The most widely agreed upon definition of addiction would be simply:
The continued repetition of a behavior despite known negative consequences. This could, but wouldn’t necessarily include neurological impairment or chemical alterations in the brain and body.
Currently, it is popular in many circles to consider addiction incurable.
This could explain the fact that most who subscribe to that consideration are incapable of curing a person of addiction. In fact, if they did actually cure someone, it would invalidate their pet theories and they’d either have to re-think their entire philosophy, or claim that the subject must not have been truly addicted.
Addiction is a learned behavior.
Despite the fact that extreme cases of addiction, especially to alcohol or certain other drugs can involve severe changes in biochemistry and require careful medical supervision during withdrawal, the ability to leave the drugs or drink behind is more of a learning process than an unlearning process.
Before the addiction was an addiction, the drug or activity appeared to the user as a solution to some real or imagined problem. It could have been a quick, free shot of adrenaline from a game or a rush of sensation from a drug. Often, the impaired thinking from drinking or smoking marijuana makes the user feel more outgoing or less introverted in a social situation.
This is a lesson learned. The next time he or she feels bored or shy, the thought of using the drug could look like a solution to the problem and even prove to be so. Overcoming shyness or boredom should actually be a learning process and developing these skills is part of growing up. But if the solution of getting high seems to do the trick for the person, dependence could develop.
Addiction doesn’t have to involve drugs. Many thousands of people complain of addiction to cellphones, to gambling or television. Video game addiction is widespread and fits the definition of addiction to a tee.
The solution becomes a bigger problem.
It doesn’t take long before the apparent solution to the problem becomes a much greater problem. Now the drug no longer solves anything, in fact using alcohol or marijuana is now even more depressing and distressing than what it was intended to solve.
Just abstaining from using the drug or avoiding the addictive activity won’t be enough to fix things now. We have to go in and solve the original problem AND the problems stemming from the assumed solution.
No more quick-fixes now. This will take real-world goals and work and real progress made through effort and diligence.
With perseverance and attention to leading a respectable life, the former addict will soon discover that the rewards attainable through personal endeavor are not only more satisfying than those the drug or video games provided, but last a heck of a lot longer.
The key to overcoming addiction is the achieving of worthwhile goals and attaining a feeling of self-worth and pride from accomplishing respectable tangible fruits of your own labor. This will more than put the addiction into the past, it will set a pace for a useful and productive life.
