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Not all doctors agree on what constitutes addiction. Traditionally, addiction has been defined as only possible when a substance is ingested that temporarily alters the natural chemical behavior of the brain to produce the euphoric high associated with these drugs. However, over time, people have begun to feel that there should be an alteration of the definition of addiction to include psychological dependency on such things as gambling, food, sex, pornography, computers, work, exercise, cutting, shopping, and so forth. These activities do not alter the natural chemical behavior of the brain when they are performed; thus, they do not fit into the traditional views of addiction, despite their impacts on social interactions and family life.

Those who support the contemporary view of addiction show that symptoms mimicking withdrawal occur when the individual stops the addictive behavior, even if it is not a physiologically acting substance. Those who support the traditional view purport that these withdrawal-like symptoms are not strictly reflective of an addiction, but rather of a behavioral disorder. Proponents of the traditional view say that the overuse of the term may cause the wrong treatment to be used, thus failing the person with the behavioral problem.

The contemporary view of dependency and addiction acknowledges the possibility that individuals who are addicted to a certain activity feel a sense of euphoria, much like the euphoria received from addictive substances. For example, when a person who is addicted to shopping is satisfying his or her craving by engaging in the behavior, chemicals that produce a feel-good effect, called endorphins, are produced and released within the brain, enforcing the person's positive associations with the behavior. Additionally, there could be negative, real-life consequences to participation in the activity, including isolation from family and friends, increased debt, and so forth.

The causes of addiction have been debated for years within the scientific community. One school of thought believes that addiction is a disease that cannot be controlled by the individual. This theory states that addiction is an inherited disease, and an individual with the inherited trait of the disease is permanently ill with the addiction located at a genetic level. Even those with long periods of overcoming the addiction will always contain the disease. This viewpoint states that if one's parent was addicted to something, whether a substance or an activity, he or she is predisposed to also develop the addiction. Even if the person avoids the substance or activity, he or she still technically has an addiction to it. The idea that "alcoholism runs in families" has a long tradition in the substance abuse field. Studies that compare alcoholism rates of natural and adopted children indicate that the adopted children of alcoholics have significantly lower rates of alcoholism than do their biologically related progeny. Additionally, a family history of alcoholism has been linked to a younger initial age of alcohol consumption.

Another school of thought argues that addiction is a dual problem caused by both a physical and a mental dependency on chemicals along with a preexisting mental disorder. This theory says that addiction is not caused by one factor alone but instead by many factors combined. Addiction is caused not just by the fact that a person's family member had the disease of addiction, but because the person's family member had the disease of addiction in addition to being emotionally unstable and prone to finding quick ways to happiness. Clearly, when a parent is "absent" due to his or her use of mood-altering substances, the socialization of the children is affected.

The social learning model suggests that the pattern of addiction is learned by watching or modeling the behavior of others. In families where addictive behaviors and substance abuse occur, children see role models of how to participate in addictive activities. This occurs even when parents attempt to hide their addictive behaviors. The fact that persons tend to share addictions over time through the process of assortative mating provides support for the idea that two persons with similar tendencies toward addictive behaviors will likely become partnered. There is scientific research to support all concepts of the causes of addiction. No one theory has emerged as having greater veracity in explaining and predicting dependency.

References:

Ali, Syed F., and Michael J. Kuhar, eds., Drug Addiction: Research Frontiers and Treatment Advances. Boston: Blackwell, 2008.

Cheever, Susan, Desire: Where Sex Meets Addiction. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.

Clark, Neils, Game Addiction: The Experience and the Effects. Jeff erson, NC: McFarland, 2009.

Harwood, Henrick J., and Tracy G. Myers, eds., New Treatments for Addiction: Behavioral, Ethical, Legal, and Social Questions. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2004.

Heyman, Gene M., Addiction: A Disorder of Choice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.

Lowinson, Joyce H., et al., eds., Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005.

Miller, William R., and Kathleen M. Carroll, Rethinking Substance Abuse: What the Science Shows, and What We Should Do about It. New York: Guilford Press, 2006.

Nutt, David, et al., eds., Drugs and the Future: Brain Science, Addiction, and Society. Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 2006.

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