An analysis of commonalities in substance abuse and habitual behavior

The foregoing discussion attempts to accomplish two objectives: (1) to present criteria which are commonly employed to characterize "addictions"; (2) to discuss the usefulness of such criteria as a first step toward a more sophisticated analysis. It should be obvious that no single criterion is sufficient to define an addiction. Also, not all are necessary. These criteria, growing out of common usage, are imprecise, but they offer a basis for assessing common properties in more highly refined ways.