Difference between addiction and habit
Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2012 10:32 amHello everyone,
It has been burdened on my heart by the Most High to differentiate between addiction and habits. I do become as a loss for words at times but I am expecting the Holy Spirit to jump in here and lead me to kind of clear the air of some confusion.
Both addiction and habits are similar and can be "misdiagnosed" with one from another. I see some confusion first on my part between the two and then after gathering information and armed myself with facts i can share the information here to help others who might misunderstand one from another.
Both can be unrecognized by the person who "owns" them.
Habit and addiction, although they sound similar have few differences between them. A habit relates to psychology whereas addiction arises from habit. In other words it can be said that a habit according to its definition is an acquired pattern of behavior that often occurs automatically.
Here is an excerpt from a reading of "Let's ask Bill Wilson" ( http://www.barefootsworld.net/askbillw.html#2) that i have found to be extremely helpful for my understanding and misunderstanding of the two.
- What is meant by mental obsession and the obsessional character of alcoholism?
- Well, as I understand it, we are all born with the freedom of choice. The degree of this varies from person to person, and from area to area in our lives. In the case of neurotic people, our instincts take on certain patterns and directions, sometimes so compulsive they cannot be broken by any ordinary effort of the will. The alcoholic's compulsion to drink is like that.
As a smoker, for example, I have a deeply ingrained habit - I'm almost an addict. But I do not think that this habit is an actual obsession (bolded by Jill). Doubtless it could be broken by an act of my own will. If badly enough hurt, I could in all probability give up tobacco. Should smoking repeatedly land me in Bellevue Hospital, I doubt that I would make the trip many times before quitting. But with my alcoholism, well, that was something else again. No amount of desire to stop, no amount of punishment, could enable me to quit. What was once a habit of drinking became an obsession of drinking - genuine lunacy.
Perhaps a little more should be said about the obsessional character of alcoholism. When our fellowship was about three years old some of us called on Dr. Lawrence Kolb, then Assistant Surgeon General of the United States. He said that our report of progress had given him his first hope for alcoholics in general. Not long before, the U.S. Public Health Department had thought of trying to do something about the alcoholic situation. After a careful survey of the obsessional character of our malady, this had been given up. Indeed, Dr. Kolb felt that dope addicts had a far better chance. Accordingly, the government had built a hospital for their treatment at Lexington, Kentucky. But for alcoholics - well, there simply wasn't any use at all, so he thought.
Nevertheless, many people still go on insisting that the alcoholic is not a sick man - that he is simply weak or willful, and sinful. Even today we often hear the remark "That drunk could get well if he wanted to."
There is no doubt, too, that the deeply obsessional character of the alcoholic's drinking is obscured by the fact that drinking is a socially acceptable custom. By contrast, stealing, or let us say shop-lifting, is not. Practically everybody has heard of that form of lunacy known as kleptomania. Oftentimes kleptomaniacs are splendid people in all other respects. Yet they are under an absolute compulsion to steal - just for the kick. A kleptomaniac enters a store and pockets a piece of merchandise. He is arrested and lands in the police station. The judge gives him a jail term. He is stigmatized and humiliated. Just like the alcoholic, he swears that never, never will he do this again.
On his release from the jail, he wanders down the street past a department store. Unaccountably he is drawn inside. He sees, for example, a red tin fire truck, a child's toy. He instantly forgets all about his misery in the jail. He begins to rationalize. He says, "Well, this little fire engine is of no real value. The store won't miss it." So he pockets the toy, the store detective collars him, he is right back in the clink. Everybody recognizes this type of stealing as sheer lunacy.
Now, let's compare this behavior with that of an alcoholic. He, too, has landed in jail. He has already lost family and friends. He suffers heavy stigma and guilt. He has been physically tortured by his hangover. Like the kleptomaniac he swears that he will never get into this fix again. Perhaps he actually knows that he is an alcoholic. He may understand just what that means and may be fully aware of what the fearful risk of that first drink is.
Upon his release from jail, the alcoholic behaves just like the kleptomaniac. He passes a bar and at the first temptation may say, "No, I must not go inside there; liquor is not for me." But when he arrives at the next drinking place, he is gripped by a rationalization. Perhaps he says, "Well, one beer won't hurt me. After all, beer isn't liquor." Completely unmindful of his recent miseries, he steps inside. He takes that fatal first drink. The following day, the police have him again. His fellow citizens continue to say that he is weak or willful. Actually he is just as crazy as the kleptomaniac ever was. At this stage, his free will in regard to alcoholism has evaporated. He cannot very well be held accountable for his behavior.
(The N.C.C.A. 'Blue Book', Vol. 12, 1960)
Hope this is beneficial to understanding your recovery from whichever you are "plagued" wether it be a habit or an addiction. I feel it is extremely important to know the difference between the two because the outcomes of addiction (obsession) can be life threatenting and in my opinion should not be taken of as lightly as habit may or would be.
Any thoughts are welcomed as we grow closer to the solution to all of our daily "ailements" that block the SONlight.
God bless us all.
♥Jill
It has been burdened on my heart by the Most High to differentiate between addiction and habits. I do become as a loss for words at times but I am expecting the Holy Spirit to jump in here and lead me to kind of clear the air of some confusion.
Both addiction and habits are similar and can be "misdiagnosed" with one from another. I see some confusion first on my part between the two and then after gathering information and armed myself with facts i can share the information here to help others who might misunderstand one from another.
Both can be unrecognized by the person who "owns" them.
Habit and addiction, although they sound similar have few differences between them. A habit relates to psychology whereas addiction arises from habit. In other words it can be said that a habit according to its definition is an acquired pattern of behavior that often occurs automatically.
Here is an excerpt from a reading of "Let's ask Bill Wilson" ( http://www.barefootsworld.net/askbillw.html#2) that i have found to be extremely helpful for my understanding and misunderstanding of the two.
- What is meant by mental obsession and the obsessional character of alcoholism?
- Well, as I understand it, we are all born with the freedom of choice. The degree of this varies from person to person, and from area to area in our lives. In the case of neurotic people, our instincts take on certain patterns and directions, sometimes so compulsive they cannot be broken by any ordinary effort of the will. The alcoholic's compulsion to drink is like that.
As a smoker, for example, I have a deeply ingrained habit - I'm almost an addict. But I do not think that this habit is an actual obsession (bolded by Jill). Doubtless it could be broken by an act of my own will. If badly enough hurt, I could in all probability give up tobacco. Should smoking repeatedly land me in Bellevue Hospital, I doubt that I would make the trip many times before quitting. But with my alcoholism, well, that was something else again. No amount of desire to stop, no amount of punishment, could enable me to quit. What was once a habit of drinking became an obsession of drinking - genuine lunacy.
Perhaps a little more should be said about the obsessional character of alcoholism. When our fellowship was about three years old some of us called on Dr. Lawrence Kolb, then Assistant Surgeon General of the United States. He said that our report of progress had given him his first hope for alcoholics in general. Not long before, the U.S. Public Health Department had thought of trying to do something about the alcoholic situation. After a careful survey of the obsessional character of our malady, this had been given up. Indeed, Dr. Kolb felt that dope addicts had a far better chance. Accordingly, the government had built a hospital for their treatment at Lexington, Kentucky. But for alcoholics - well, there simply wasn't any use at all, so he thought.
Nevertheless, many people still go on insisting that the alcoholic is not a sick man - that he is simply weak or willful, and sinful. Even today we often hear the remark "That drunk could get well if he wanted to."
There is no doubt, too, that the deeply obsessional character of the alcoholic's drinking is obscured by the fact that drinking is a socially acceptable custom. By contrast, stealing, or let us say shop-lifting, is not. Practically everybody has heard of that form of lunacy known as kleptomania. Oftentimes kleptomaniacs are splendid people in all other respects. Yet they are under an absolute compulsion to steal - just for the kick. A kleptomaniac enters a store and pockets a piece of merchandise. He is arrested and lands in the police station. The judge gives him a jail term. He is stigmatized and humiliated. Just like the alcoholic, he swears that never, never will he do this again.
On his release from the jail, he wanders down the street past a department store. Unaccountably he is drawn inside. He sees, for example, a red tin fire truck, a child's toy. He instantly forgets all about his misery in the jail. He begins to rationalize. He says, "Well, this little fire engine is of no real value. The store won't miss it." So he pockets the toy, the store detective collars him, he is right back in the clink. Everybody recognizes this type of stealing as sheer lunacy.
Now, let's compare this behavior with that of an alcoholic. He, too, has landed in jail. He has already lost family and friends. He suffers heavy stigma and guilt. He has been physically tortured by his hangover. Like the kleptomaniac he swears that he will never get into this fix again. Perhaps he actually knows that he is an alcoholic. He may understand just what that means and may be fully aware of what the fearful risk of that first drink is.
Upon his release from jail, the alcoholic behaves just like the kleptomaniac. He passes a bar and at the first temptation may say, "No, I must not go inside there; liquor is not for me." But when he arrives at the next drinking place, he is gripped by a rationalization. Perhaps he says, "Well, one beer won't hurt me. After all, beer isn't liquor." Completely unmindful of his recent miseries, he steps inside. He takes that fatal first drink. The following day, the police have him again. His fellow citizens continue to say that he is weak or willful. Actually he is just as crazy as the kleptomaniac ever was. At this stage, his free will in regard to alcoholism has evaporated. He cannot very well be held accountable for his behavior.
(The N.C.C.A. 'Blue Book', Vol. 12, 1960)
Hope this is beneficial to understanding your recovery from whichever you are "plagued" wether it be a habit or an addiction. I feel it is extremely important to know the difference between the two because the outcomes of addiction (obsession) can be life threatenting and in my opinion should not be taken of as lightly as habit may or would be.
Any thoughts are welcomed as we grow closer to the solution to all of our daily "ailements" that block the SONlight.
God bless us all.
♥Jill
BUT I did it more to forget being lonely, and to be in the bar socializing and I will not lie......"hunting", I hated the taste I hated the loss of control (staggering, slurring) but it allowed me to come out of that shell of quietness (sitting in the corner watching the world go by) and become very happy and open as well as confident, BUT I got tired of all the drama that came with the drinking and again by the grace of God I said ENOUGH and have not touched it since (aprox. 9-10 years 
), I should add here my older brother died at 32 of a ruptured esophigus caused from his life long battle with alcohol, he also had NO nervous system left 
due to it as well and had already died once and was brought back only to continue the destruction 
NOT A DROP!!!
.
