Is pool an addiction?

8

8onthebreak

THE WORLD IS YOURS
Silver Member
I play pool once a week. I have a dedicated night I play, but sometimes things come up, and I can't play that night, so I skip pool that week, and wait til my day comes around the following week. My day is Thursday. My dad was in town, then Halloween...it will have been three weeks since I played when Thursday rolls around. I'm going thru some SERIOUS pool withdrawals...I can't believe that pool is this addictive...

I can really tell the difference between going 1, 2...and 3 weeks without playing...it's like it just builds up...I'm going insane!!!

Anyone else experience this?
 
I think anyone who loves the game is kind of addicted. I tend to get anxious feelings when I have free time and do not get to play. It normally gets progressively worse the longer I go without being able to at least be around it. Oh and don't let me miss a local tournament, TV time with the wife just isn't as good.
 
I had surgery on my shoulder in September. I couldn't play for about 6 weeks because I wasn't allowed to raise my arm beyond 90 degrees (bridge arm). After the first two weeks, once the pain of moving wasn't excruciating, I was jonesing for some pool. I have a diamond in the basement and I'm used to playing every day.

I resorted to playing one handed off the rail while my other arm was in an immobilizer sling for more than a month. That is how addicted I am to pool.
 
For sure

In 2007 I had terrible back pain , there was no way I could play. I went for the pain block shots and they worked. When I went downstairs for the first time in 2 plus months it was so much fun to play without any pain, that yes I got addicted.I play every day. You never know when something might happen that prevents you from playing .Since that back episode I appreciate and love playing and do not feel right if I miss a day.
 
It's the same with golf as with pool. Both games can occasionally involve some element of luck but the outcome of the match is mostly decided by the physicals skills of the player. Essentially, you're not playing your opponent but rather the table or golf course as the case may apply. So basically you're really only playing against yourself......you decide the outcome.....your opponent has less to say about the outcome like in other sports........it's more of what you do rather than what he/she does if you catch my point.

The competitive side of your personality becomes stimulated and begins/develops and more easily comes out, especially as your skills and proficiency gets better and better. You become more confident and analytical in your approach and the exhilaration of a tough win becomes intoxicating while the deflation from a loss seems intolerable so you become more determined than before. You hate the feeling of losing and really miss the exuberance of winning so you pine for more pool play. I mean skills are involved and we know that in any physical endeavor, skills not used are skills soon forgotten. This means performance & overall play diminishes hand in hand with the amount of time you're away from the table and since you already know that, it only amplifies your desire to reacquire the thrill and enjoyment of competitive play in pool again.

If that's an addiction, then anyone that owns their own cue has had a dose of it and some of us have a very bad habit that costs us many thousands of dollars. I don't have an addiction as much as a remarkable, incredible passion for the game itself and pool cues. Now if that doesn't sound like a drunk swearing "I don't have a _ucking problem with drinking.....everyone else around me might but I'm fine with it."..,,,,,than what's a better example of denial? Okay.....okay....... but I haven't the point where an "Intercession" is needed or a therapist........I'm in control of my addiction.....honestly..........I had rotator cuff surgery in early October and pool play isn't on the menu until next year.....so I know all about addiction to pool more than you can imagine.....and is my 3rd rotator cuff surgery in four years so I've had lots of interruptions to playing pool.
 
Last edited:
i once quit for a three month period. i actually was going to quit pool totally, but in those three months of inaction i had begun to have vivid dreams and i would talk all night about playing pool. i would call the shots, the bantar of matching up, and the whole nine yards. after this stuff had gone on for 90 days my girl demanded i return to the game or go see a shrink. i chose to return to the game. girl friends come and go but i still dream about the game, but in a good way.
 
You can become addicted to many things. The key elements are repetitive behavior and the belief that the behavior is no longer under volitional control (can't help themselves).

The second element is some sort of adverse consequences that when experienced do not stop the ongoing behavior. If your wife divorces you because you can't stop playing then you have an addiction. If you lose your job or something similar because of your playing and you refuse to quit then you are probably addicted.

There are transitional areas between a deep seated passion for the game and an addiction.

Addictions ruin one's life, a passion makes life better. Sometimes its a fine line and I would look for the things that reduce one's living circumstances.
 
JoeW said:
You can become addicted to many things. The key elements are repetitive behavior and the belief that the behavior is no longer under volitional control (can't help themselves).

The second element is some sort of adverse consequences that when experienced do not stop the ongoing behavior. If your wife divorces you because you can't stop playing then you have an addiction. If you lose your job or something similar because of your playing and you refuse to quit then you are probably addicted.

There are transitional areas between a deep seated passion for the game and an addiction.

Addictions ruin one's life, a passion makes life better. Sometimes its a fine line and I would look for the things that reduce one's living circumstances.
Click to expand...

So you are saying that American pro pool players (with a few exceptions) are addicts?
 
I'd say that at once a week, you're not even in the ballpark of addiction (almost by definition).


Addiction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Addiction (disambiguation).
See also: Substance dependence (drug addiction) and Behavioral addiction
Addiction is the continued repetition of a behavior despite adverse consequences,[1] or a neurological impairment leading to such behaviors.[2]
Addictions can include, but are not limited to, drug abuse, exercise addiction, food addiction, sexual addiction, computer addiction and gambling. Classic hallmarks of addiction include impaired control over substances or behavior, preoccupation with substance or behavior, continued use despite consequences, and denial.[3] Habits and patterns associated with addiction are typically characterized by immediate gratification (short-term reward), coupled with delayed deleterious effects (long-term costs).[4]
Physiological dependence occurs when the body has to adjust to the substance by incorporating the substance into its 'normal' functioning.[5] This state creates the conditions of tolerance and withdrawal. Tolerance is the process by which the body continually adapts to the substance and requires increasingly larger amounts to achieve the original effects. Withdrawal refers to physical and psychological symptoms experienced when reducing or discontinuing a substance that the body has become dependent on. Symptoms of withdrawal generally include but are not limited to anxiety, irritability, intense cravings for the substance, nausea, hallucinations, headaches, cold sweats, and tremors.
 
Just one more day.....

Freakin out here!
I'd say that by definition I'm definately experiencing withdrawals from not playing...and I'd have to blame endorphins as the substance.

I'm definately ready to play!!!

Longest 3 weeks of my life !
 
Of course it is,,,but you are not quite there yet,,or you would have had your dad at the pool table with you.:)

I have seen some people do some pretty crazy things, in order to make it to the pool room on league night. The scheduling is according and around pool night.

It gets tougher when you play 3-4-5 or 6 nights a week. Not counting the random tournaments..lol

And it doesn't seem to matter if you are a A,B or C player. But it is strange how the more you play,,the better you get,,,and the next thing you know,,,your in the 6 night range and playing well.
 
I stopped playing cold turkey for almost 3 years after playing daily for 7-8 yrs...I deployed to Afghanistan and didnt even look at a pool cue for 13 months. I swear I did go through withdraws but after the deployment I was cured of the addiction to the game and just didnt get back into it...Recently my wife was out of town and I heard something about a pool tourney at a local bar. I was bored sitting around the house by myself and thought what the heck?...I pulled out the the ol InStroke and wiped the dust off of it. I played the tourney (went 2 and out lol) and it was like a recovered meth addict giving in and going back to the drugs...I was instantly hooked again and have been playing almost daily again for the last couple months. Yes pool is addictive!
 
thintowin said:
i once quit for a three month period. i actually was going to quit pool totally, but in those three months of inaction i had begun to have vivid dreams and i would talk all night about playing pool. i would call the shots, the bantar of matching up, and the whole nine yards. after this stuff had gone on for 90 days my girl demanded i return to the game or go see a shrink. i chose to return to the game. girl friends come and go but i still dream about the game, but in a good way.
Click to expand...

same! everytime i get bored and take a few day break, i start dreaming about playing...then i wake up the next morning....screw work, im gonna shoot a few racks, but im also self employed with my own table, so that helps haha but thats the best way to wake up, 4 shot 12oz americano and rack of 10 ball! but at the same time, a week long break every month or so helps my game a lot
 
Since you didn't break into your neighbors house at 2:00 am to shoot a few games on his basement table during those off weeks....that's not really an addiction you have there. Some may be...but you are not.
 
Played tonight finally...

What a relief, I played from 6:30pm to 1:30am !!!
Was awesome...
Didn't play half bad for being off three weeks, I def don't want to ever go three weeks without playing again,,,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top