Addiction
Everyone is familiar with the maxim that addiction is insanity, it is “doing the same thing time and again, always expecting a different result.” On the ground, this definition seems a bit trite, and judgmental.
A more biochemical definition includes the often unconscious and compulsive aspect: “in addiction, pursuit of rewards persists, despite life problems that accumulate due to addictive behaviors, even when engagement in the behaviors ceases to be pleasurable.”