The Effects of Behavioral Addictions

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The Effects of Behavioral Addictions

When people think of addiction, they almost always think of drug and alcohol addiction. That makes sense because it is drug and alcohol addiction that causes the most problems and concerns when it comes to addiction in this country. Drug and alcohol addiction does stand out as being the two more severe addiction issues. However, these are by far not the only types of addictions that occur in this nation. The effects of behavioral addictions can be devastating for individuals as well as their families.

Behavioral Addictions

Behavioral addictions are addictions that occur in people that do not have to do with an actual substance. A behavioral addiction is when a person has an addiction to an activity, not drugs or alcohol. One excellent example is gambling addiction, but some people have addictions to other things like sex, porn, eating, exercise, shopping, video gaming, etc. In all of these activities, it is doing the action that creates the strong addiction, not the actual consumption of the substance.

Addiction is tricky to understand and even more so to address adequately. Gambling addiction is probably the best example of a behavioral addiction. However, there are other behavioral addictions too like an addiction to video games.

Types of Behavioral Addictions

With a behavioral addiction, it all comes down to the activity and the habit of doing that activity. When a person takes on a behavioral addiction, they get their reward by engaging in the activity that involves the dependence. Take for example an eating addiction, someone who has an addiction to eating is not dependent on the food itself; rather, their addiction is the process of consuming food.

The same applies to people with gambling addictions. Their addiction is not to winning or trying to make money from gambling. Rather, their addiction is the thrill and the rush of gambling itself. Their rush is the excitement one gets when they do win. It is also to the risk that they experience at the threat of losing their money.

Sex addiction offers the same principal effects as other behavioral addictions. Interestingly enough, surveys and studies show that people experiencing sex addictions do not get any more gratification from having sex than people who do not have this addiction. Many participants in surveys admit that they get less than average gratification from having sex. This fact indeed shows that sex addiction is again, all about the habit, not about the reward. In the case of sex addiction, the effects of behavioral addictions can be dangerous and even deadly.

Video gaming addiction has a similar spin to it as gambling addiction. Here again, we have the person who is in it for the thrill of winning and the excitement. This person is utterly incapable of stopping his or her habit of gaming. Someone displaying an obsession for these types of activities do so to a point where it is serious. The activity negatively impacts the other factors and areas of their life. The effects of behavioral addictions can ruin a person’s family life as well as complete financial loss.

How A Forever Recovery can Help with the Effects of Behavioral Addictions

A Forever Recovery, an addiction treatment center, specializes in addressing behavioral addiction. In the words of A Forever Recovery’s founder and CEO, Mr. Per Wickstrom:

Drug rehabilitation is essential to reinstating the values of our country. Our mission is to make rehabilitation available to everyone.”

Mr. Wickstrom’s goal with A Forever Recovery is to extend a helping hand to all addicts, not just drug and alcohol addicts. If you are suffering from the effects of behavioral addictions, call A Forever Recovery today to learn more about the help you can receive to return to a life of normalcy and happiness.

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