I am coming to the conclusion that addiction is in significant part a symptom rather than a cause.
In my own case, I am not "addicted" in the traditional sense, but following some adverse health events that have not been resolved, I have become more more habituated to using TV and "the Internet" to "tune out". When you are in chronic physical discomfort, it is easy to fall into doing whatever is most convenient and immediately effective to take your attention away from this.
I also ended up in some terribly noisy work and home circumstances (yes, both). This is another stress that one can seek to escape, especially when it is chronic.
And, said stress, as also the physical discomfort described above, severely throttles cognitive ability, in my experience.
TL;DR: It's a slippery slope. Avoid health and environmental issues, before they become chronic, self-reinforcing problems that may lead to behavior that has traditionally been defined as the source problem.
In my own case, I am not "addicted" in the traditional sense, but following some adverse health events that have not been resolved, I have become more more habituated to using TV and "the Internet" to "tune out". When you are in chronic physical discomfort, it is easy to fall into doing whatever is most convenient and immediately effective to take your attention away from this.
I also ended up in some terribly noisy work and home circumstances (yes, both). This is another stress that one can seek to escape, especially when it is chronic.
And, said stress, as also the physical discomfort described above, severely throttles cognitive ability, in my experience.
TL;DR: It's a slippery slope. Avoid health and environmental issues, before they become chronic, self-reinforcing problems that may lead to behavior that has traditionally been defined as the source problem.