What Constitutes Addiction?

There is a big difference between being addicted to a substance and simply enjoying using it. Whilst the latter can very quickly lead to the former, there are of course people who can drink regularly without being addicted, and also those who can use drugs recreationally without it ever getting out of hand. However, on the flip side, even drugs such as marijuana that are supposed to have no addictive properties can lead very quickly to mental dependence, and the chances of addiction are likely to vary from person to person as much as from drug to drug.

Therefore, people may well be addicted to certain drugs that might traditionally not be particularly addictive, and those who may seem to have dependencies on certain substances may actually be able to cope fine without them. So with so much clouding the matter, what really constitutes addiction?

Ultimately, people can become addicted to almost anything from sex to gambling, and therefore saying a substance is or isn’t addictive is fairly meaningless, and just because someone uses a drug, may not mean that they need drug detox per se. Obviously, certain things are liable to be more addictive than others, but ultimately anyone could become addicted to anything, and once it starts affecting their life, this is when things need to be addressed.

At this point it is worth forgetting the term addiction and simply looking at whether or not the use of substances is having a negative impact on a person’s life. Whilst there will be certain key things to look out for when a person is addicted to something, whether that be changes in personality or social behaviour or even simply physical changes, knowing whether or not someone might need drug rehab may well be more about whether or not what they are doing is currently or is likely to seriously affect that person’s life.