> Of course, when confronted, they say it's not addictive and they dont have a problem. As we know this is the first sign of a very serious addiction.
We don't know anything of the sort.
It's common for addicts to think they aren't addicted. But it's also common for non-addicts to think they aren't addicted, because, you know, they aren't.
It's just difficult in many cases to tell whether someone is addicted, and your confidence that you know isn't warranted, nor does it make you particularly helpful to addicts.
From a practicality perspective, a decent litmus test I think is "does the behaviour cause problems in your life?" and a follow-on to that is "do you want to stop but feel that you're unable to?"
I am addicted to tobacco. It causes me social and relationship grief. It's very hard to stop. Health-wise I don't need a lecture on the long-term harm I am doing, but in the short-term I'm generally going pretty good. Great cardio, decent blood pressure, shrug. I low-key want to stop, but it's not urgent.
I am likely addicted to caffeine as well, although suffer virtually zero obvious negative consequences from that other than needing a cup or two throughout the day to feel alert.
Someone else in this this thread mentioned losing multiple jobs because of weed. They're likely addicted to it, or suffering from some other kind of mental condition that results in them having poor impulse control/pleasure-seeking behaviour.
We don't know anything of the sort.
It's common for addicts to think they aren't addicted. But it's also common for non-addicts to think they aren't addicted, because, you know, they aren't.
It's just difficult in many cases to tell whether someone is addicted, and your confidence that you know isn't warranted, nor does it make you particularly helpful to addicts.