If you ask most people, ‘What is addiction?’ you’re likely to hear answers about drugs or alcohol. While substance addiction is well-known, there are many other addictive behaviors that can quietly disrupt lives, relationships, and health. Behavioral addictions like gambling, compulsive shopping, or excessive screen time may not involve substances, but their consequences can be just as harmful.
In this article, we will look at what addiction truly means, distinguish between the two main types of addiction, and how seemingly harmless behaviors can spiral into more severe issues, including drug and alcohol abuse. By understanding the warning signs and acting early, you can prevent these behaviors from escalating. Awareness, early intervention, and the right support can help break the cycle of addiction and pave the way for a healthier, more fulfilling future.
What is Addiction?
Addiction is a complex disease, a chronic and life-long condition of taking substances or participating in activities compulsively, despite them having negative and harmful consequences in your life.
Addiction involves the changing of your brain’s reward system, making a person reliant on the activity or substance to feel pleasure or relief from pain or discomfort.
Addictions often disrupt relationships, work, and health, leading to significant emotional, physical, and social challenges.
Recognizing addiction as a treatable disease rather than a moral failing is important in understanding and addressing it effectively.
The Two Types of Addiction
Substance Addiction: Substance addiction is the compulsive seeking and taking of a substance.
While alcohol is the most common, substance addiction can also be non-prescription medication, prescription medication, illicit drugs, or a combination.
Substance abuse, like any addiction, can escalate from mild, moderate, to severe addictions. With severe addiction, a person can become physically dependent on the substance and will experience withdrawals without it.
Behavioral Addiction: An addiction to an activity or behavior that consumes the mind of a person and negatively impacts their life can be considered a behavioral addiction.
Any activity that stimulates the brain’s reward system has the potential to become an addictive behavior.
Like substance addiction, behavioral addictions can lead to mental, social, and physical health issues, not to mention financial and legal trouble as well.
Behavioral Addictions and How They Can Negatively Impact a Life
The following list is made up of three common behavioral addictions and how they negatively impact our lives.
Gambling: Gambling disorder is a clinically diagnosed behavioral addiction characterized by an uncontrollable urge to gamble despite the negative consequences. Like substance addiction, gambling activates the brain’s reward system, releasing dopamine and reinforcing the behavior, making it hard to stop. People with gambling addictions often chase their losses, bet beyond their financial means, and struggle to stop gambling even when it is harming their relationships, finances, or well-being.
- Negative Impacts: It is obvious with a gambling addiction that financial problems will arise which will undoubtedly lead to strains on relationships. Not only the money spent, but the time away from loved ones and work negatively impact the individual. Emotional and mental health issues can arise from feelings of guilt, shame, and helplessness. The stress of a gambling addiction may also lead to a decline in physical health.
Compulsive Shopping: This behavioral addiction is characterized by an uncontrollable urge to shop and purchase unnecessary items. It is often driven by emotional triggers such as stress, loneliness, boredom, or the need for validation. The act of shopping boosts the mood and can relieve negative emotions for the individual on a short-term basis.
- Negative Impacts: Like many addictive behaviors, financial strain arises due to excessive spending and mounting debt as the person is unable to control their spending. These problems often lead to emotional distress due to the guilt, shame, and regret that follows. Relationship problems are created due to dishonesty, secrecy about spending, and financial strain.
Screen time/Social Media Addiction: Being addicted to screen time and social media are related, but screen time does not necessarily depend on the internet. Screen time addiction can be associated with the use of smartphones, tablets, computers, or TVs. Social media addiction is focused primarily on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Both of these addictions are driven by the compulsive need for constant engagement, validation, and the fear of missing out.
- Negative Impacts: Both of these addictions negatively affect mental health by increasing anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. Reduced productivity due to constant scrolling and procrastination become common occurrences with screen time addiction, along with interrupted sleep patterns, social isolation, and physical health issues.
Other common behavioral addictions include exercise addictions, food addictions, and sex addictions. All of these behavioral addictions have negative impacts on social, mental, and physical health.
How Behavioral Addictions Lead to Substance Abuse
Addiction, no matter the type, can overlap due to the shared pathway in the brain that stimulates the reward system. A big part of the way addiction develops and progresses is through these changes in brain chemistry.
Addicts are motivated to seek rewards and will evolve into different addictions as the old one loses its effectiveness in this reward stimulation.
Substance addictions can develop due to the mental and social challenges that behavioral addictions cause. An example of this could be when a gambler starts to abuse alcohol to cope with the negative effects that the gambling is causing in their life. Or perhaps, someone who is stressed due to their compulsive behavior may start to use drugs to escape from the reality of their addiction.
The Importance of Recognizing Addiction Early
Early identification of a behavioral addiction can help prevent escalation into substance abuse and reduce long-term consequences.
Warning signs to watch for in early addictions include:
- Changes in behavior or personality
- Decline in performance at work or school
- Isolation or secrecy
- Lack of focus
- Increased personal problems
- Increased relationship problems
- Financial problems
Addiction is a progressive disease. What may start out as a benign behavior can progress into a mild, moderate, or severe addiction if left unchecked. The potential for behavioral addiction to escalate into substance abuse disorders arises as the addiction becomes more severe and impacts an individual’s life negatively.
Outpatient mental health services in Ogden are for the individual who has the early signs of addiction and wants to take control of their life before it progresses into something much more harmful.
Outpatient mental health services provide flexible, accessible treatment that allows an individual to receive professional care and support while maintaining their daily routines.
As you can see, addiction, whether related to substances or behaviors, is a complex and progressive condition that can severely impact a person’s life. Behavioral addictions like gambling, compulsive shopping, and excessive screen time are often overlooked, yet they can lead to significant emotional, financial, and relational problems. When left unchecked, these behaviors can escalate into substance abuse, further complicating recovery and leading to more serious consequences. Recognizing the signs of addiction early and seeking support through outpatient services is essential to preventing long-term harm. By taking proactive steps, individuals can break free from the cycle of addiction and reclaim control of their health, relationships, and well-being. Early intervention and support are vital to creating a future free from addiction.
