Is Addiction a Positive or Negative Human Trait

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skinnay wrote:

if the addiction is causing disruption to your physical health, mental health, or personal relationships

What about to someone else's?

& wouldn't your list make Catholic Priests (one of the world's primary symbols of 'goodness') definable as addicts rather than dedicates?

If I am a chef and I get hot fat burns every now and then, does that count for the first determinant?

Boxers will be effected by two of those determinants, even before they are either dedicated or addicts of the sport.

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skinnay wrote:

if a chef is so concerned about continuing to cook that he disregards safety measures to the point where he's regularly burning himself, that may be an addiction

At what point would the chef make a correlation between occasional fat burns and cooking addiction?

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Hardlicker wrote:

I would consider some of my OCD traits as being addictive behavior but not really in a bad way.

Unlike my passionate affair with strong alcohol which may be considered to be a negative addiction in some circles.

Now we're getting somewhere, actual examples rather than airy fairy indistinct definitions!

Yes, I must admit, I find alcoholics to be the very worst kind of addicts. But I have no idea why I find this to be the case.

I think it's because alcoholics are more prone to sudden and exaggerated changes in personality and mood, where as simple OCD routine addictions are always uniform and so do not raise eyebrows (unless they are a bit odd for a first-time observer, of course).

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Fire_Kid wrote:

errr video games

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ggnorekthx wrote:

I have also had a lot of issues with the idea of addiction. If I play video games for a few hours a day, my grandmother will say I am addicted to video games and therefore it is a problem. If I take that exact same amount of time, and simply read a book or ride a treadmill, or work, or even watch television, I am doing something she finds more acceptable and therefore I am not an addict. It is completely absurd.

Our family has a lot of drug and alcohol problems, so sometimes people try to label everything as an addiction.

I really wish people could see things a little more objectively sometimes, especially in my family lol.

In regards to the original question, addiction is almost entirely a negative trait. But I think oftentimes the word addiction is applied haphazardly to situations that don't warrant it.

Yes indeed, video games are a very topical (and for this forum, on topic) form of expressive addiction.

They seem to follow in the historic line of 'things children shouldn't be doing' or, more commonly, 'things children should be doing something else instead of', from reading to television to videos to internet to computer games.

It seems that 'good' parents suddenly develop a genetic inclination to harass and cajole their children as soon as they see them doing anything for long periods of time. And yes, this can even include homework addicts. It seems 'good' parents are only truly happy when they are telling their children off for getting into trouble for actually doing as their parents desire and 'getting out there' more (ie: gangs and parties etc).

This is one aspect of the modern use of the word addiction I've never really understood.

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Charan wrote:

My addiction to posting on this forum is a negative trait as regards this thread.

I'll keep it light, because dark is dark.

Too cryptic for me, mostly, but, yes, forum addiction is definitely one of modern societies many 'acceptable' addictions. While being addicted to 'the game' is often described negatively, addiction to the forum aspect is normally a mark of positive addiction, oft rewarded with a status that the actual players are not privvy to.