Explaining addiction to a 15 year old

Mom, I SO do not get addiction. I mean, why can't you just STOP. You know, just put the beer, or whatever down? It makes no sense to me.

Well, you might never really understand it. From what I've seen, people either are addictive or they're not. Some more than others. I could have one diet Pepsi everyday and be fine, dad can have none or he'll drink a whole 2 liter everyday for months. He just can't even open the door. It's all or nothing. He knows he's like that so he stopped drinking soda. That was one of the reasons he gave up alcohol, he knew it was in his nature to drink to get really drunk. Now he has his addictions, but he makes sure they're harmless, like fantasy football. I was always scared growing up because I had a lot of addiction in my family and I didn't want to go down that road.

What are you talking about?!

Honey, I had uncles and cousins on both sides of my family that went through years of problems and have overcome them. Some are still struggling.

Do you have that kind of personality?

YES! But I'm luckily able to recognize that and control it. I struggle CONSTANTLY with my obsessive need to clean, but through years of hard work and determination I'm able to suppress that and rechannel my energy to other areas. It's only because I'm so aware of my problem that I'm able to really stay on top of not being the OBSESSIVELY CLEAN person that my crazy head tries to force me to be. I WANT TO CLEAN ALL THE TIME but I'm so glad I could learn to live with this problem in a healthy way.

Mom, that's not funny.