14/12/2025
''Addiction is defined as compulsive drug use despite negative consequences.
The goals of the addicted person become narrowed to obtaining, using, and recovering from drugs, despite failure in life roles, medical illness, risk of incarceration, and other problems.
An important characteristic of addiction is its stubborn persistence.
Although some individuals can stop compulsive use of to***co, alcohol, or illegal drugs on their own, for a large number of individuals rendered vulnerable by both genetic and nongenetic factors, addiction proves to be a recalcitrant, chronic, and relapsing condition.
The central problem in the treatment of addiction is that even after prolonged drug-free periods, well after the last withdrawal symptom has receded, the risk of relapse, often precipitated by drug-associated cues, remains very high.
Were this not the case, treatment could simply consist of locking addicted people away in a protective environment until withdrawal symptoms were comfortably behind them, issuing a stern warning about future behavior, and having done with it'' .
