Sharon is a CPA working in Seattle, she is also an addict. She’s addicted to lip balm. When Sharon wakes up in the morning, the first thing she does is reach over on her night stand and grabs her lip balm. After applying it to her lips she takes her morning shower. As soon as she climbs out of the shower, she removes the tin of lip balm from the medicine cabinet and applies it a second time.
She dresses and heads to the kitchen and has a cup of coffee and a slice of toast before leaving for work. Of course, right after her toast and coffee she takes the tin of lip balm she stores in the kitchen and applies another coat. She then quickly checks her purse and briefcase. She wants to make certain there’s an extra lip balm in each, just in case she needs it.
Sharon drives a few blocks from home and decides she needs another fix of lip balm. She reaches in the center console where she stores another tin of balm and steers the car with her elbows while she applies it.
She slides the car into her parking place, turns off the key, and applies one more coat of lip balm before venturing from the car. Once in the office, Sharon takes out her paperwork and prepares to meet her first client.
During the day, Sharon is into the lip balm countless times. She’s an addict. Fortunately, her addiction doesn’t involve the chemical changes her body would make if her addiction included opiates and other controlled substances or alcohol and/or nicotine.
Sharon has a serious emotional addiction to her lip balm. She actually suffers from a mild obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). According to the National Institute of Mental Health, people with OCD:
- have repeated thoughts or images about many different things, such as fear of germs, dirt, or intruders; violence; hurting loved ones; sexual acts; conflicts with religious beliefs; or being overly neat.
- do the same rituals over and over such as washing hands, locking and unlocking doors, counting, keeping unneeded items, or repeating the same steps again and again.
- have unwanted thoughts and behaviors they can’t control.
- don’t get pleasure from the behaviors or rituals, but get brief relief from the anxiety the thoughts cause.
- spend at least an hour a day on the thoughts and rituals, which cause distress and get in the way of daily life.
The point here is that Sharon’s lip balm is not the culprit anymore than the soap would be the culprit for those with the compulsion to repeatedly wash their hands. Lip balm is a soothing, lip softening and/or healing product that can help anyone with chapped or dry lips.
Some lip balms are better than others, but the best are those you make yourself. It’s fun to make them for personal use and as gifts for others.
Now go have fun and relax.
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