It is difficult to define addiction because it involves so many different fields.  Just a few of these fields include: medicine, psychology, chemistry, physiology, law, political science, sociology, and biology.

Confusion about the definition of addiction could lead to:

• Researchers having great difficulty in determining prevalence rates and etiology of addiction
• Clinicians being unable to correctly diagnosis addiction, thus successful treatment will not occur
• Law makers won't be able to define regulatory legislation and create health care systems that deal with addiction

To avoid this confusion, clinicians and researchers have developed the 3 C's of addiction:

• Behavior that is motivated by emotions ranging along the craving to compulsion spectrum.
• Continued use in spite of adverse consequences
• Loss of Control

Definitions from other sources:

1) American Medical Association Dictionary:

• Dependence on a substance (such as alcohol or other drugs)  to the point  that stopping is very difficult and causes severe physical and mental reactions.

2) What is Addiction? A perspective

• According to Dr. Howard Shaffer, "Addiction is not simply a qualitative shift in experience, it is a quantitative change in behavior patterns: things that once had priority become less important  and less frequent behaviors become dominant.  Addiction represents an intemperate relationship with an activity that has adverse biological, social, or psychological consequences for the person engaging in these behaviors.

3) False Messengers: How Addictive Drugs Change the Brain¹

• A brain disorder characterized by the loss of control of drug taking behavior, despite adverse health, social, or legal consequences to continued drug use.  Addiction tends to be chronic and to be characterized by relapses during recovery.

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