An Overview of Behavioral Addiction

Most people understand addiction when it comes to a dependence on substances, such as alcohol, nicotine, illicit drugs, or even prescription medications, but they have a hard time with the concept of addictive behaviors.

Yet, it's also possible to develop a behavioral addiction. In fact, people can get hooked on everything from gambling to sex to the internet.

Some activities are so normal that it's hard to believe people can become addicted to them. Yet the cycle of addiction can still take over, making everyday life a constant struggle. People may seek out more and more opportunities to engage in the behavior. The desire to experience a "high" from the behavior becomes so strong that the individual continues to engage in the activity despite negative consequences.

What Is a Behavioral Addiction?

Although even experts disagree about whether behavioral addictions are "real" addictions, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) explicitly included behaviors in the addictions category.

Outside the world of professional psychiatry and psychology, the media has embraced the concepts of behavioral addictions, such as sex addiction and shopping addiction, and has also categorized other behaviors such as self-injury and self-harm and excessive plastic surgery as "addiction."

Behavioral addictions (also called process addictions) follow the same pattern as substance-based addictions, and they result in problems in many areas of a person's life.

Signs You Have a Behavioral Addiction

Understanding the addictive process and the danger signs can help you to tell the difference between addictive behavior, problematic behavior that's not an addiction, and normal behavior that's non-problematic.

Red flags include:

• Spending the majority of your time engaging in the behavior, thinking about or arranging to engage in the behavior, or recovering from the effects
• Becoming dependent on the behavior as a way to cope with emotions and to "feel normal"
• Continuing despite physical and/or mental harm
• Having trouble cutting back despite wanting to stop
• Neglecting work, school, or family to engage in the behavior more often
• Experiencing symptoms of withdrawal (for example, depression or irritability) when trying to stop
• Minimizing or hiding the extent of the problem

Types

Although most of these addictions are not recognized by the DSM-5, the leading diagnostic guide for mental health professionals, many healthcare providers believe these are disorders that can be treated.

Some common behavioral addictions include:

• Exercise addiction

Fortunately for those living with behavioral addictions, treatments that have been developed to treat substance dependencies have also been successfully used to treat behavioral addictions.

Understanding the stages of change will help you to be gentler on yourself if you aren't ready to seek help. Even if you don't want to tell other people about your problem, try not to lie to those closest to you.

Many people live with behavioral addictions, and although they can wreak havoc on your life, it is possible to recover. Talk to your doctor when you are ready to take the next step.

Source: https://www.verywellmind.com/addictive-behaviors-4157291

What do you think about the two-way relationship of the physical and psychological symtoms in any aspect of our lives?

#Addiction #Coping #BehavioralPsychology