The addiction makes significant changes to the scheme described before. It adds another element called compulsiveness (the English verb “to compel” comes from the Latin word compello that means “to force”). The original meaning of the compulsiveness is a regular repetition of some simple actions (regular washing hands, multiple comebacks to check whether the entrance door is locked, etc.). Although some authorities like DSM view the addiction as compulsiveness, it isn’t only making the issue too simple but also it serves as a stumbling stone to different approaches to the addictive behavior. Indeed, many compulsive actions aren’t only useless when judging their impact on a human, but also very simple in their structure. It can’t be said so, for example, about the above-mentioned scheme and about human appetitive intention. Nevertheless, an alcoholic’s attitude to the process of obtaining and consuming alcohol changes dramatically. The possibility changes to the necessity by key elements. The money to buy alcohol is searched in very sophisticated ways. If no legal means to get a drink are available at hand, illegal ones are taken into account too, theft, for instance. So, the appetite or a desire to drink becomes an absolute determinant governing the whole life of a human. The force of the addictive appetitive behavior rivals with the hunger of food, because this behavior is much stronger. The question whether it can be taken as mere automaticity like compulsive washing hands hasn’t been answered yet. It shall be remembered too that the main aim of the addiction is to get high by any means.
The relations between consummatory and appetitive behavior in the addictive consumption of alcohol aren’t simple as well. There exist detailed biochemical studies that show the relation between the consumption of alcohol and the body’s saturation with it. We’ll talk much about this in future. However, even the mere common sense testifies for the evident fact that an alcoholic can drink until no alcohol can be found nearby. Still, having dried the last glass of liquor he or she may decide not to look for another portion of “kick”…