WHAT IS ADDICTION?
Addic8on
is
not
a
dirty
word
-‐
Nikki
Freeburn
So
what
is
addic,on?
According
to
substan,al
research
with
psychological
and
counselling
texts,
drug
and
alcohol
rehabilita,on
centres
and
medical
journals,
there
is
no
widely
accepted
defini&on
of
addic,on.
There
are
defini,ons
in
the
medical
journals,
but
even
many
of
these
sources
disagree
on
a
common
explana,on
for
this
phenomenon
that
appears
to
affect
every
human
being
in
some
form
or
another.
For
example,
does
addic,on
only
include
drugs
and/or
alcohol?
What
about
food,
sex,
cleaning,
sugar,
worrying,
spiritual
seeking,
exercise,
work,
bullying,
social
media
etc?
Does
it
include
bingeing
once
a
month?
At
what
point
does
indulging
in
a
given
pleasure
become
an
addic,on?
And
who
decides
when/how/what
that
is?
Being
a
‘work-‐a-‐holic’
is
acceptable
in
our
society
but
being
an
‘alco-‐holic’
is
not
–
and
yet
both
can
cause
extreme
suffering
physically,
mentally,
spiritually
and
emo,onally.
Goodness
help
those
that
have
both!!
We
are
also
seeing
a
wave
of
technology
addic,ons
in
our
culture
…
television,
video
games,
Facebook
and
other
social
media
forums
are
causing
challenges
for
many,
and
our
youths
are
suffering
on
many
levels
from
video
game
addic,on
–
it
has
even
caused
death
from
extreme
dehydra,on.
The
defini,on
of
recovery
is
even
more
in
dispute.
What
cons,tutes
recovery?
Is
being
free
of
one's
drug
of
choice
enough?
Is
abs,nence
enough?
Does
some
other,
deeper
transforma,on
have
to
take
place?
What
about
where
someone
simply
subs,tutes
one
substance
or
ac,vity
for
another
(like
sugar
for
alcohol
or
cigareRes).
How
many
people
who
say
they
have
beaten
an
addic,on
are
actually
only
subs,tu,ng