Why, Do People Become Addicted?

[barq2]

well then comes the question , is it addiction if you are under doctors care or therapists as you mentioned barq

I think the lines between addiction, dependence, habitual use, abuse, etc. are all pretty blurry. But if your body and mind recoil in agony when you stop taking a substance, you are probably addicted to it. Dr's orders or otherwise. And recovery is probably most difficult for people who take meds for legit medical conditions because the withdrawal can make those original conditions a lot worse. And the exact meds someone is trying to quit can be the only thing that offers relief.

Totally agree. I'd go even further and say these are social constructs rather than materially different. The division between addiction and dependency is context. Addiction is more socially undesirable and there is a stigma attached. Dependence is addiction's more respectable middle-class sibling. :-)

For example, people would say I was diazepam dependent when under a doctor's care, but addicted once I started buying from IOPs. Same drug, same dose, same reason for taking it, but the context has changed since it is now outside an officially sanctioned medical environment.

What do others think?