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Addiction may be defined as a pattern of behavior that's persistent, the result of a psychological or physical dependency that disrupts a person's quality of life. People become addicted to a wide variety of substances -- in the realm of physical addiction, a person could be addicted to tobacco, narcotics, alcohol, sedatives and stimulants; in psychological addiction, the person might take ordinary drives, such as the need for food or sex, and take these behaviors to an extreme. Everyone knows someone with an addictive streak or an actual addiction, but how do these addictions come about?

With the continued problem of drug and alcohol abuse more people are wondering exactly what causes addiction problems. This is a great question to ask and research when trying to prevent drug abuse in new users and is separate though related to the question of to how to treat addictions. There are two basic ways to approach the answer to this complicated question. One is based on the biological process of addiction and the other is various life circumstances that can either render one vulnerable to addiction or in fact bring it on.

Healthcare is a hot-button topic of late, and will be for some time. The recent adoption of the healthcare bill will take awhile before all the details are sorted out, but there will most certainly be more options for treatment for substance abuse. In the meantime, there are some measures for those who need help right now, but don't have a plan.

The definition of drug addiction is the physiological and psychological dependency on a substance. This can be described by a physiological tolerance to a substance and the presence of withdrawal symptoms in the absence of the drug. Psychologically, it is the continued use of the substance despite the negative consequences caused by its use. There are several types of care that focus on one or both of these aspects of addiction.