The word "addiction" comes from the English addiction - addiction, addiction. This term is used both in relation to chemical dependence (narcotic, drug), and non-chemical, expressed in addictive behavior.
How addictive behavior manifests itself
Addictive behavior is considered a deviation and manifests itself in the fact that a person experiences an obsessive need to perform some action over and over again, to use some substance or constantly communicate with some person. A person depends on these actions, because they give him short-term emotions of joy, after which he again returns to real life, from which he tried to escape. An addicted person is so attached to a certain activity that he is often unable to stop doing it on his own.
Addictive behavior can be talked about when the addiction has acquired a painful character. It is accompanied by a loss of self-control, fixation on the subject of addiction, mental or biological self-destruction, social maladjustment, denial as a form of psychological defense.
An addict is characterized by an inadequate response to reality and a response to it, low self-esteem, difficulties with the awareness of their emotions, feelings of anxiety and shame / guilt, inability to solve life tasks and take care of themselves, inability to build full-fledged relationships with loved ones and society, psychosomatic disorders. At the physiological level, colitis, peptic ulcer disease, neurocirculatory dystonia, metabolic disorders, headaches, tachycardia, arrhythmia, asthma, etc. can manifest themselves.
Types of addictive behavior
Non-chemical addictions include: Internet addiction, gambling (gambling), workaholism, shopaholism, relationship addiction (codependency), sexual and love addiction, fanaticism, etc. Chemical addictions are alcoholism, substance abuse and drug addiction. The intermediate group, which combines the characteristics of the first two, include addictive fasting and addictive overeating.
The form of addiction can take, among other things, activities that are acceptable and even approved by society, for example, extreme sports, workaholism, creativity, meditation, the desire to constantly be with the object of one's love. Psychological dependence is enhanced by the increased production of hormones of joy and pleasure during a particular activity. A person wants to experience this elevated state over and over again, especially if the rest of the reality seems to him bleak and unsatisfying.
People prone to addictions more easily fall into dependence on drugs, sedatives, alcohol. One dependence they have can flow into another, and there can also be several of them at the same time. For example, a workaholic who has lost his job may become an alcoholic, and a person with a love addiction may have an eating disorder (overeating or starvation) or a passion for shopping.
