Definition of Drug Addiction

If you've looking for a definition of drug addiction, simply read the Definition of Alcoholism because you can simply substitute the word alcoholism with the word drug addiction, and you'd have yourself a pretty good definition of drug addiction as well, because I think that description sums it up brilliantly.

However lets also include the definition of the word addiction here as well to further enhance our understanding ...

According to the dictionary, addiction can be defined as:

"A physical or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, such as a drug or alcohol. In physical addiction, the body adapts to the substance being used and gradually requires increased amounts to reproduce the effects originally produced by smaller doses.

So what does this tell us?

Addiction creates dependency on a psychological and/or physical level. Some drugs create dependency on both levels, e.g. heroin, where you obviously become extremely addicted on a psychological level, but even if you wanted to stop, your body becomes totally dependent on the stuff which leads to extreme withdrawals when trying to come clean.

Even alcohol has a large degree of physical dependency creating unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when you stop drinking.

Some substances though don't create the same levels of obvious physical dependence like heroin, but still create powerful levels of dependency on a psychological level that can cause havoc with your life.

Marijuana and ecstasy are two such drugs for example, but because they don't create high levels of physical addiction, people sometimes mistakenly think that they aren't particularly addictive.

The other key point to take note of from the above definition is that your body adapts to your using and you end up requiring increased amounts to reproduce the original effects that the drug was providing you with.

I remember from my own using days, every time I did drugs it was always with the hope of getting back to that same, amazing feeling I experienced the first few times I got high, but unfortunately I never even came close again, which led me to substituting with all sorts of other drugs to try and create a new 'buzz.'

But like I also said in my definition for alcoholism , don't get too caught up with things like definitions because ultimately the tell-tale symptoms are the destruction and havoc it begins to cause in various areas of your life.