religious addiction

[Edwardo Piet]

It does make a difference but each person will evaluate anothers beliefs based upon their own.

Well there we go, it makes a difference.

Some beliefs can lead to more harm than others.

EvF

[Rhizomorph13]

So it might be possible for religion to be an addiction, but not because of the time spent on it but on whether it causes harm or not..... which is really down to personal opinion.

Certainly; almost anything we are drawn too can become an addiction. It could be something obvious like Heroin or something weird like eating hair. It depends on the behavior and pattern of use. It is possible to use Heroin and not become addicted by limiting frequency of use. I wouldn't reccomend it but it is possible.

There is a line between enthusiast and addict that isn't well defined. I think that "harm" is a good metric for differentiating between enthusiast and addict.

Rhizo

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

I think that "harm" is a good metric for differentiating between enthusiast and addict.

What about 'uncontrolled'?

My perception is THE basic criterium for addiction is that the behaviour is involuntary.


wiki:

The term "addiction" is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, compulsion, or excessive psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction (e.g. alcoholism), nicotine addiction, problem gambling, crime, money, work addiction, compulsive overeating, computer addiction,video game addiction, pornography addiction, etc.

[Rhizomorph13]

Padraic,

That would be another indication of addiction, but I loathe to include it as a requirement and dislike talking about how "uncontrollable" the behavior is because I feel that it removes focus from the will of the addict. While it is true that the compulsion is so strong that the addict has no choice but to engage in their destructive behavior, given certain circumstances; they do have control over where they allow themselves to go. They need to work hard to seperate themselves from prescursor situations that could lead to engaging in the contraindicated behavior.

What I have seen in addiction literature is an agenda to convince the addict that they are powerless and I have seen good and bad come from that idea. It can be good for people that are too prideful to accept help when beating addiction but can be used as an excuse for those that are TOO eager to surrender their lives to external forces. I've known too many people who use addiction as a flag to indicate a behavior as unchangeable and end any discussion about modifying said behavior.

Rhizo