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Ok, just to bring everyone back down to earth:
Addiction: n., the fact or process of being addicted, especially the process of taking a drug habitually and being unable to give it up without incurring adverse effects.
The above is from the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.
Now, before you say "What an asshole" and dismiss this post, I actually have a point other than being a word nerd.
When we call habits (shopping, television viewing, porn consumption) or compulsions (cleaning the house 5 times in a row, or the above mentioned persons use of Chap-Stik) an addiction we do three things:
1) Surrender all of our power to make a choice to change our behaviour. We become helpless, because, after all, this is now an "addiction" and therefore a medical condition beyond individual control or responsibility.
2) Misdiagnose and hence mistreat real conditions. "Chap-Stik addict" instead of someone showing signs of an obsessive-compulsive disorder.
3) Cheapen, and ultimately render meaningless a valuable word that properly describes a real and devastating problem - addiction.
Rant done. Word nerd hereby retreats to the safety of Canada.
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