Addiction in Perspective

In these early years of the twenty-first century we find ourselves constantly immersed in talk about addictions. Newspapers and television regularly present disturbing items on the rising negative effects of addiction. When the country is not waging a “war on drugs,” it is struggling with drunken driving, youth drug crime, increases in pathological gambling, alcohol destroying families, spates of Internet addiction, and so forth. Increasing numbers of popular books on addiction appear in book stores with titles such as, Codependent No More; Woman, Sex, and Addiction: A Search for Love and Power, and Workaholics: The Respectable Addicts.2 Many people with high media profiles regularly succumb to addictions; the tabloids and magazines revel in details on fallen movie stars, television celebrities, sports heroes, community leaders, and politicians. Self-professed alcoholics and drug addicts often bare their souls on syndicated television talk shows, detailing stories on the horrors of being addicted and its impact on loved ones.