Is a Habit considered a slight addiction?

Discussion in 'Philosophy' started by AhToker, Jan 25, 2013.

  1. Example: Morning Coffee everyday =Habit..There is caffeine in coffee and you can be highly addictive to it. So does that make a habit a slight addiction?
     
  2. Those words are synonymous in a way.

    So my analysis says yes.
     
  3. Right. Its a thinker. A habit could be beneficial though also
     
  4. No, a habit is not considered an addiction , but the type of habit can be, since in order for it to be an addiction it has to have a negative impact on your everyday life. If I have a habit to take 30 minute jogs in the morning, it would be strange to call that an addiction. However, in your coffee example, if you're trying to argue if there is an degree of addiction then I guess so. If all caffeine were to vanish, most regular coffee drinkers would go through withdrawal , and they need it for regular function.
     
  5. All addictions are habits, but all habits aren't addictions. An addiction is a habit you can't control, you uncontrollably feel the need to habitually do it. If you can control it, it's a habit.
     
  6. Right. So if its positive its more of a habit, if negative its closer to a slight addiction
     
  7. What are the limits to a habit becoming addiction? If I like to smoke a cigarette at night before bed, but I don't do it every day, where do I draw the line?
     
  8. Well that depends on what you consider positive or negative. It might be different for other people. Most addictions have a negative impact on the person, but I don't think all addictions can be labeled as negative. A habit could be negative too. It's a matter if you can control it or it controls you.
     
  9. there is no line to draw. this is simply arguing semantics for the sake of putting labels on people. people who claim to have an addiction to smoking are no different than the people who say they are habitual smokers, it is just a way of viewing ourselves and our tendencies towards behavior
     
  10. You have an addiction to cigarettes (I'm in the same boat) and a habit of smoking one before bed. But that's just my view point on it, it is a good question.
     
  11. Well I think somethings will only be considered an addiction if there are withdrawals. I have a bad habit of biting my nails. I can stop and forget about it for a while without no withdrawals. But does that make it a slight addiction? I guess like you said it depends on your view points. Its a thinker
     
  12. That's my point. What constitutes as an addiction? Last night (Thursday) I had my first cigarette in general since Saturday night. I had a couple itches but I never had one until last night because I like having a post-bowl cig. I can sometimes go days without a cigarette, and sometimes when I drink on a Saturday night I can smoke 10 or 12 or 14.

    Putting an addiction, or a habit, in perspective is the only way to understand whether it is truly or bad. For example, if you tell someone you are an occasional smoker, wouldn't every person take that a different way? One person might think that means having five cigs a day, another person might think it's a pack a week. A lot of it is subjective because human beings have varying levels of addiction and power over their bodies (and minds).
     
  13. Addictions seem to come in different forms. You could say we're addicted to food. Without it we go into withdrawal. But most normal eaters don't see food this way.

    Could it not be said that anything we do habitually, for whatever reason, is a kind of addiction?

    Some people use certain idioms when they speak. You know what I mean, you get me, are a couple that appear in some people's sentences all the time. Is this an addictive speech pattern? It doesn't seem to be needed, and yet, it seems as if they have no choice whether to say it or not. Perhaps with conscious effort they wouldn't need to say it, but why would they bother, and once they stopped bothering, they'd quickly go back to it. Is this addiction or habit? Is there any real difference if we cannot stop doing it? Nothing negative per se, no withdrawal symptoms per se, but cannot stop doing it.

    Once you start looking at what we do without thinking, the area of habit and addiction seems to blur a little. Yes, we know that heroin use is a real addiction in every sense, but does that make it fundamentally different to something we can't stop doing that does not cause physical dependence?

    Is the attachment to performing certain rituals a form of addiction? Is acting superstitious a form of addiction to certain ideas and beliefs?
     
  14. i poop every day like noon, am i addicted to pooping?

    no
     
  15. Its a habit though isnt it?
     
  16. Well when you said you smoked, I thought you meant you smoke full time and like to get one in before bed. I do that, even if I killed a pack earlier in the day. You're like borderline habit/minor addiction in terms of cigarettes. You control when you smoke versus HAVING to smoke.

    I found these pages that go over this topic too.
    Addiction vs. Habit - The Difference Between
    Addiction Vs. Habit? Which Applies to You? - The Faces We Live
     
  17. If you have a hard time stopping a habit then it could be considered some kind of addiction.

    But if you have no problem stopping a habit then it's not really an addiction of any kind.
     
  18. would breathing be considered an addiction? or to get gross, crapping. according to what you said ^
     

  19. Breathing and shitting are involuntary.

    Habits are voluntary. :)
     
  20. I have a habit of collecting stress

    luckily I'm addicted to cannabis
     

Share This Page