there is considerable overlap. A habit is an
action repeated so often that it becomes
automatic, such as cleaning your teeth
or making tea. The brain learns to treat
the series of movements as one chunk
and can complete them without further
thought. Habits are rarely harmful and can
be controlled or changed. An addiction,
by contrast, controls you. Drugs, watching
porn and other activities can all become
addictive when the addict loses control
of their cravings, often with terrible
consequences. Many addictive drugs
show increased tolerance, which means
more is needed each time. This can be
combined with
withdrawal
symptoms such
as ‘cold turkey’
from heroin
or ‘delirium
tremens’ from
alcohol, but this
is not always the
case. First time
cannabis users
often report no
effect, and withdrawal
symptoms are usually mild. Between the
extremes are habits that are hard to break
or mild addictions that do little harm.
