What Does It All Mean?

Addiction, compulsive behavior, alcoholism...what do these words mean?

Well it just so hapens, that over the years, I have gained quite a lot of information about these terms. Here is what I've learned:

I heard a quote from Stephen Tyler when I was a teenager: “Addiction is continuous use despite adverse consequences.” Addiction occurs when a person uses a substance or behavior to the point where it causes major consequences in their life and they continue to use. I don’t know if it’s a real quote or if my health teacher made it up, but it has nevertheless stuck with me.

Keep in mind that any addiction is difficult to discuss because of how complicated it is to define, diagnose, to treat, to heal, etc. Because of this fact, most statements about addiction tend to be opinion. One reason the subject is hotly debated is that addiction takes away a person's God-given ability to choose for themself. In addition to that, every addict’s story is different. One person’s addiction might be a crippling disease where they simply can’t function without their addiction or hospitalization. Others might need exactly one Diet Coke With Lime every day in order to function normally. Clearly, any statement made about one of these examples probably won’t apply to the other.

So what's the big deal with alcoholism? Plainly put, alcoholism is an addiction to alcohol. The relevance with alcoholism is that it is essentially the most widely documented, studied, widespread, and scientifically understood addiction. Therefore a lot of research that is referred to has to do with alcoholics. Alcoholism is a case study for addiction in general. Anything said, by me or by anyone, about alcoholism is relevant to all addictions.

Perhaps the most important term to understand is compulsive behavior. Compulsive behavior is very common and covers a broader area than addiction. In simple terms, compulsive behavior is when an individual practices an unhealthy behavior as a substitute for filling some kind of need. The best way to understand this is as a process. A need is presented to an individual; they’re lonely—they need companionship; they’re tired—they need sleep; they’re stressed—they need to relax, etc. A mentally healthy and secure individual will fill their need by seeking companionship, sleeping, or relaxing. However, a person with a compulsive behavior will attempt to fill that need with their behavior. Examples of compulsive behaviors run the gamut from eating, consuming alcohol, pornography and masturbation, video games, taking hard drugs, smoking, etc. An important thing to consider with compulsive behaviors is that they are interchangeable. A person with an over-eating problem may stop over-eating, but start smoking instead. The problem of compulsive behavior isn’t solved.

You can see how easy it can be to start with a compulsive behavior and end with a dangerous addiction. For example, alcohol use would not lead to addiction if it weren’t ever a compulsive behavior. If an individual only drinks when reason presents itself, they are unlikely to become dependent on it. However, if somebody drinks instead of solving their problems or filling their needs, they are very likely to become dependent on alcohol.

I'm sure that many of you are thinking "Oh, no, I think I have a compulsive behavior!" But not to worry, you're right! Most people have some kind of compulsive behavior. It's normal. Most of the time, it's not a big problem. It can lead to problems like addiction, certainly, but in general you are unlikely to develop an addiction from a compulsive behavior.

So what compulses you?