Oh hell yeah! In general, humans love to talk about ourselves and we love information, so it’s only natural that we want to get as much information about ourselves as we possibly can. But when does the eagerness to know the future or what is really going on in someone else’s mind go from being a fun boardwalk activity to a real, full-blown, finance-destroying addiction? According to an article in The Star, scientists are really trying to figure that out.
Science vs. Spirituality
First of all, let us not lose sight of the irony here: science trying to make sense of an addiction to psychics. That means a group of people who don’t believe in the supernatural will be spending time and money trying to figure out why people believe in the supernatural. I’ll tell you why, because we just do! Because some of us, especially those who are already spiritual, believe that there is more to life than what present-day science can explain. There are people, people like me, who put much more stock in our own experiences that we do in science anyway.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that all God/Higher Power people believe in psychics. There are lots of religious people who are vehemently against Occultism and think it’s the workings of Satan. But my point is, blind faith is blind faith. So for science to truly understand the compulsion to pay people to tell us what our spirit guides want us to hear, it has to accept the fact that we believe this shit is real.
Now the Addiction Part
People can get addicted to tarot cards readings the same way they can get addicted to social media or gossip: it makes us feel better (temporarily anyway). Anxiety is something we all experience (though some certainly more than others) and the more control we have, the less anxious we feel. While having all the information we need for our lives is of course impossible, the notion is comforting; it gives us a sense of stability in a chaotic and fast-paced world. Psychics, if they’re telling us what we want to hear (and—let’s be honest—the ones we return to usually do), help us to feel hopeful and to worry less that we’ve made mistakes or are going to fuck up our future.
In addition, fortune telling offers something similar to another well-known process addiction: gambling. Humans (especially Americans) love shortcuts. We love to sink our teeth into a good get-rich-quick scheme, especially if it’s disguised as harmless and the odds are good. People who trust psychics typically go based on a referral, which means they already know someone whom they believe had a good experience, In other words, the odds are good. And why spend countless hours in therapy when, in one 50-minute session, you can find out everything you want to know without the constraints of medical professionalism? No matter how much time I spend with my shrink, she is never going to be able to tell me, in no uncertain terms, that my ex-boyfriend isn’t in love with his wife, thinks about me all the time but feels indecisive about leaving his marriage and is scared to tell me how he feels.
So what are people who are addicted to psychics really addicted to? The same thing every other addict is addicted to—feeling good. While some compulsions, like gambling, offer a rush at the possibility of a brighter future (instant wealth), seeing a fortune teller provides the same kind of rush at the possibility of a brighter future (depending on whatever you are going to see the psychic about). And just like a gambler leaves the table ether on top of the world or broke and depleted, a person who has blown upwards of a million bucks on readings will eventually experience the same polarity.
Sponsored DISCLAIMER: This is a paid advertisement for California Behavioral Health, LLC, a CA licensed substance abuse treatment provider and not a service provided by The Fix. Calls to this number are answered by CBH, free and without obligation to the consumer. No one who answers the call receives a fee based upon the consumer’s choice to enter treatment. For additional info on other treatment providers and options visit www.samhsa.gov.
