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What is Addiction?

Lots of people are unsure about what addiction actually is. If you are one of them then don’t worry. Those ‘lots of people’ include doctors and scientists who are still searching for definitive proof of what causes addictions. And of course an instant cure. Whatever addiction may be, it’s certainly not an easy thing to define.

Ask somebody what addiction is, and they’ll probably tell you that it is an inability to stop using something, or doing something. They might pick an illegal drug like heroin as an example. They may say gambling or sex or fags. Hell, if you have a digibox you’ve probably seen a documentary on all of them.

Essentially, they’re right. But if addiction could just be defined as inability to stop doing something then medical school would be a fair bit brisker than seven years. What addiction basically boils down to is a dependence on something, and the extent to which it affects an individual. Dependence exists in many different ways, and in varying degrees of intensity.

Some people use substances regularly over a prolonged period of time and experience few, if any, problems as a result. Other people struggle to control how often they use a substance and a state of attachment or preoccupation develops. Scientists are still arguing about whether this is down to certain people having an ‘addictive personality’, and regularly claim to have isolated the gene that causes addiction.

Most addicts only develop their addiction over a long period of time, as their consumption of a substance or activity advances in stages. Generally a person will experiment with something – a substance for instance – to see what it is like. Even if this leads to regular use straight away, it is unlikely that this means dependence is immediate.

What happens then depends on the nature of the substance. With some drugs the body rapidly becomes tolerant of a certain dose and the user will have to increase it to achieve the desired effect. As the dose is gradually increased, so does the dependence.

Addicts often report a compulsion to take something or do something, even if they don’t actually want to. When this compulsion begins to affect an individual’s social life, physical and mental health, and ability to function normally, then it is time to seek help.