’s recent short story “Addict” we meet a character whose entire life is defined by a single word “addict.” Why, as contemporary humans, do we have such selective memory when it comes to the term “addiction”? How else should we describe the reliance on coffee in the morning, or being obsessive about going to the gym, or being sold potent psychotropics via bingeworthy television while we’re scrolling through our phones?
If those who consistently consume alcohol and recreational drugs are “addicts,” what do we call the reality of living forever within our screens? What do we call the careerists, workaholics, digital media narcissists, and incessant consumers of the world? And what is it about the term “addiction” that is so often primarily related to the use of “illegal” substances?
May 23, 2023Liked by Nicci Kadilak, Samuel Lopez-Barrantes
Addiction is interestingly linked to disorders of compulsion such as OCD. It's where a dependency becomes a compulsion, is one way to break it down. Nymphomania or gambling addiction are illustrative because they are behavioural rather than substance based, so as you say, many functional junkies around us are thriving while addicted to work and money and power and shopping and validation. Society is A-OK with that.
But some people are just going to want to hack their own dopa or sert or gaba systems for pleasure or self-medication (or both) and substances really deliver that kind of thing. From coffee to validation to meth, you get that reward loop, it's just that with meth that loop will become a death spiral way faster than with Instagram likes. As mentioned by another commenter, addiction is when you cross the line where the compulsion is damaging your life and the lives around you, and you still can't stop. That's when you start realizing there is probably a disorder underlying the addictive behaviour.
I don’t know if it’s the relation to illegal substances as much as it’s often a moral judgement.
People tend to use “addicted” to point to a moral failing; a weakness.
This is why some organizations tend to use the term “dependency” in at least some contexts: https://www.addictioncenter.com/addiction/addiction-vs-dependence/
Personally, I tend to think of the word addiction when need for the behavior/substance starts to have harmful effects.
As far as I know, my morning coffee isn’t harming me and I know I can delay it when I’m bikepacking.
When I saw my last fintech job creeping into my life and consuming my thoughts and family time, I thought about addiction and took action.
Addiction is interestingly linked to disorders of compulsion such as OCD. It's where a dependency becomes a compulsion, is one way to break it down. Nymphomania or gambling addiction are illustrative because they are behavioural rather than substance based, so as you say, many functional junkies around us are thriving while addicted to work and money and power and shopping and validation. Society is A-OK with that.
But some people are just going to want to hack their own dopa or sert or gaba systems for pleasure or self-medication (or both) and substances really deliver that kind of thing. From coffee to validation to meth, you get that reward loop, it's just that with meth that loop will become a death spiral way faster than with Instagram likes. As mentioned by another commenter, addiction is when you cross the line where the compulsion is damaging your life and the lives around you, and you still can't stop. That's when you start realizing there is probably a disorder underlying the addictive behaviour.