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When a person is addicted to something, lets say a drug, and they are deprived of it for too long, they start getting sick, have anxiety attacks and crave for it extremely and uncontrollably.

Is there a word in English for that exact condition?

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    Withdrawal is commonly used. In [drug] withdrawal, suffering from withdrawal, etc.
    – Michael Harvey
    Nov 19, 2019 at 12:28

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When someone stops taking a drug they've developed a dependence on, they're said to exhibit (drug) withdrawal symptoms, collectively called withdrawal syndrome when they occur together (e.g., alcohol withdrawal syndrome).

Or shortened, as user Michael Harvey says in a comment, the addict is said to suffer from withdrawal.

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'Withdrawal' is fine, but colloquially this is known as "going cold-turkey", whether the action is by choice or has been enforced in some way.

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  • But mostly, going cold-turkey describes the act of stopping, not the condition or symptoms that he's going through, right?
    – Bella Swan
    Nov 20, 2019 at 10:00
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    @BellaSwan No, quite the opposite - "Cold Turkey" actually comes from the physical goose-bumps etc that the addict suffers from, leaving their skin/bodies 'like a piece of cold turkey meat'
    – MikeB
    Nov 21, 2019 at 13:04

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