addiction

The erosion of agency under the weight of compulsion. A condition in which a man, though capable of reason, finds his will repeatedly overruled; drawn back to an act or substance he would otherwise, with unclouded judgement, resist. The object may be chemical or behavioural, the cause chosen or imposed; yet the signature is constant: a desire that obscures judgement, narrows attention, and weakens resolve. Neither mere habit nor passion freely embraced, addiction is the rust-locked chain and the fixation that stirs unrest when denied.