The most common use of the term "addict" is, as I implied, in relation to drugs, especially "hard" drugs like crystal meth, heroin, and all those other lovely nasties. A noted synonym is "junkie," a still-less-flattering label that conjures images of a decidedly unwashed and ungroomed person who jumps out at you to ask for money when you walk by an alley to ask, twitching, for the change from your meal or whatever.
But we have "adrenaline junkies," don't we? Weird. That hasn't got the same connotation at all; at the very worst, an "adrenaline junkie" is reckless and unhealthily uninvested in their own safety. In America, we actually tend to admire such people for their ability to briefly abandon their fear and "just do it," always seeking the next "crazy" thing to do in the name of fun.
Well, hang on a second. That's exactly the same as what a heroin addict does, abandoning the usual constraints of society in search of the next big chemically-induced rush. The only way for either of these types to be happy at any moment is to have their substance of choice, whether it's synthetically produced in a lab or naturally produced by their body in response to a fear stimulus. As such, these people will pretty well ignore anything that isn't their given stimulus until they receive it. What an unhealthy, unfortunate state to be in!
Everyone's in that state.
"What do you mean, everyone?! I'M certainly not a junkie, thou artless, bandy-legged rapscallion!!" A junkie? No, maybe not, but I can just about guarantee you're an addict.
An addict, as I mentioned, is someone who has one thing that just absolutely pushes all their buttons. In the normal definition, this is exactly and only one thing, but multiple addictions can exist in one person. The thing(s) to which a person is addicted can exclude other things from the addict's consideration; the addict's certain knowledge of what makes them tick over tends to cheapen other things by comparison.
What I'm going to tell you, for your consideration, is that everyone has a few things like this, things that create just the right fuel-air mixture in the combustion chamber of their brain. With drug addicts, it's very clear; the thing in question is a compound that affects their brain and body chemistry in observably chemical ways. For most people, however, the question is less clear. Your addiction can be something physical like this, or it can be something mental.
I don't mean to imply all our addictions are unhealthy, either. I personally could be labeled a music addict without much trouble, and I'd accept it. Going through a day without any sort of music is almost unbearable, and I remember songs and play them in my head when I can't listen to the songs themselves. Do you absolutely love reality T.V., even if you objectively know it's not especially edifying? I know someone who finds boxing and fighting sports in general to be morally reprehensible, but still watches MMA more than the news.
Here's a really common one: terrified of people seeing you "without your coffee?"
I think a really important step in life is to recognize what your addictions are and try to translate them into something you find useful. The immediately obvious example would be picking a job that relates to your personal addiction, but the examples are too many to discuss with any semblance of brevity here. The idea is to have drive coming from your addictions, but not be driven solely by them, if that makes sense.
Think about things you do every day, or things you relish every time they happen, and see if you can't figure out what it is you're a junkie for.
TL;DR We've all got somethin'.
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