ADDICTION

[Dr. Goodword]

• addiction •

Pronunciation: æ-dik-shên • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A physical and psychological dependency on a drug, as an alcohol or cocaine addiction. 2. An obsession, a compulsive habit, as an addiction to shopping (shopaholism).

Notes: Today's Good Word has a large family of related words. Someone who is subject to an addiction is an addict, and a substance or activity that easily becomes an addiction is addictive. All these words arose from the verb to addict.

In Play: Addictions are usually bad: "Anita Job's addiction to alcohol has contributed to her spotty employment record." However, not all are: "Perry Yare's addiction to jazz has led him to travel the entire country." Indeed, people have been known to become Good Word addicts, not a bad addiction at all. Then there is my addiction: I am a recovering chocoholic. (Kicking the chocolate habit is a long, long, long drawn-out process.)

Word History: Today's Good Word is pretty much a carbon copy of Latin addictio(n-) "assignment (of disputed property)", the noun from addicere "to deliver in accordance with a court order, hand over, enslave". This verb is made out of ad "(up)to" + dicere "say, declare", which is found in many English borrowings from Latin: diction, edict, and dictionary. The shift in meaning results from a shortening of self-addiction, the forcible delivery of oneself to an obsession. The same root that became dicere in Latin became teach in English. The shift of [d] to [t] is perfectly usual in English, as is the shift of the [k] sound to [ch], which also explains how Scots English kirk became church in British English. (Today we must thank Helen Brits, no doubt a word addict, for suggesting today's Good Word in the Alpha Agora.)

[LukeJavan8]

I volunteer with addicts twice weekly. And it is so sad
to see someone in the throes of the illness, but they
won't see it themselves. Takes real acceptance before
any healing can take place.

[Slava]

In my youth a teacher gave me an edict; to improve my diction. Thus I became addicted to the dictionary.

[LukeJavan8]

Good addiction, indeed.

[Perry Lassiter]

Interesting discussion might be the difference between habit and addiction.

[LukeJavan8]

For starters, an addiction: when you have it you cannot
stop.

[Perry Lassiter]

I've brushed my teeth evy day for 75 yrs. dunno whetheer I can stop. If you routinely do something for years, how difficult is it to stop? Alcohol and drugs introduce a physical component of needing more and more - also smoking. I've heard EEG or some ucn studies of pornography addicts who actual braion changes. Many of us have had unpleasant habits we'd like to break. Again, where do you draw the line. Some counselors say it becomes addiction when it interferes with basic lifestyles in work, home, or social life. What do you think?

[LukeJavan8]

Bill Wilson and Bob Smith, the founders of AA,
say that for both of them, they could not Not stop.
I'm a firm believer in AA. I hold little stock in
counselors, as my firm belief is that they are in it
chiefly for money. (who isn't?) They are rewriting
the DSM to be DSM-5, they have done it four times
already. This is the manual used to describe all
the paraphilia they can "treat". They are currently
adding tons of shades of gray between what is
an alcoholic and what is not. For their benefit of
course, to attain more customers. And they keep
people on the string for hundreds of dollars
in order to cure them. Alcoholism cannot be cured,
one only recovers. I don't believe habits and addictions
are the same thing. I too have tons of habits, put
on my left shoe first always, as example. But habits
can be changed by simply changing. I could put
my right shoe on first with conscious act of will.

[LukeJavan8]

Good discussion Perry. We need more - the drug
content of course is a primary element: one drink is
too much, 1000 not enough.

[Perry Lassiter]

I agree with AA and NA and various other 12 step programs. I partly agree with you regarding some counselors. You are correct about DSM, and some of the changes are hilarious. The problem is as much with the insurance companies and what they will pay for. As a pastoral counselor with more training than most in counseling, I never took a penny from counselees, considering it part of my job as pastor. Our church has a professional counselor on staff who does an excellent job, putting in around 35 hrs a week seeing people in addition to other duties. The average counselor usually limits himself to 20 hrs a week or thereabouts. Like any profession, there is a continuum of both skill and greed. But a good counselor will make a positive difference in some lives. Some addictions have causes rooted in traumas and decisions made because of them. Counseling can root out those problems, surfacing them, and grreatly diminishing their power. It can also help more easily with habits one has difficulty changing.