What is an addiction and what is just a hobby?
 

How do you draw a line between a hobby and an addiction?

Traditionally, they say the line for addiction is that it begins to interfere with other important parts of your life; it affects your ability to be a good father or mother, it affects your ability to get or maintain a job, even your ability to maintain your own hygiene or mental health. But when do you personally draw the line between a simple hobby and an addiction?

These days, it seems like that there many things that people could be 'functional addicts' to. From video games to sex, one could potentially be 'addicted' in the sense that it takes control of their lives and feels more like a need than an enjoyable hobby, but they still maintain good relationships with their families, keep steady employment, and even maintain a relationship with their significant others. So where is the line? Where do you personally draw the line? It is a certain frequency (twice a week, twice a day, twice a month.. ?), is it a the level of obsession (how often you think about the activity) or is it simply just certain things - you can be addicted to gambling or alcohol, but not masturbation or video games?

Yes, interfering with life's "essentials" is a big one.

But where you draw the line elsewhere can vary person to person. How much money does one spend before it's an obsession? How much time?

It think much of that is subjective. You can be called a fanatic or a big enthusiast, or people could look at your hobby/habit as a lifestyle. All of this is fine if, as mentioned, it doesn't interfere with important things in life. However, I will also say that a line has been crossed when you invest the time or money and from it comes a sense of guilt instead of joy/satisfaction.

There is indulgence, and then there is overindulgence.

All things in moderation, right? Sometimes I question the legitimacy of social constructs like the work week and vacation and retirement.

I have hobbies. It's pretty obvious that I like firearms. I own many firearms and use them pretty regularly. They are both a part of my job (professional development) and a sport (shooting) as well as a craft (building, customizing). I don't sell plasma or pimp out my girlfriend to buy guns, though.

I guess you could say I'm a pretty balanced guy. OP pretty much sums up my feelings on the addiction/hobby line. It's when you start acting retarded.

What I don't like and can't stand are people that take their "hobby" to the extremes of interfering with social constructs like the work week. I don't like Mountain Dew-chugging non-showering WoW players, people that wear football jerseys during the weekdays and "Dude!"-slinging hippie potheads.

I think of addiction in its literal terminology. That is, you are dependent upon something to make you feel normal. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing-I am, quite literally, addicted to caffeine. I suppose I feel addictions become a problem when they're also your obsession. That is, not only do you regularly partake of a thing out of habit, but even when you're not indulging in this thing you think about it, obsess over the idea of having it all the time.

If I miss a chapter of Naruto in a week, or take a few days off of the Internet/TFP while camping, I don't get a case of the shakes. Same with baking. I really enjoy all of these things, but going without doing them isn't going to ruin my life. Also, as 9er pointed out, I'm not willing to go to extremes to maintain my habits when it comes to these things.

One thing that can characterize addiction is sneaking or hiding the behavior. My dad is an old car hobbyist, and it sometimes gets out of control to where he'll buy a car and not want my mom to find out about it. It has strained their relationship. Dad enjoys finding and buying them more than he enjoys actually DOING something with them. Mom hates having dead cars as permanent members of the family,:rolleyes: taking up space in the driveway or farmyard.
I think some people are addicted to TV. My Sig other is one. We just went on a three week road trip, and he'd have that TV on within ten seconds of walking into the hotel room.:grumpy: I could go a month without TV, and probably not even miss it.

Lindy

There's a lot of variables, I think. I'm a coffee junkie by any definition of the term. It's a fairly benign addiction, though firing up a generator just to make lattes when the power is out probably pushes it way past hobby.

/played in WoW shows an embarrassingly high number. I'd blame a low tolerance for evening television, rather than any addiction. I have no problem dumping WoW for a night out with the Mrs.

Hiding things from the spouse is a bit iffy. I've been on a mission to find headphone audio nirvana for about a year now. The gear is in plain sight, it was a negotiated deal when we redid the living room, though my wife has no clue what it cost. In fairness, the bills are paid and we carry no debt. I view it as an obsession and argument prevention, rather than addiction.

Where do I sign up for an addiction to sex?

When I think addiction, it always means inability to let go.

I could be considered a caffeine addict, but I can easily go through 2 mornings with severe headaches and I'm done. Does this mean I'm an avid coffee enjoyer or an addict?

But I am addicted to nicotine, as I've yet to stop despite many attempts. It's changed my life in that I've had to sacrifice much time and money, all wasted with not a good thing to show for it.

Same goes for internet/gaming and other addictions. As said above, interference with life and relationships in any way would constitute a true addiction.

I wonder if we're just picking things without any physical/emotional/mental connection that can be deep enough to bring about what we'd call addiction. I don't see anything about baking that could really 'hook' you in a physical/emotional/mental sense.

But what about the obvious? Is masturbating twice a day 'addicted'? Is masturbating twice a week addicted? Does it become more of an addiction if you're dating someone, or married?

Is posting on TFP an addiction? What if you feel like you NEED to check New Posts to see if someone has responded? What if you click New Posts obsessively throughout the day, when you really should be working?

Alcohol - is it, as they say, addiction if you "drink alone"? If not, how many days would you have to drink alone a month to be 'addicted'? Is it addiction if you only drink socially, but your social group goes out three times a week to binge drink?

I'm admittedly 'addicted' to caffeine like many have described above. I feel like I need it to have a productive day, even a happy day, sometimes. I'll up it to an energy drink (about 90mg caffeine instead of 54mg in a normal soda) if I'm feeling particularly down or sluggish. I can stop, but I do get smashing headaches (physical addiction) and it makes me want to do nothing but drink a soda.

Jinn: yesterday, I happened to play with some Play-Doh at work, and my first thought when the dough touched my fingers was: I need to go home and bake something. I bake bread, and the physical act of kneading and shaping loaves is what has me hooked on doing it. There's a kind of pleasure from that activity that I don't get anywhere else, any other way.

My husband thinks I'm obsessed :lol: I just think he's tired of eating bread.

I'm kinda confused by all these food/drink related addictions. Nobody is addicted to Cheetos. Nobody is addicted to Diet Mountain Dew. You just crave them. Alcohol is different, obviously. Folding my socks isn't an addiction. I won't die if I don't do it. Thus, not addiction... probably psychosis.

Preposterous. I'm pull-starting my prostate like two-three-four times a day here and I'm hardly a weirdo. Coping mechanism, I figure. Nothing else to do and it relaxes me. The Amish do it all the time. I totally don't do it as much when I'm not on business trips, but masturbation is boring release of chemicals to pacify my male urge to engage in hot-hot carnal sheathing. The problem with masturbation (and porn, of course) is not communicating with your partner about your "usage style" or if it messes around with the social constructs we've been talking about above. I figure porn can be addictive.

Do that, too. I suppose TFP is addictive in that interaction with it gives me a warm 'n fuzzy reward. Like a rat hitting a button to get food, like you fuckers that have Faceyspace and type entire novels in the little "leave a note" section but won't post on TFP. So, yeah, TFP is my primary social outlet right now. I figure it's okay to be wasting time here because it's "positive social interaction." Wouldn't say that I'm addicted to it, but it's probably possible.

I drink alone quite often and most of my drinking is binge drinking. I'm not addicted to alcohol because some nights I don't have anything and I certainly don't come rushing home after work to hit the bottle. Granted, I'm a light weight so a binge is two Jack 'n Cokes before I get all reflective or giggly. My current partner doesn't drink much (has in the past) and my peers / coworkers are mostly raging alcoholics that crush a case every evening. Hmm.

Fuckin' weak. I'm chugging two Rip-Its and two Diet Cokes a day. Minimum. Sometimes I'll have a cup of coffee or another Rip-It on top of that. My body responds by rocketing my lower GI tract into a world of semi-solid pain. That and I have a hard time sleeping at night. And I'm jittery all the time.

Caffeine, as far as I know, is not addictive. People just like the kick it gives and act grouchy if they don't get it (the whole US Army, for example). If it was addictive, I would have had a hard time quitting it for two weeks a few months ago because I'm a serious caffeine consumer (that's science for ya!). I also recall reading a research piece a few years ago that said its effects on the heart rate and sleep cycle cause no permanent damage. As with most things academic, I'm fairly certain I'm wrong. But I've been using caffeine products in excess for the last decade and, check it out, I'm a total stud.

...

I'm going to need some hair samples... so I can clone you.

I think we need to distinguish addiction from psychological dependency.

Yeah. Terminology is cockblocking the greatness of this thread.

Terms aside, I think everybody is putting down the same stuff.

Addiction is mental, tolerance is physical.
It's tolerance that makes you need more caffeine or nicotine to feel a certain way. It's the addiction that makes you want it. So in that respect, when you have to have something to feel a certain way, then you've built up enough tolerance to become addicted. If you can let it go and find that desired feeling without whatever it is, you're not addicted.

I usually drink a lot of caffeine for instance (~5 cups of strong coffee a day) but every couple of months I'll quit so my tolerance goes down. I have no trouble quitting, no headaches, no need, nada. I do the same thing with smoking a pipe and a few other drugs. People talk about how hard it is to quite smoking or something and I have no idea what they mean.

I don't mean for this to come off as a brag, but to help define what we're talking about. I know I can build up a physical tolerance. But I don't build up any addiction. I'm not sure if that's something physical or mental. Personally I think its physical.

I think sometimes it comes before mental and physical responses - that it is genetic. Addiction often runs in families.

I feel like I am the same way as you, to some extent, but different. I love the big three - coffee, alcohol, cigarettes - and I will crave them sometimes when I don't have them, but never feel like I have to have them.

But, and it sounds weird, I know, coming from a family with a long history of addiction, I almost feel like I have an addiction switch - and that if I were to flick it 'on' I could be a pretty talented alcoholic. At least, when I do drink, I am aware of that feeling that compels a person to keep drinking. Only, for some reason, I don't.

An addict or alcoholic might see no irony in this statement: "I can quit any time I want.:orly: I've done it dozens of times."

I don't know about that. I know plenty of alcoholics that are aware of their problem and choose to continue.

(not sure if that was pointed at me but) Except I have quit before, all drugs, with no problem (had surgery coming up.) No withdrawl no nothing. I can do the same with food. I fasted for a week just to see what it'd be like.