There are obvious reasons for the rise in addiction and addicts - the sheer availability of drugs, for one thing. Alcohol was my passport to another place where none of the negative things in my life mattered any more. After a century of psychoanalysis and more than 50 years of peace, our lives tend not to be about mere survival any more. These days, we talk in terms of quality of life and self-realisation. There is also, as Boyd points out, 'an international media now that communicates all this stuff'.
Addiction is well and truly out.
And, of course, there is a way in which this is very healthy and positive, but there is also concern among some specialists, a feeling that we need to engage rather more critically with the concept of addiction. There are worries around the numbers of people who now see themselves as addicts. Not least of all because addiction is such a potent and powerful concept to buy into. The word is misused. There is a place for it, but it's being misused, and I think that people are genuinely confused.