Mutagenic Addiction
Most species inhabiting Anicoja never had access to pills they could pop to permanently pack several inches onto their dicks, or needles they could stick into their arms to develop the traits of another species. It's a stunning power and for some, it grants a sense of personal development to see their body change into something they like more.
The merfolk had documented an addiction to these kinds of alterations long before they came to Inom. They, after all, developed genetic engineering well before space travel was available to the masses. Their markets brimmed with all sorts of designer cosmeceuticals to make one young again, to make one stronger, or sexier, or bear the teeth of a dog, the hooves of a horse, the gills of a fish-- all at once, if you so desire. And they were expensive, yeah, but the power was ever so tempting. So many marketing slogans were some permeation of "Be a better you!".
Not everyone was prone to mutagenic addiction. Those who mutated themselves because they were required to for their job tended not to be too attached to their new additions. Those who mutated themselves to undo the changes that their parents passed on usually really only wanted to be full-human-passing again and stopped there. It was the ones with the worst body image and the ones prone to obsession who were most prone. The cost was worth it for a chance to be comfortable in one's own flesh or to fashion one's body into one's ideal form.
Usually, it's just a money sink. Sometimes, though, the changes one enacts get in the way of being a functional being-- esoteric body shapes might require custom-tailored clothes, or a particular fish-pack might demand a full transition to an aquatic lifestyle, or one's naughty bits might get so huge they can't be effectively covered up and make walking around a challenge.
On Anicoja, numerous mutagenic fruits and fungaloids grow throughout the jungle, each with a lure of its own, and most of which have been foraged to near-extinction in the wild. They are cultivated by family-monopolies, and any beauty store worth its concept carries at least one of them, processed into its most effective forms. Now every single species can encounter mutagenic addiction first-hand.
Transmission & Vectors
It's just created when someone with a poor body image or an obsession over bodily forms gains access to the ability to easily tweak their body with consumables.
Causes
The dopamine rush of one's body suiting one's desires that much more.
Symptoms
The central symptoms of the addiction are a poor or incomplete body image and a gnawing desire to get more mutagens-- typically mutagens that would bring the addict closer to their ideal body, but sometimes any mutagens will do.
Treatment
To treat the addiction requires therapy. To treat the consequences of the body mods requires counteractive mutagens.
Prognosis
Due to the number of ways that one can change their body with mutagens, the prognosis varies wildly. The familiar course is that one runs out of money to keep buying more mutagens, and either goes cold turkey there or takes to stealing or selling off possessions to nurture the addiction further. Addiction to mutagens is rarely inherently fatal (mutagens are designed not to kill you), but there can be complications due to excessively-modified parts and suicide is a very real risk for one who is no longer able to satisfy this addiction.
Sequela
Applying counteractive mutagens to restore convenience of living can spark the addiction back up, as the patient often witnesses the loss of what they've shelled out so much cash for.
Affected Groups
Those with preexisting poor body image or bodily obsessions are marked as the most prone populations. It's also often present among sex workers and frequent consumers of sex work.
Prevention
Best that can be advised is to practice temperance with changing one's body. Assyliads are inherently immune by virtue of being amorphous anyways.
Epidemiology
Whenever a beauty store opens up or a new cosmeceutical is released, addiction clinics are guaranteed to see plenty more patients in the coming months.
History
Merfolk first documented the condition back when Earth was in possession of the ones the rich left behind. It only got worse once the rich came back and capitalized on the sale of mutagens without considering the required infrastructure to prevent this addiction.
Cultural Reception
It's tragic enough, but it's usually seen as a rich person's addiction. Less so on Inom, where not all cosmeceutical companies have practice the same standards.
Type
Neurological
Origin
Engineered
Cycle
Chronic, Acquired
Rarity
Uncommon
Affected Species
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