This article was originally published on November 25, 2014.
The little, animated kiwi in the video "Nuggets" is adorable, just going about its little, adorable kiwi business. But, when it comes across a golden nugget, its world ends up becoming a whole lot darker. Actually, this new animated video from Andreas Hykade is a perfectly simple metaphor for the patterns of addiction.
The first time the kiwi consumes the golden nugget, it soars high and has a great time. But, after that, the nugget's effects don't last as long, and the kiwi has to find more nuggets to get to the heights it originally experienced. This is a classic example of building up tolerance to a substance. As the kiwi's actual world begins to feel darker, the little guy starts to need the nugget just to feel normal. This is similar to going through withdrawals from an addictive substance, such as heroin.
So, if your day was feeling a little too happy, check out the video to balance it out with some sad. Keep in mind, though: Addiction can be a harrowing experience for everyone involved, but it isn't unbeatable. Plus, we may soon have treatments for addiction coming from some pretty unlikely sources.