Addiction Analogies

Slavery

Bondage

Craving

Fixation

A disease

An illness

Dependency

Enslavement

Pain relief

A compulsion

A relationship

Substance abuse

Misplaced worship

Voluntary slavery

A medical problem

Processed pleasure

Self gratification

A revolt of the soul

A very cunning enemy

An illness of escape

A practice of sinning

The consequence of sin

The memory of pleasure

A developmental problem

A sickness of the spirit

The opposite of connection

Insistence on pain avoidance

A form of spiritual emptiness

Unrecognized spiritual craving

The opposite of human connection

Addiction to an alteration of mood

Compulsion plus negative consequences

The number one disease of civilisation

A state of slavery that can never satisfy

Adulterous – loving something more than God

Idolatrous – worshipping something other than God

A refusal to submit to God’s loving lordship

Becoming a slave to a substance or behaviour

Anything we feel we can't give up or must have

When we can’t get enough of what we don’t need

A vicious cycle that perpetuates the dependence

Devotion to something that we become dependent upon

An abnormally strong craving for some thing or activity

When we can't get enough of what we don't want any more

Not our problem – it’s what we use to cope with our problem

Being dependent on and controlled by a substance or behaviour

A pathological relationship in which obsession replaces people

Craving fulfillment from something that cannot provide fulfillment

A strong inclination to do, use, or indulge in something repeatedly

Short term relief (pleasure) that creates long term problems (pain)

An increasing desire for an act that gives less and less satisfaction

Not a fact of life but a description about how we are choosing to live

The means we use to try to feel connected, loved, or part of something

Putting other people, things, and activities in the top spot of our lives

When we recognize any god other than the true and living God of the Bible

Anything that controls us, especially things that are not constructive or helpful

Unhealthy ways we find to feel better about ourselves, numb pain, or find purpose

A primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry

A chronic dysfunction of the brain system that involves reward, motivation, and memory

Anything we do to avoid hearing the messages that our body and soul are trying to send us

Continued involvement in the addictive activity despite negative, life-damaging consequences

When we treat anything like an idol, giving power to it or going to it for solutions or help

Anything we worship or glorify, giving it weight or authority and pursuing it above other things

Being enslaved to a habit or practice to such an extent that stopping it would cause severe trauma

What happens when we have lost agency or the power to choose and we are controlled by something else

Using substances or engaging in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences

When we let something become our master, ruling or having power over us, causing us to be in bondage to or enslaved by it

An inability to stop using a substance or engaging in a behavior even though it is causing psychological and physical harm

A disease that tells the afflicted, despite years or even decades of heartbreaking evidence to the contrary, that using will make things better

A biopsychosocial disease characterized by the recurrent use of a harmful substance, or the repetitive participation in self-destructive behavior

A treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences

The way our body craves a substance or behavior, especially if it causes a compulsive or obsessive pursuit of reward and lack of concern over consequences

When the thing we pursue is voluntarily promoted to the level of a god or idol in our life, we worship it, and eventually we become an involuntary slave to it

Choosing or pursuing something other than God in a habitual, patterned, or repetitive way in order to meet a particular need, despite the inadequacy of the coping mechanism and the negative consequences that occur

A compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal or abstinence