Author: Alex Thompson
Psychological Addiction: Meaning, Symptoms, Treatment
Addictive behaviors cause problems to a person’s life as their brains prioritize their addiction. Research suggests that behavioral addiction and substance use addiction work in the brain in similar ways. While they both have some overlapping diagnostic symptoms, such as continued use despite consequences or lack of any benefit, there are also differences. Substances send massive surges of dopamine through your brain, too, as well as certain activities, like having sex or spending money. But instead of motivating you to do the things you need to do to survive (eat, work and spend time with loved ones), such massive dopamine levels can have damaging effects on your thoughts, feelings and behavior. Addiction is a chronic (lifelong) condition that involves compulsive seeking and taking of a substance or performing of an activity despite negative or harmful consequences.
The psychological side of addiction represents the compulsion of the mind to drink or use based on a perceived need the substance fills. This facet of addiction can occur even if the person doesn’t display physical dependency symptoms. Once a person begins using on a daily or regular basis, the body becomes dependent on that drug. This means the cells can’t function the way they have been without the drug they have become accustomed to. As a result, painful withdrawal symptoms set in, causing most people to reach for the drug to make the pain go away.
Gambling Addiction
People with behavioral addictions will spend increasing amounts of time thinking about and engaging in the behavior to the detriment of their well-being and their relationships, finances, and future goals. To date, the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM-5) includes gambling disorder in its section on substance use disorders. Discussions on whether or not to classify behavioral addictions as mental disorders continue. Behavioral addictions can occur with any activity that’s capable of stimulating your brain’s reward system.
With a growing epidemic of drug and alcohol abuse, many people are desperately seeking answers. They want to know why people become addicted and what causes addiction. Crystal Raypole has previously worked as a writer and editor for GoodTherapy. Her fields of interest include Asian languages and literature, Japanese translation, cooking, natural sciences, sex positivity, and mental health. In particular, she’s committed to helping decrease stigma around mental health issues. Talking about substance use disorder can be tricky, and not just because it’s a sensitive topic.
- It’s crucial to seek help as soon as you develop signs of addiction.
- To diagnose addiction, your healthcare provider may refer you to a psychiatrist, psychologist or drug and alcohol counselor.
- The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) defines addiction as a chronic brain disorder.
- Addiction occurs when people continue to compulsively use a drug despite harmful consequences.
All addictions have the capacity to induce a sense of hopelessness and feelings of failure, as well as shame and guilt, but research documents that recovery is the rule rather than the exception. Individuals can achieve improved physical, psychological, and social functioning on their own—so-called natural recovery. Others benefit from the support of community or peer-based networks. And still others opt for clinical-based recovery through the services of credentialed professionals.
Binge Eating Disorder/Food Addiction
DrugAbuse.gov offers an insightful explanation based on brain image studies from people addicted to drugs. The study found, physical changes in areas of the brain that are critical for judgment, decision making, learning, memory, and behavior control in addicted people. Scientists believe that these changes alter the way the brain works and may help explain the compulsive and destructive behaviors of an addicted person. Addictive behavior is any behavior that a person compulsively engages in and has difficulty controlling or stopping despite negative consequences.
Knowing the warning signs can help you to tell the difference between a behavior you may feel particularly drawn towards, an increasingly problematic behavior, and a behavioral addiction. Behavioral addiction describes addictions to pursuits like gambling, social media, or sexual behavior, rather than to substance use that leads to dependency, like alcohol or nicotine. For some substances, such as opioids, the withdrawal symptoms are so severe that they create significant motivation to continue using them. Contact us at The Recovery Village to learn more about our treatment programs for substance use disorder.
This article explains behavioral addiction, how it differs from substance addiction, signs to watch for, and what to do if you or someone you love has a behavioral addiction. Another distinguishing feature of addictions is that individuals continue to pursue the activity despite the physical or psychological harm it incurs, even if it the harm is exacerbated by repeated use. Typically, one’s tolerance to a substance increases as the body adapts to its presence.
The world is changing, and you may find that getting help for your addiction is the best thing you ever do for yourself. In the meantime, we hope that educating yourself will help on your journey to wellness. A compulsion to continue the behavior despite consequences and efforts to stop makes behavioral change difficult, but not impossible.
Development
If you or someone you care about may have an addiction, talk to your provider right away. Excessive drinking and substance use on college campuses does not have to be the norm—an examination of collegiate recovery communities can help inform how to rebrand college. What starts out as a partial solution often becomes part of the problem and can even make chronic pain worse. Symptoms might also fluctuate, improving for a period of time and intensifying when you’re under a lot of stress. You feel a sudden onset of panic because you’re about to give a huge presentation.
Symptoms and Causes
A person with an addiction uses a substance, or engages in a behavior, for which the rewarding effects provide a compelling incentive to repeat the activity, despite detrimental consequences. Addiction may involve the use of substances such as alcohol, inhalants, opioids, cocaine, and nicotine, or behaviors such as gambling. Psychological addiction is when a person is emotionally tied to a drug based on a mental desire for it.
Addiction Symptoms
For example, users of marijuana often do not think they’ve developed an addiction because they can physically go without using it. However, their mind creates an extreme desire for it that can negatively impact them in many ways causing loss of sleep, anxiety, depression, and changes in appetite. Aside from the long debated topic about whether addiction is a disease or a choice, there are also many people who question whether there is a difference between physical addiction and psychological addiction. Often people think of these as completely separate processes, but they are actually simultaneous. Psychological dependence just refers to the way that some people come to emotionally or mentally rely on a substance.
You’re gripped with fear that you’ll fumble your words or screw up the slides because you didn’t get your caffeine boost. However, it’s important to note there are still wide variations in the way doctors use these terms.
Our trained staff will help walk you through how you can get started on the road to recovery today and what to expect during your experience. Some estimates suggest approximately 90 percent of people recovering from opioid addiction and 75 percent of people recovering from alcohol addiction or other substance addictions will have symptoms of PAWS. Left unmanaged, withdrawal from certain substances can be severe and even life threatening in some cases. Other withdrawal symptoms, like those mentioned in the coffee example, are just uncomfortable. Stopping some drugs then relapsing can heighten your risk of overdose, mental health problems, or other life-threatening medical complications, and should be done under medical supervision. If you are starting to think you might have an addiction, you have probably moved into the contemplation stage.