Why do people continue with their bad habits knowing that they are harmful?

Question

Please donot answer with the word 'addiction' or 'getting addicted'

Answer 1

ITS A PASSION, KNOWING THIS IS GONNA HARM THEN ONLY PEOPLE R UNABLE TO QUIT, BECAUSE KEEP GOING IS EASIER THEN QUITTING.
GS

Answer 2

It's been my experience as a counselor that all people have a "payoff" of some kind for a bad habit. People smoke to calm nerves and for whatever other physical feelings they get, for example. There is always some kind of benefit...though it may not be outwardly apparent at first - and it may not be something that would seem at all like a benefit to anyone else. Why would drug addicts give away their babies for the drugs? The "benefit" of the physical release that the drug causes is greater than anything else to them at some points. So, to give up a habit you have to first WANT to - which usually means you have to have the benefits of keeping the habit be less than the benefits of giving it up - and then you have to make a conscious, concerted effort to break the habit. Anyone who's tried to break a habit knows how hard that is. We also are a society of "instant gratification" types and we don't often think about the consequences of our behavior in the future...hope this helps.

Answer 3

Because there's a physical, mental, emotional etc. payoff to continuing those habits, and the person is not going to stop until they realize what the habit does for them and find something better to get the same 'payoff' with.

Basically, it's doing something for them. It definitely has a purpose, even if the consequences of that behavior are horrible.
Try people who cut themselves...which is my life. Horrid habit, horrid consequences. Do I care when I'm doing it? No, because I get a serious payoff.

That's obviously not something most people could relate to, but I think it's the same basic concept...from the most extreme cases to the most typical ones. They're bad coping mechanisms.

Answer 4

What do you mean by a bad habit? I bite my finger nails. Its a bad habit, occasionally uncomfortable, but largely harmless. It is probably on the low end of the anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder spectrum.

However, I suspect you mean things like over-eating, cigarette smoking, illegal drug use etc. As you exclude "addiction" from a desired answer that would force responders to describe addiction without using the word. A simple answer is drive for short-term pleasure or discomfort relief, out weighs the long-term intellectual understanding of the negative aspects of the behavior.

For example: Every cigarette smoker understands that cigarette smoking is harmful. However, the drive to smoke base on a complex behavior pattern of perceived pleasure (nicotine is a drug) and relief of discomfort associated with withdrawal is extremely powerful physically and emotionally. Therefore the short term pain of quiting smoking is difficult to overcome even though every smoker understands they are harming their health and shortening their life.

Answer 5

Because it's a habit. Something you do without really thinking about it. And they really are hard to break, addiction or not.

Think about this; we ALL have bad habits. It could be anything from biting your nails, to leaving your clothes on the floor, to shooting up heroin. How easy is it to train yourself to pick up your clothes off the floor, or to make your bed every day. Not too easy to change, is it? It's even worse if it's a food or a drug that is your habit.

People with bad health habits need your support and help. Not criticism and judgement.

Answer 6

Sometimes it can be lack of self discipline - for instance habits of not exercising when we know we should, or eating junk food when we know we should not. Am I addicted to junk food? Maybe, but if so I rarely eat the same exact kind of junk food though I usually find myself eating foods high in sugar because they comfort me. I often ask myself why I do not exercise more and I think it is probably because I have associated exercise with negative things like muscle pain and being out of breath, or simply feeling inadequate compared to others, in the past. So it could also be a matter of positive and negative reinforcement.

Answer 7

The answer is very simple it is human nature to go against the laws. I suppose a law will be always against a bad habit and so we do not give up bad habits easily

Answer 8

Simple, because they view giving up bad habits as worse than the negative effects of those bad habits.

Answer 9

which people conduct any one with his bad habit that is not his problem at his own pace. that is usually like this (1) he wants to be a leader in his own mental area (2) he don't want to believe any religious matter (3) he don't want to learn the etiquette from any body. after all this type of man are orthodox.

Answer 10

A lot of times, they are in denial about their problem, and don't see themselves as having a problem, and so there fore no reason to quit what they are doing. Myself, I'm a recovering alcoholic, and I know how hard it was for me to come out of denial. I thought I was having fun! I thought I didn't need to stop, because if I did, I would no longer have fun, because I couldn't be who and what I wanted to be! I didn't see myself as an alcoholic because I wasn't a slobbering bum! What made me go to AA? I wanted to have a better relationship with my HP, and I knew I needed to be doing "his will" instead of my own. His will was not for me to be a drunk! He knows how harmful it was on me. (I have one kidney)And look where "doing my will" got me! So for me it was being in denial that kept me doing "my thing" that was harmful for me.

Answer 11

Habits are difficult to change weather the be harmful or not. We're creatures of habit.