When to call it addiction?
I would like to hear some second opinions on when do you call a behavioural pattern an addiction... Where do you draw the line between doing something unhealthy now and then and doing it regularly...? For example, someone would drink every second day, but not a lot and just to relax.. But then sometimes would go overboard and get angry drunk... But the majority of times they can hold their liquor... Thoughts?
@SallyForest
I think that something starts to be an addiction when it is interfering with the daily life of the person and when they cannot stop even if they want to.
Thank you for your response. I agree...
But what if it just interferes with responsibilities or future prospects, Eg. Binge gambling?
And they say they can stop whenever they want but in the end don't?
When they continue to engage in a behavior that causes dysfunction with and problems with their daily functioning and normal life activities, that they want to stop or attempt to stop and fail, and feel guilty about. The big question is "is this impairing their life functioning?" And "do they want to stop but find that they can't?"