, how to fly like superman. The controls for navigating one’s avatar are much more sophisticated than they used to be at the Palace, This posed a rather interesting challenge. Even after several hours, when I thought I was doing reasonably well, a more experienced user who I met in the SL version of Amsterdam commented on me being a newbie. When I asked how she knew, she replied, “By how you walk.”
At that point I took my own advice that I’ve written about in various articles: Don’t be afraid to be a newbie. Embrace it graciously and with humor. Ask for help. And don’t be surprised or dismayed if people ignore you or make fun of you because you’re a newbie, which happened often to me in SL.

Lookin’ Good, or Not: The Avatar

After getting a grip on how to move about, I tackled the task of customizing my avatar. Again, the features are more sophisticated than in the days of Palace, especially in designing the body type, hairstyle, clothing, and facial features of a human-like body. After my initial experimentations, I still looked like such a newbie nerd that my wife insisted I continue to work on modifying my clothing.
Eventually, as you can see in that picture, I created an avatar that looks something like me, although a bit more trim and wearing a hat that I never wear. It wasn’t until later on that I figured out how to take the hat off. Although in the past I’ve assumed imaginary identities in cyberspace, I now usually choose to be myself, using my real name - and, in SL, an avatar that is based on reality rather than fantasy. Not that highly imaginary avatars are a bad thing. It’s just that as a cyberpsychologist exploring this world, I prefer to be straightforward about who I am. Even my username reflects my real name, except that in the registration process I was required to choose a last name from a list, as if being forced to join a clan. 

Quickly it became clear that people take their avatars very seriously. Users spend a great deal of time, effort, and money designing them. As was true of Palace, how you look is important not only in your ability to attract people, but in demonstrating your technical skill. Unlike Palace, almost all the avatars are human forms, although how people use, think, and feel about their avatars is very similar to what I discovered at Palace.

What Can I Do Here?

Once you create your avatar and get the hang of moving about, you ask yourself “Now what do I do?” Second Life contains a lot of features, much more so than in Palace, so I could easily have spent a great deal of time reading about and experimenting with them. But that got boring after a while.  I wanted to go places. But where? 

That wasn’t as simple as I thought it might be. I found the maps confusing and unhelpful. The search engine offers a list of popular spots, but almost all of them were rated “mature” and involved sexual content of one type or another. Or they were places to party. People were dancing at Sanctuary Rock, which was fascinating to watch, and I found a variety of shops where people can buy avatar supplies, including quite a few shops devoted to sexual items, services, and avatar bodies. Sex always sells, in real or virtual life. 

I tried to find people like me – professors, psychologists, mental health professionals. Some were listed in the directory, but I couldn’t find them. When I teleported to their location, a few other people were there, looking around, appearing disoriented like me, asking questions like, “What can I do here?”  I went to Reuters, hoping I might meet some journalists, but that building too was mostly deserted. In Amsterdam some people were roaming the streets, chatting with a friend, or just standing there, surveying the streets while trying to figure out what to do next, just like me. It’s possible the users may not even have been “in” those motionless avatars, but rather letting their virtual bodies stand idly while they were doing something else on their computer. You never can tell whether a still avatar is sentient or not. 

At one point I even tried flying on and on in one direction, through misty clouds and blue skies, feeling a tiny bit anxious about getting lost, but expecting I might run into something interesting… I didn’t. Just more sky and mist. After I while, I wasn’t even sure I was moving anymore. Dropping to the ground, I tried to place a “landmark,” not really knowing what that is, but figuring I might as well leave a marker indicating JohnSuler Yue had been here, as if I were exploring the moon…. It didn’t’ work… This was not a good way to explore SL. 

In the half a dozen or so areas I visited, I chatted with people, those who were nice enough to talk for a bit with an obvious newbie. There was a vendor and jewelry designer who longed to buy his own shop. A smartly attired female who empathized with my newbie status and said that “friends” were the reason why she liked SL. A young, busty, and scantily dressed avatar who emphasized that “Everybody in SL wants more Lindens.”  There were quite a few people speaking languages other than English. In French I told one person that I only speak French a little. 

I also met people who design, construct, and manage their own environment.  I mentioned that I am a cyberpsychologist who studies virtual worlds. At the Palace, the technical and company people who ran things rarely seemed interested in my work. These SL folks also seemed only mildly interested, but they are busy people.  As one of them quickly excused himself from our conversation because he had “back code” to write, he told me that I should get permission from Linden Labs if I intended to do any professional research here. “There’s information about it in the support section of the web site,” he added before he walked into a wall, which made me smile, and then disappeared down a staircase. 

As one of the old-timer cyberpsychologists who often has discussed and debated issues about online social science research, I was curious about what Linden Labs would have to say about people studying their world. As my avatar stood still, I called up my browser window and went to their website. The only information I found was a statement about the importance of adhering to ethical standards of online research, and a link to a Linden Lab document about doing research. The document wasn’t there, but I did eventually find a link they offered to the ethical standards of an outside professional organization.

What’s New Here?

Second Life is a fascinating, cutting edge virtual world with lots of features, places, activities, people, and subcultures to explore. Many people love it.  As one emo-looking avatar said to me, “It’s addicting.” 

During my explorations, I kept that comment in mind, while thinking back to how people at the Palace often said the same thing, which led to my very first cyberpsychology article that outlined the various reasons why people get addicted to these avatar worlds. In fact, while wandering around Second Life, I often had that feeling of déjà vu. Memories of people, events, and experiences from my days of the Palace starting coming back to me. As sophisticated and complex as Second Life is, as far forward as Linden Labs has pushed the envelop of visual virtual environments, the basic and essential elements of avatar worlds have not changed all that much. 

With one very important exception. The economy and it’s linkage to real world money. That’s a big difference with very significant ramifications. The power of money, buying, and selling is another highly motivating factor that I could add to my list of reasons why people get “addicted” to online worlds. But as for me, economic issues are the reality of real world living that I would prefer to escape when joining a virtual community. 

And so, as a cyberpsychologist, will I seriously study Second Life? Perhaps, although that would mean spending a lot of time exploring the various features and immersing myself deeper into the culture and subcultures. So many interesting things to do in cyberspace, so little time. 

Setting aside my interests as a researcher, will I continue as a member of Second Life and give it a second chance just for the fun of it? Maybe. Despite all the fascinating features of this world, I have to agree with that one avatar about it being friends that really make the difference, and it takes time and effort to make new friends in a virtual community. Perhaps I might invite one of my own friends or colleagues to join me in SL. Or maybe I’ll happen to be logged on at the same time and so will have a chance to meet that dream expert who responded to the IM message I left him.
I also still have those free Linden dollars to spend.

Psychology behind addiction

Psychology behind addiction - by Stableboy on May 9th, 2007

While I think the notion of genetic predisposition and physiological bias has merit, I would say that looking at JUST the psychological aspects reveals a pretty consistent "vicious circle" pattern -- addiction involves a conditioned / habitual cycle of anxiety, craving, choice, rationalization, action, gratification, and back to anxiety again.

Having suffered from and escaped a number of different kinds of addiction myself, I've become very sensitive to this cycle and had lots of time to study it from the inside. Addiction is the one thing I'm genuinely scared of (I'm not counting having my body invaded by an Alien Presence... although that would be pretty creepy too! :-)

The place where the cycle can be most easily broken in my experience is at the choice stage: in particular, the choice that is being made by the addict is to continue to entertain thoughts about acting on the craving. Nobody can stop random thoughts from arising in their minds -- the mind is a regular old thought-factory and is totally beyond any reasonable mechanism of direct control in that regard. But once the thoughts arise, it is possible to work at being aware of them, and to choose not to entertain and encourage them... you don't have to give in to the endless getting-lost-in-thought about the object of your craving.

If the addict continues to exercise discipline with regard to not entertaining these thoughts, that changes the dynamic of the vicious circle: it breaks the pattern of reinforcement at the place where it's most easily broken. Any conditioning which isn't reinforced begins to fade in strength and dominance, and it is possible to be free.

But you gotta get that choice part right.

Read more: What's the psychology behind addiction? | Answerbag http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/289393#ixzz1GEvik0v7


Comments:

by Spengo on August 12th, 2008

Okay, I am going to college to be a therapist and I work in a drug rehab center. I will give both sides of this coin but they work together to create one cohesive "coin"

Psychological standpoint

As we grow, we take queues from family and friends, and from the families of friends vicariously through our friends. If our friends smoke, and our families smoke and the friends of our families smoke, and the families of our friends smoke, it is hard to say "no" when one is offered because we haven't been given a reason to. No one has enforced the "smoking is bad m'kay" attitude. I say smoking because in my mind it's the real gateway drug, even before pot. If someone is a smoker at age 15, and they turn 18 and someone says, have a drink with us, it's not a stretch to imagine they will say "okay" instead of "nah, drinking is bad for me, I'm gonna just sit here and smoke" The same is true of pot, but then you have to weigh the legal and moral side, if someone says they'll smoke pot, they aren't afraid to break the law to feel good and that's where the gateway to harder drugs comes in. From smoking, they have already started the drug route, then pot pushes it to the illegal side.

Medical standpoint

Within the brain there are many receptors that are triggered by chemical interaction ranging from caffiene to heroine. The more you use these drugs/give yourself these chemicals, the more these receptors react. If they react too much and too frequently, especially with drugs that make you feel good, triggering dopamine in the brain, the more likely you are to crave an increase in dopamine. Not necessarily through drugs, but through any kind of stimulus. Sex/aggression/a funny movie/anything that makes you feel good. If you are sitting in your house and you are looking for something to make you feel good and you have a bag of pot and the movie theater is all the way across town, it's likely you will just get high. Which perpetuates the need to trigger dopamine in the brain. Rinse lather repeat. Eventually, you get high so much that the receptors are on full alert 100% of the time and you feel that you MUST get high to fix it. If you don't, the dopamine receptors will go crazy and you will have a sudden dip in dopamine. This pushes you to the other side of the chart, depression, anger, anxiety, frustration. So it ends up at a point (true addiction, not the people that just say they need a hit) where not being high hurts. At that point, you are doing drugs to stop feeling bad as opposed to doing it recreationally to feel good.

Not to sound like an essay, but as you can see, there are a lot of triggers both psycologically and medically from family to predisposition all the way to altering your brainwave patterns that will make someone need to get high and then conversely need to come see me in my rehab center so I can get you into NA and AA meetings.

by three cousins from the 313 on August 28th, 2010

The Pyschology of any addiction is almost all the same once you break by the complex issues of each individual. You want to feel good while forgetting all the pain in the world. I use to have a video game addiction (ridicule all you want but it was very real) and after the death of friends.I used it as my drug to feel good while forgetting pain. Like any addiction no one wants to be addicted. Most things we become addicted to start off as hobbies or spawn off of our hobbies because they can be more quicker to give us pleasures. Once a hobby to past time becomes a necessity to live life you need to take action before the necessity to live becomes a necessity to not kill yourself. Most hardcore drug users start off small with cigarettes and alcohol then as that "high" no longer helps them cope with life they graduate to next drug then the next drug then the next drug and then 10 years later your like what the hell happened. It's easy to bring selfcontrol into the equation but once you are doing activites to enjoy life or not kill yourself what control do you have? None really; self control comes with opitions and as long as a human beings believes his only options are to live in pain/die vs being addicted to a destructive force to be happy he/she will choose the destructive force 100% of the time with no hesitation.

How people are making real $ in 2nd Life

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Top Second Life Entrepeneur Cashing Out US$1.7 Million Yearly; Furnishings, Events Management Among Top Earners

During a March 9 Silicon Valley forum held at Microsoft's Mountain View campus,recently-departed Linden Lab VP Robin Harper offered some extraordinary financial numbers from Second Life's internal economy: based on a quarterly annualization the company conducted, they discovered that several Resident business owners were cashing out Linden Dollars in excess of a million US dollars a year, with the top earner grossing an estimated $1.7 million.  An initial blog report suggested this top ranking was based on the sale of virtual shoes, which seemed fairly incredible, so I double-checked that point with Robin.  The $1.7 million figure is accurate, she told me by e-mail and in a correction on her blog today, but it's not based on shoes:

"[S]everal people/accounts are cashing out US$ amounts in excess of $1M per year (with the highest amount estimated at $1.7M), based on annualizing one quarter of data. Most of the top 10 are in the real estate business, but the group also includes a company that does events and one that designs virtual goods including shoes." 

Besides the pure wallop of those weighty numbers, two things stand out to me:

Though it's well known that many of SL's land barons are enormously successful, many people have assumed their equity was mainly in the value of the land (i.e. servers) they owned.  (This was the case of Anshe Chung, who claimed in 2006 to be SL's first millionaire, but mostly through her land holdings, which she would have to sell, to truly have a million in US dollars.) Now thanks to Robin, we discover that several land barons are indeed able to cash out that amount, or more.   Equally surprising is the fact that the top ten is not just in real estate, but include virtual fashion/furnishings, and events management.  I'd not have guessed either could reach revenue levels of such heights.  Now follows the immediate speculation: who's doing so well, and how did they get that way?

Hat tip: JeanRicard Broek

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 in Economics of SL | Permalink

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