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I think that it's important for one to make a distinction between addiction and dependency. They're different. You can be addicted to a substance or activity,

I think that it's important for one to make a distinction between addiction and dependency. They're different. You can be addicted to a substance or activity, without having any physical dependence on it. Yet people often use addiction to describe both scenarios, making it ambiguous. One can get addicted to virtually anything imaginable.

Stronico 13y ago
How would you define addiction then? Pure psychological withdrawal vs pure physical withdrawal? I'm asking - I use the terms a bit differently.
- vezzy-fnord 13y ago
  Both physical and psychological withdrawals would constitute addictions, but the word "addiction" alone is ambiguous. Dependency specifically refers to physical withdrawal. Some addictions don't even have withdrawal symptoms at all, but are practiced largely due to inertia or some lack of motivation. Internet addiction is often one of these.
  - bgentry 13y ago
    The research cited by Dr. Lustig demonstrates that sugar causes both mental and physical addiction. It's more addictive than cocaine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
Groxx 13y ago
Where do you draw the line on "physical dependence" though? Arguably even the most-pure psychological addiction can even be crammed in there if given sufficient force, since you'll produce chemical imbalances if you're in withdrawal, like "I lack coffee. Bring it or someone dies." headaches. (serious question, btw. I'm not sure where I draw it, so it usually ends up subjective, which I would like to minimize.) There is of course the extreme, like with our physical dependence on vitamin C. Somewhere back in our evolution we lost the ability to synthesize it, probably because it was abundant in food. Now we die if we don't get it. I doubt you are referring to that, though.
- vezzy-fnord 13y ago
  I draw the line on addictions which produce no withdrawal symptoms. They exist. As I mentioned in my previous post, Internet addiction can be like this for some people. They compulsively spend excessive time on the web due to inertia or some emotional issue. But if you take them away on a long-term vacation without regular access to the Internet, they will feel no withdrawal or overbearing need to do so.
  - Groxx 13y ago
    That's a pretty reasonable line. I'm guessing this is a case-by-case basis then, though? Some internet-addiction-withdrawals can be severe (or specifically, sometimes cause rather severe depression), though of course that's cherry-picking. edit: not to imply case-by-case is bad. People are weird and very varied, any hard-line is likely to have straddlers.

Stronico 13y ago

How would you define addiction then? Pure psychological withdrawal vs pure physical withdrawal? I'm asking - I use the terms a bit differently.

vezzy-fnord 13y ago
Both physical and psychological withdrawals would constitute addictions, but the word "addiction" alone is ambiguous. Dependency specifically refers to physical withdrawal. Some addictions don't even have withdrawal symptoms at all, but are practiced largely due to inertia or some lack of motivation. Internet addiction is often one of these.
- bgentry 13y ago
  The research cited by Dr. Lustig demonstrates that sugar causes both mental and physical addiction. It's more addictive than cocaine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

Groxx 13y ago

Where do you draw the line on "physical dependence" though? Arguably even the most-pure psychological addiction can even be crammed in there if given sufficient force, since you'll produce chemical imbalances if you're in withdrawal, like "I lack coffee. Bring it or someone dies." headaches. (serious question, btw. I'm not sure where I draw it, so it usually ends up subjective, which I would like to minimize.) There is of course the extreme, like with our physical dependence on vitamin C. Somewhere back in our evolution we lost the ability to synthesize it, probably because it was abundant in food. Now we die if we don't get it. I doubt you are referring to that, though.

vezzy-fnord 13y ago
I draw the line on addictions which produce no withdrawal symptoms. They exist. As I mentioned in my previous post, Internet addiction can be like this for some people. They compulsively spend excessive time on the web due to inertia or some emotional issue. But if you take them away on a long-term vacation without regular access to the Internet, they will feel no withdrawal or overbearing need to do so.
- Groxx 13y ago
  That's a pretty reasonable line. I'm guessing this is a case-by-case basis then, though? Some internet-addiction-withdrawals can be severe (or specifically, sometimes cause rather severe depression), though of course that's cherry-picking. edit: not to imply case-by-case is bad. People are weird and very varied, any hard-line is likely to have straddlers.