Addicted to Addiction

It seems that today individuals can fall victims of "addiction" of all types. From somewhat plausible heroin addicts to the borderline fictional alcohol addicts, to the entirely outrageous self-proclaimed food addicts and alcohol addicts, addiction has become an unfit excuse for most, rather than a legitimate condition.

Regardless of the vast amount of addiction-related issues that seem to have presented themselves recently, these issues are almost unworthy of mentioning in light of their random nature. Why then, are people rendered uncomfortable by the concept of addiction? In the most basic of terms, addiction is the principle of doing something because you enjoy doing it. This unfit association of joy to evil is more or less of biblical origin.

It therefore makes sense that the concept of unproven and unjustified "addictions" which are pitched to possible "patients" as conditions is a concept which may have worked during the time people actually followed the Ten Commandments literally, but it is certainly unfit for modern society. Enjoying something is deffinately not enough to render someone unable to stop doing such it or consuming it. Similarly, doing something because you like it does not provide you with a medically legitimate excuse to keep doing it.

Consider narcotics addictions; there are certain cases where this addiction leads to withdrawal syndrome if the "addict" ceases to consume the drug. This is true in the case of severe heroin dependence, in which case withdrawals, if not supplemented by administration of weaker opiates can be deadly. Plainly stated, a heroin addiction can kill you. Hence, one can assume that the need for methadone clinics is legitimate, but what about people claiming to be addicted to alcohol? Do rehab programs and associations such as the Twelve Step System actually provide significant help for such individuals?

The point is the following: Alcohol, like many other things to which people claim to be addicted, does not contain anything to make it physically addictive, such that eliminating consumption of such a thing would cause physical withdrawals. The same is true of food, video-games, gambling, and even sex. Sorry folks, such "addictions" just aren't real medical conditions. They don't involve physical drawbacks if you're cut off from what you claim to be addicted to. It is convenient to set aside your availability of moral obligation or willpower in face of the appearance of being "addicted" to something, but the bottom line is that these addictions do not exist.

If you find yourself morbidly obese, the answer isn't claiming to be addicted to food. Rather, it's admitting that your willpower is so malformed that you are not unable to stop overeating, but rather you just don't want to. It is not a matter of your inability, but rather your incompetence. If you are unable to take control of what affects your life, you are weak, and you've got yourself to blame for it, not the evil corporations who apparently make such fiercely "addictive" products like food and alcohol and even video-games widely available for public consumption.