Re: Addiction : a definition
Hi Bernard and others,
I am a drug abuse counsellor with teenagers in a day treatment program.
The program's clients range in age from 12 to 17 years old, and we deal
with adolescents that are harmfully involved in drug use and are trying to
quit using.
You were asking people to sumbit their own definition of addiction. This
will be interesting to see how others view this. There is always a
question between dependency and addiction and how to define each of those.
Addiction, I think, involves some aspect of physical need for a drug, but
also must include the life areas that are affected by the persons
compulsive behaviors. So, a person is addicted to a substance if their
body must have the drug to function normally, and several life areas (ie.
work, family, relationships, legal issues, medical issues,
leisure/lifestyle issues, psychological issues, spiritual issues) are
affected by the persons substance abuse. There are many people who use
heavily, but do not seem to be as affected by their drug use as others
are. It is a very individual thing. Dependency, on the other hand, does
not have to be physical. A psychological dependency to a drug can be
created and the person believes that they must have the drug to cope.
I would like to hear other peoples ideas on this as well.
Carol Johns :)
email:cjohns@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
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