I wonder a lot about the role ones individual neurochemistry plays in these kinds of addiction. I've been on stimulants for ADD for years with almost no ill effects other than mildly suppressed appetite and trouble sleeping if I take it too late in the morning. I frequently will go for several days without it on vacations, and about once a year I stop taking it for at least a few weeks to kind of reset myself during the holidays. I can't recall ever having had anything like the authors experiences.

Similarly, despite many ill-advised attempts to prove otherwise in my younger days, I can't seem to develop addictions to substances like cigarettes. I can take them or leave them for any period of time.

However, certain kinds of games can become almost compulsive for me if I let myself play them... addiction is a strange beast.