The word addiction is used in a lot of ways – sometimes fun. You can love watching your sports team, but your sports team might always fall short in every single game. In this instance a close friend might note that you are ‘addicted to pain,’ you’re not – but you always watch your sports team and it is a sure bet that they will lose. You could be addicted to talking and talk too much, or addicted to videogames and spend far too much time glued to the screen. A lot of addictions have positive beginnings, and the word doesn’t always have to be a negative one!

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What is true addiction though? Well, addiction is a medical and psychological condition that stems from indulgence. There are plenty of substances that are pleasurable to consume including alcohol, junk food, and drugs. However, upon over indulging in these substances, we can become attached to the substance, and thus its consumption can become compulsive. Addiction can be defined as when the ingestion or attachment to a substance or activity becomes compulsive. The effects of this behavior can wreak havoc on our lives and change the fabric of who we are. In fact, a lot of people who have developed an addiction might not be aware that they have one – and even then, they might know they have an issue, but they won’t know the impact of their behavior upon themselves or others.

The effects of true addiction can be incredibly serious. Physical addiction focuses on biology and the reaction of our bodies to substances. When we consume addictive substances, namely drugs, our body can adapt to them so that we no longer gain the same effect from the substance as we did when we initially consumed the substance. This leads to a compulsive quest to feel the same way as we did upon the initial consumption and the following ‘high.’ This almost never returns and means that the addicted person will consume more and more quantities of a substance having built up a certain level of tolerance. Alcohol, for instance, can easily be resisted by the body – this leads to people’s bodies being drunk, but the effects not being felt. People who chase the buzz of alcohol and try to live a normal life while doing so, such as performing a simple task like driving could find themselves requiring a DUI Attorney before long. The effects of addiction can harm more people than just the person who is addicted and it doesn’t have to be something like a car crash to cause harm. Addictions can damage relationships. People with severe addictions will treat objects and substances with greater value than other humans (some addictions will lead to people treating other people like objects or dispensaries). This can cause severe upset, even when the addicted person doesn’t mean to cause any.

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Addiction? It is a very dangerous state of mind and a serious medical condition as well as being something that can cause to severe damage to more than just the addicted person.