From my experience the best definition of addiction is by Alcoholics Anonymous in their Big Book. They described both the problem and the solution. Addiction is not a vice, it's an illness. And has to be treated accordingly. A real addict is not someone who will take back control over their addiction. If someone can control it or stop it on their own, good for them, possibly they were abusing it, but weren't addicted.
If someone abuses their compulsive behaviors and it destroys their live, but they cannot abstain from it for good and also cannot use it in moderation, they're probably an addict of a kind, that only a spiritual solution, with help of others, can help.
