VIDEO
Addictive Behaviors
Addiction is a psychiatric term that encompasses not only the uncontrolled use of drugs and the associated physical and psychological dependence to the substance, but also the social consequences of use.
Addictive behavior is a term applied to a varying group of activities that share a common characteristic: they all overtake the time and attention of an individual to the exclusion of other responsibilities. The emphasis on “to the exclusion of other responsibilities” is an important one, because there are examples of exclusive attention that are not considered addictive or undesirable, such as meditation and prayer as practiced by members of religious communities.
Common behaviors that can become addictive include use of illegal drugs, drinking of alcohol, smoking of tobacco products, gambling, shopping, sex, and exercising. Some people also consider excessive food intake to be an addiction. he negative social consequences associated with addictions proceed from characteristics common to most of the behaviors listed above, namely:
(1) Craving (the obsessive thinking and desire for the substance or activity even in the absence of cues that indicate the availability of the substance);
(2) Compulsive seeking for the substance or activity even in the presence of harm;
(3) Loss of control over the activity even when professing conscious desire to stop;
(4) Physical and/or psychological withdrawal symptoms after stopping the activity or substance usage;
(5) Lack of awareness of activities while engaged in substance use or other addictive activities;
(6) Denial of the detrimental effects of their actions toward substance use or activities; and
(7) Denial of substance use and behaviors and secretive substance use and behaviors.
These characteristics are usually accompanied by feelings of low self-esteem and depression that create a vicious cycle of use, depression, lowered self-esteem, and more use.
While all addictive behaviors share common characteristics, they all differ in the relative risk of addiction through use or participation. Among the common abused drugs, relative rates of addiction from use are as follows: nicotine, 1:2; heroin, 1:3; cocaine, 1:5; marijuana, 1:9; and alcohol, 1:10. Behavior addiction risks are much lower, in the range of 1:100.
The risk of addiction estimates the number of people who will become addicted among all people who engage in the particular activity; it does not address why a particular person will become addicted to one substance or activity versus another, or identify what substance or activity might be a successful alternative to divert the individual from his or her addiction.
See also: Carbohydrate “Addictions”; Food “Addictions.”
Bibliography. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th ed. (DSM-IV) (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).
Lina Ricciardelli, Robert J. Williams, and Jennifer Finemore, “Restraint as Misregulation in Drinking and Eating,” Addictive Behaviors (v26/5, 2001).
Jennifer Nasser New York Obesity Research Center St. Luke’s/
