Whats the difference between being addicted to something and being obsessed with it?

Question

Whats the difference between being addicted to something and being obsessed with it?

Answer 1

this is what i think it is

say im addicted to y..answers...it means(to me )i just HAVE to answer a certain number every day,if i am obsessed with y...answers  i just take over the computer...dont share it with anyone...look at different aspects of  y answers ....obsession can be good if it is moderate but compulsiveobsession can be bad...

Answer 2

people are usually addicted to gambling or drungs and are obsessed with other people and some people are neat freaks and so they are obsesses with cleaness  

Answer 3

I am a recovered addict and I went to a long term treatment on a ranch in Alaska.  We use the words obsession as an emotion that causes the action of addiction.

Answer 4

I always believed that addicition applied to something in more of a phsyical sense,  whereas I always saw obsession relating to the mind.

addiction-the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit

obsession-the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.  

Answer 5

addicted is supposed to be when there is a chemical element involved, even if it is only in the brain.

Addition is medical - obsession originally meant more psychological.

but lots of people are using both words incorrectly, too often, and inappropriately.

Answer 6

i find the word obsessed means you love it from afar and addicted according to drugs

Answer 7

addiction is a physical need,  Obsession is and emotional need.  Neither of which is mutually exclusive.  You can have one or both in any given situation.