Are We All Addicted to Something?
Addiction is not only about substances. It is about the human attempt to soothe pain. Once we understand that, judgment becomes harder and empathy becomes easier.
Addiction, at the very least, is frowned upon by our society. That is, depending on what a person is addicted to. Your coworker telling you that they are “addicted to coffee” doesn’t trigger the revulsion and/or pity you feel towards a drug addict. It could be the case that the coworker is addicted to coffee in a literal sense, i.e., can’t function without it. Yet, we don’t treat coffee addicts and drug addicts the same. So, the question is what differentiates them?
If we look closely, the answer is simple. We judge the addiction based on how much the object of addiction scares us. Coffee feels safe. Drugs do not. Scrolling on a phone feels normal. Gambling does not. We judge the addiction by the object, not the struggle. But the struggle is often the same. A craving. A dependency. A repeated escape from something painful inside.
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