Final answer:
To be addicted means to have a strong and harmful dependence on something, specifically the compulsive use of a substance despite negative consequences. Addiction can lead to physical and psychological dependence, with physical dependence featuring withdrawal symptoms and psychological dependence involving cravings.
Step-by-step explanation:
To be "addicted to something" means b. To have a strong and harmful dependence on something. This addiction refers to the compulsive use of a substance, such as a psychoactive drug, despite the negative consequences that such use may entail. The term drug addiction highlights this aspect, where the user continues to use the substance compulsively. This behavior can lead to tolerance, where the individual requires increasingly larger doses to achieve the same effects, and can develop into both psychological dependence, which refers to drug craving, and physical dependence, which is associated with withdrawal symptoms upon stopping the drug use.
When a person is physically dependent, they may experience symptoms like tremors, pain, and seizures if they attempt to quit. Psychological dependence, on the other hand, refers to the mental and emotional aspects of addiction, such as an intense desire or craving for the drug. Rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances, allowing the individual to stop substance abuse in order to avoid the psychological, legal, financial, social, and physical consequences that can be caused, especially by extreme abuse.