Chapter 10 Chapter Overview

Addiction, the repetitive use of a substance or engagement in an activity considered to be problematic, is a commonly used term in multiple domains. When it comes to the field of mental health and illness, however, the term has traditionally been used in reference to drugs, and more recently to problem behaviours such as gambling. Though it appears to be widely accepted, the use of the term in medical circles has sometimes provoked outrage from individuals and groups who believe that its application is a means of medicalizing and legitimizing unruly behaviour. As a medical concept, the term has also come under attack for its failure to acknowledge the historical and socio-cultural context of its emergence, definition, and application.

In this chapter, these issues and others are addressed in-depth from a critical standpoint. Key among the topics discussed include the emergence and evolution, as well as the treatment, of addictions. The historical and sociocultural underpinnings of addictions and how they play into contemporary debates in the field are also deliberated.

From the chapter, it is evident that though the term addiction and what it entails is contested, what it represents carries with it some adverse and tangible consequences; consequences that have led to numerous government regulations and reforms around its management.