Dependent

To ensure that we will never come face to face with ourselves, we develop addictions.  We are used to categorizing addictions chiefly in reference to drugs or alcohol.  But this lets many of us off too lightly.  Addiction isn’t limited to a dependence on a chemical.  An addiction is simply anything that guarantees that we will never have to come to terms with ourselves, that promises to ward off uncomfortable or dreadful inner realizations.  Conceived of like this, a host of other types of addiction come into view:  we might get addicted to doing exercise, reading football scores, worrying about insurance or going to work.  An addiction can’t be spotted by what it makes us do, simply by what it prevents us from feeling.

Excerpt from How Modern Media Destroys Our Minds