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An addiction is any compulsive act or behavior that is harmful to you or to those who associate with you that you cannot control. It is the continuous use of some mood-altering substance or the engagement in some mood-altering behavior that a person uses despite adverse consequences to health, relationships and functionality.

People who do anything in excess with disregard to the harm they are causing to themselves and others are considered to be addicted to that act or behavior. And, while addiction has traditionally been associated with substance addiction, like to drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes, as research has progressed, some clinicians have determined that any behavior that fits the criteria of being a compulsion that you cannot control is an addiction.

While psychiatry as yet does not technically label behaviors like shopping, sex, gambling, and gaming as addictions or mental health conditions, these behaviors nevertheless are often treated as such. Considered a form of mental illness by the American Society of Addition Medicine, dependence (addiction) is treatable through the use of medication, therapy, and lifestyle adjustments.

Characteristics of Addiction

Addiction is characterized by the following generalized behaviors:

  • An impaired control over behavior or substances
  • A preoccupation concerning a behavior or substance
  • Continued use of a substance or engagement in a behavior despite negative consequences
  • Denial that an addiction problem is present
  • Use of the substance or behavior for immediate gratification
  • Long-term, continuous use

Often associated with a physiological dependence, addiction is believed to cause a change in the body which creates a tolerance towards the substance or behavior, requiring the user to need increasingly larger amounts of the substance or behavior to achieve the desired effects, and withdrawal, which refers to psychological and physical symptoms that the user experiences if he or she reduces or discontinues use of the substance or behavior. Consequently, dependence is created that often requires treatment to stop the use of the substance or discontinue the behavior.

Addicts report that the most common withdrawal symptoms include headaches, anxiety, intense cravings, irritability, nausea, hallucinations, tremors, and cold sweats. Any of these symptoms alone may not indicate an addiction problem, but in combination, these symptoms should be reported to a physician or addiction clinician for further evaluation.

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Differences in Addiction and Abuse

By comparing addiction to abuse, we can easily see that the definition applied to the DSM's definition of substance abuse is very similar to what laymen consider addictions like alcohol addiction, marijuana addiction, heroin addition, prescription drug addition, etc. According to DSM-IV-TR, substance abuse is assigned to any use of certain substances over a 12-month period that results in:

  • Detrimental effects at home, work, or school that are a direct result of the habitual use of the substance
  • Repeated and regular use of a substance that creates a dangerous situation
  • Substance-usage-related legal problems
  • Personal problems that are directly related to the use of a particular substance

Addiction is more than abuse of a substance or behavior. Addiction can be characterized as a psychological change or behavioral change that affects your daily life and disrupts your life because you crave it, have a compulsive need to engage in it, are unable to stop yourself from doing it, are fixated on it, lose control over it, and continue doing it or consuming it regardless of the negative consequences that result from doing it or ingesting it.

Addiction Isn't a Choice - It's a Condition

One of the most difficult problems facing society today, addiction isn’t a condition that you can control. With a multitude of theories about the cause of addiction, the condition is highly misunderstood by those who don’t have to deal with it. Most people who suffer from addiction are initially drawn into the addictive behavior because of how indulgence in the addiction affects their emotional state, either to enhance a pleasurable feeling or to numb an unpleasant one.

Therapists and behavioral scientists have various theories about why a particular individual is more susceptible to addiction than another and agree that most addicts they see for the condition are affected by the following factors:

  • Their genetic makeup. Some individuals are genetically predisposed to addiction, with some evidence existing that certain individuals are even genetically predisposed as to the type of addiction they develop. For instance, alcoholics appear to run in families with the addict coming from parents and/or grandparents who were also addicted to alcohol.
  • Trauma. Certain types of trauma often lead to a particular type of addiction. For instance, many sex addicts report that they come from a sexual abusive background; many war veterans report that they became alcoholics or drug uses when they tried to dull the pain of trauma experienced in war time by consumption of the substances.
  • Shame. Feelings of shame or a sense that you don’t measure up sometimes lead addicts to squash that feeling by turning to addictive substances or behaviors.
  • Anxiety/depression. Often debilitating, anxiety/depression in combination with a genetic predisposition for addiction can lead to addictive behaviors whereby the sufferer tries to relieve the uncomfortable symptoms of the distressful feeling.

How Addictions Affect Your Life

Addiction affects every aspect of your life. It affects not only your behavior, but your thinking as well. Left unresolved, addiction affects virtually every part of your life as well as the lives of those who come into contact with you. Over time, addiction will affect your behavior and thought patterns so much that you may seem like an entirely different person to your family and friends and you may wonder how you became the person you are.