This is a common question facing people who encounter addiction personally or as a family member living with an addict.

As defined by various medical journals, addiction is a dependence on a chemical substance to the extent that a moderate to severe physiological need is established. Usually dependence is considered involuntary. Addiction has also been defined as a chronic, progressive, and at times fatal illness stemming from both genetic and environmental factors. What this mean is that if you either hang around people who use or have a family history of drug abuse then your chances of developing an addiction are high compared to those not genetically or environmentally exposed to the habit of using drugs or alcohol.

Addiction normally manifests itself as obsessive compulsive behavior that propels an individual to persist with regardless of its effects on self and family and of a genuine desire or effort to stop their destructive habit and inability to do so.

Described as a disease of "more," addiction is the same whether the dependence is on a drug -- such as alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine or heroin -- or a behavior, such as gambling or sexual promiscuity.

What's more, addiction has nothing to do with race, religion, family, occupation or age. Anyone can become an addict.

Medical research indicates that addiction runs in some families. What is not certain is how it is transmitted. Is there a specific gene associated with it? Is it taught or learned?

Addiction and heredity appear linked: sons born into an alcoholic family are three times more likely to develop alcoholism than those born into a family of non-alcoholics. Additional research indicates that environmental factors may also play a major role in determining a person's alcoholism affinity.

The environmental factors that come into play include demographics (geography, economics, crime-rate, quality of schools) and familial factors (genetics, family addiction, and family parenting skills).

A family history of addiction, living with active addicts, and being inadequately parented also increases the risk of using and abusing substances. But this in no way means that alcoholics are only found in unstable homes. Some teens raised in high-risk environments actually develop certain resiliency skills and lead a full life never touching alcohol or drugs. Many focused and hardy teens tend to have high self-esteem and sound decision-making skills. Many teens who have grown up feeling unconditionally loved will turn to drug abuse and many won't.

Factors like peer groups play a major role especially in puberty. If kids manage to escape the peer pressure enticement to dabble early on in drugs, it is less likely they will develop an addiction.

Joining support groups and prevention programs also go a long way in keeping your kids and yourself drug free. Such programs delay the initial using while simultaneously strengthening an individual's determination to remain or become drug-free.

Should you or someone in your family develop a drug alcohol addiction problem, admittance to a drug alcohol addiction treatment center is strongly recommended. While in an addiction treatment program, the addict will be expected to participate in group and individual therapy sessions, structured classroom instruction focusing on coping and cognitive skills, lessons on nutrition and exercise and introduction to the 12-step approach to living successfully in society without using drugs or alcohol.