Addictive behavior - what is it in psychology, types

Addictive behavior is synonymous with destructive human actions. An addictive type of behavior is characteristic of people who seek to escape from reality into illusions through destructive activities. According to psychologists and social educators, addictive behavior is a pressing problem of our time.

Experts are concerned about the fact that today addictive behavior is found in almost all adolescents. In addition, the spectrum of addictive behavior is much wider now than it was 10 years ago.

What is addictive behavior

In psychology, addictive behavior is a type of deviant behavior caused by an individual’s attempts to gain psychological comfort through certain objects, actions or substances. A weak person chooses dependent (addictive) behavior because it gives him vivid impressions and allows him to experience positive emotions again and again.

In psychiatry, addictive behavior is a destruction characterized by changing one’s mental state with the help of psychotropic substances or painful fixation of attention on an object that causes vivid positive emotional experiences.

Addictive behavior reduces the adaptive ability of the individual, since the external agent acts coercively and requires complete submission from the individual. The individual has no strength left to resist temptation and addictions. Gradually, the alternative to reality draws a person in more and more; he spends all his free time on a painful addiction. Spiritually, he is deteriorating. A person loses touch with reality and cannot control himself.

He cannot overcome his addiction. In addition, the addict believes that his supposedly addictive behavior actually includes everything necessary to adapt to a difficult life situation. It turns out that such addictive behavior negatively affects both the person himself and his immediate environment.

Examples of addiction

In everyday life, you can meet addicted people literally “on every corner.”

Addiction examples:

Addiction in relationships. Painful jealousy of a partner, dependence of a mother on a child and vice versa, inability to leave parents are the most common forms of addictive relationships between people that disguise themselves as love. This is where love addiction most often hides.
Avoidance addiction in women appears after unsuccessful relationships with men. The most striking example is a “strong and independent” woman with a litter of cats or a woman who has given preference to a career.
Shopaholism is an addiction to shopping that affects many people, and young and middle-aged women are especially susceptible to it. Often arises as a desire to fill a void. An example of such dependence is people with Plyushkin syndrome, those who have experienced a personal tragedy, or those who do not know how to assert themselves in other ways. The passion for shopping is closely related to the phenomenon of addiction to spending money. Some people simply cannot save any amount. They spend everything they get in a very short time, and then inevitably ask for loans or take out loans with unaffordable interest rates.
Alcohol addiction has existed since time immemorial. There is no need to give examples here - they are on every corner in the form of marginalized individuals begging at the doors of shops.
Addiction to work is quite common in modern society. Career replaces family, friends, and hobbies for people. A seemingly successful person is in constant tension. Workaholics often become heroes of feature films and TV series, where they appear as unhappy people who devote themselves to work to the detriment of their own happiness. In the end there is usually a way to change the situation, but in life everything is not so simple.
Addiction to power occurs among ambitious people with a strong will. They strive with all their might to “make their way to the top” by realizing themselves in politics. However, there are other addicts - petty domestic tyrants who see the meaning of life in the subjugation of their loved ones and total control over their lives. This could be an overbearing mother or father who considers it their duty to strictly raise children, but in reality they are addicts.

Signs

What are the basic psychological characteristics of addictive behavior? Signs of addictive behavior are as follows:

psychological instability of the individual;
superficial perception of reality;
formal performance of roles imposed by society;
weak adaptive potential of the individual;
replacement of life values with invented reality;
psychological discomfort;
guilt;
increased personal and situational anxiety;
despair and low self-esteem;
high self-esteem, bordering on self-confidence and a sense of superiority;
deceit, secrecy, isolation;
aggressiveness;
tendency to blame other people for your failures;
manipulation of relatives and friends;
fear of being emotionally attached to someone;
loss of previous friendships;
the emergence of relationships with people who have the same type of addiction;
stereotypical behavior and stereotyped thinking;
avoidance of taking responsibility;
infantilism;
avoidance of problem solving;

Determining the onset of addictive behavior can be complicated by the fact that its signs and symptoms are individual and have varying degrees of severity. In addition, it is easy to confuse the signs of addictive behavior with its causes.

Reasons for development

There are many reasons for addictive behavior. This:

instability of the political situation in the country;
weak participation of the state in the life of the people;
incorrect style of raising a child in the family;
antisocial behavior of parents, unfavorable psychological situation in the family;
childhood psychotrauma as a factor in addictive behavior;
genetic predisposition of a person to various forms of addictive behavior;
melancholic type of human temperament;
minimal brain dysfunction and mental retardation;
lack of hobbies and meaning in life;
prolonged stay in a state of frustration;
poor development of personal emotional intelligence;
weak willpower, weak type of nervous system;
stress, depression;
problems with studies, academic debt among students during the session;
parental divorce, family breakdown;
death of a loved one;
lack of positive emotions in life;
problems on the personal front, lack of mutual understanding with loved ones and colleagues;
conflict style of behavior;
tendency towards conservatism;
alcohol abuse;
smoking;
substance use;
excessive enthusiasm for religion, the individual’s involvement in sects;

Types of addictive behavior of a dependent person

There are several types of addictive behavior, pharmacological and non-pharmacological in nature.

Pharmacological (chemical) forms of addiction include alcoholism, drug addiction, substance abuse, and tobacco smoking. In this case, the desire to change one’s condition according to the addictive type is achieved through various chemical agents: alcohol, drugs, medications, toxic substances.
Non-chemical addictions are gambling, sexual and love addictions, workaholism, computer addiction, food addiction. A change in the state of an addictive personality can occur through involvement in various types of activity, for example, gambling, sex, overeating or fasting, working, or listening to rhythmic music for a long time.

All types of addiction pose a serious threat to the mental and physical health of a person and those around him . In the structure of addictive behavior, the following syndromes of addictive behavior are distinguished:

syndrome of altered susceptibility of the body to the action of a certain stimulus (defensive reactions, resistance to it, form of consumption);
mental dependence syndrome (obsessive craving, mental comfort during consumption);
physical dependence syndrome (compulsive craving, loss of control over the dose, withdrawal syndrome, physical comfort in intoxication).

These three syndromes distinguish a sick addict from a healthy person. People prone to addiction cannot tolerate states of tension , they suffer from high sensitivity, emotional imbalance, do not know how to manage their emotions, and experience difficulties with self-regulation. People suffering from addiction diseases experience a feeling of worthlessness, shame, guilt, have increased self-criticism, suffer from strong emotions, and are unable to transform feelings.

Stages

Various types of addictive behavior go through the following stages in their development:

First trial stage. One of the reasons for addictive behavior is a person’s familiarity with an object or action that brings him into a state of euphoria due to the production of dopamine by the brain. At this stage, addiction does not have a pathological impact on the individual and the spheres of his activity.
Addictive rhythm stage. The addict at this stage is still thinking clearly. He understands the danger of addiction, hesitates, but makes a choice in favor of harmful actions. Due to the desire to experience an emotional uplift, a person repeats the actions he likes many times. This leads to a change in the usual rhythm of life. At this stage, addiction is still reversible, however, to normalize the individual’s behavior, consultation with a psychiatrist may be necessary.
Actually addictive behavior. In psychology, this stage was defined as the addict’s denial of his own problem. A person convinces himself that this addictive behavior is his true, absolutely natural need. An addict sees addiction as the only possible way to solve life's problems. For example, he says that he can quit addictive behavior at any time if he wants.
Complete neuroticism and subordination of the personality to addictive behavior. The basic construct of personality is destroyed. Irreversible changes occur in the structure of brain tissue, and the functioning of all body systems is disrupted. The object, action or substance that was chosen by the addict as an alternative to reality no longer brings positive emotions. Signs of asociality appear in a person, a tendency to crime and cruel treatment of loved ones.
Personality degradation. The psychological core and biological essence of man is destroyed. At this stage, addiction and addictive behavior develops into a mental disorder and physiological ailments. Returning to normal life at this stage is no longer possible. Most often, this stage ends with the death of the dependent person.

What is addiction?

What is addiction and addictive behavior, what is the difference between it and deviant behavior and how to recognize a severe form of addiction? Well, let's look for answers to these questions. Let's start with the definition.

Addiction is in psychology a dependence on something or someone. Painful attachment and dependence on things, actions, substances. An addict is a person suffering from one of the forms of addiction. However, not every addiction falls under this definition. For example, the natural dependence of an infant on its mother at the physiological level is not a pathology. After all, this is natural behavior for a baby. This form of addiction is considered socially acceptable.

There are also positive examples. In this case, conditionally addictive behavior is a passion for creativity, sports, meditation, yoga. But they are not dangerous for humans and society, and on the contrary, they are very useful. From a medical point of view, this condition is not considered a disease and does not have its own code number in the worldwide classification of diseases (ICD-10).

Who coined the term addiction?

There is no publicly available historical information about who coined the term addiction and where it was coined. It is only known that in Russia they began studying this phenomenon in the seventies of the twentieth century. For the first time in the Russian Federation, the Novosibirsk scientist, founder of sociodynamic psychiatry Ts.P. paid attention to this issue. Korolenko. At that time he worked among the staff of the Novosibirsk Medical Academy.

At first, research was conducted in close cooperation with foreign researchers in the field of bad habits, addictions to tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. In the eighties of the last century, the Novosibirsk school was formed as a self-sufficient research team and continued studying independently. However, this did not prevent him from publishing scientific works in collaboration with foreign colleagues. Gradually, the concept of an addictive person migrated to adolescent psychology. This happened already in the twenty-first century, in the 2000s.

Addicts are people with a certain pattern of behavior. They are characterized by such manifestations as:

Feeling of psychological discomfort, mood instability;
With chemical addiction, an irresistible craving for certain substances occurs;
Loss of control over the dosage and timing of taking this substance;
Physiological discomfort that occurs if there is no way to satisfy a need;
Instability to stress, poor adaptability;
Deterioration of critical thinking;
Degradation in relation to the usual way of life;
Inability to recognize and acknowledge addiction.

Kinds

Psychology has established that addictions are expressed in different ways. This means that addictive behavior can take different forms; they are united by similar mechanisms for the formation of addictive behavior. From an epidemiological point of view, the severity of pathological consequences varies among different types of addictive behavior.

All addictive behavior can be divided into 2 large groups: chemical (associated with the use of certain substances that alter consciousness and have an impact on the psyche) and non-chemical (behavioral pathologies).

In order to form a complete concept of addictive behavior, it is necessary to describe its most common types.

Alcohol addiction

This is the most common model of addictive behavior. The state of alcoholic intoxication is associated with high spirits and euphoria. In addition, often in the first stages of the formation of alcohol dependence, a person notices an improvement in his performance and the disclosure of his creative potential. This state is remembered by a person as extremely pleasant. That is why the brain subsequently requires the person to drink alcohol again in order to experience these pleasant sensations again.

At subsequent stages of the formation of alcoholic addictive behavior, not only creative abilities, but also life skills disappear. They are replaced by apathy, despondency, and depression.

With prolonged systematic use of alcohol, physical dependence is formed, the main signs of which are:

withdrawal syndrome (hangover);
causeless change of mood;
memory impairment;
rigidity of thinking;
narrowing the range of interests;
decreased self-control;
the need for a constant increase in the consumed dose of alcohol;
sexual disinhibition;
social degradation.

Female alcoholism poses a special social problem. Women who abuse alcohol try to hide their addiction because it is condemned by society. Women's alcoholism develops faster than men's. Its danger also lies in the fact that in girls it is combined with dependence on sedatives and tranquilizers.

Addiction

Drug addiction is an addictive behavior based on a thirst for new experiences. Its consequences have a detrimental effect on a person and his immediate environment. Soft drugs (such as marijuana) quickly become psychologically addictive. Subsequently, marijuana alone no longer brings the desired sensations. A person switches to ecstasy, cocaine and heroin, and taking these drugs causes physical addiction literally after the first try.

The longer a person uses drugs, the more likely they are to develop co-occurring mental disorders. Psychotropic drugs increase a person’s perception and lead to visual hallucinations. What is the distinctive feature of drug addictive behavior? The fact is that it causes persistent addiction. There is a high risk of a drug addict dying as a result of an overdose. In addition, drug addicts are characterized by a desire to get friends and acquaintances addicted to psychoactive substances and a tendency to commit crimes.

Substance abuse

Adolescence is associated with many temptations, one of which is the desire to inhale vapors of highly toxic substances. The peculiarity of this type of addictive behavior is collective use. Inhaling glue vapors puts teenagers in a state reminiscent of alcohol intoxication: they feel dizzy, their mood improves, and they experience hallucinations.

The longer a teenager engages in substance abuse, the lower his ability to voluntarily remember. A decrease in intellectual functions and deviations from the norm in the emotional-volitional sphere are gradually noted. Deviations such as a tendency to violate social norms and requirements are observed in behavior. Aggression, conflict.

If substance abusers use aerosols, gasoline, chloroform, ether, and solvents as a means of achieving an altered state of consciousness, then serious damage to the brain and spinal cord occurs. Asphyxia and paralysis of the respiratory center often cause death among drug addicts.

Food addiction

This form of addiction is based on a person’s obsession with food and their own weight. In psychology, this definition of addiction includes overeating, anorexia, and bulimia.

A person with this type of addiction may eat food not to satisfy hunger, but to gain pleasure from the process. In this case, a disruption of metabolic processes occurs at the biological level: if a person is not busy with anything, the brain sends him signals to eat something rather than do something.

There are cases when people refuse certain foods because they are forced for health reasons to follow a special diet and adhere to the clinical recommendations of the doctor. But there is a type of addictive behavior in which a person fanatically counts calories and, due to his personal beliefs, refuses meat. Self-restraint in food for such people is absurd.

Nomophobia

This term today refers to a person’s peculiar dependence on mobile phones. It manifests itself in the individual’s fear that his gadget will suddenly run out of charge, leaving its owner without communication with loved ones. If a person cannot find a phone or for objective reasons cannot use it, he begins to worry and get nervous.

Nomophobes prefer virtual communication. They like to constantly read news on social networks, as a result, their brains are overloaded with information. The thirst for new information pushes them to constantly use the phone, that is, the person increasingly loses touch with reality.

Internet addiction and computer addiction

This addiction is characterized by a person’s irresistible desire to access social networks and other sites and an unwillingness to be offline for a long time. Adolescents and young adults are susceptible to this type of addictive behavior. Gradually, the Internet is becoming their only means of communication. A common type of computer addiction is hacking.

A variant of computer addiction is a person’s pathological passion for computer games. Psychological studies have found that teenagers who are addicted to computer games are prone to aggression and cruelty towards animals and loved ones.

What is the destructive nature of Internet addiction? The fact is that virtual reality allows a person to feel like a hero, a macho, a versatile personality. In order to become the virtual idol of millions of people, no effort is required. Easy success online is contrasted with everyday work in real life. Addict follows the path of least resistance, choosing virtual reality. People dependent on virtual communication suffer from sleep disorders and are often in a bad mood.

A type of Internet addiction is pornophilia – a person’s passion for viewing pornographic materials posted on the Internet. This addiction begins with the pleasant excitement that a person experiences while watching porn videos. Gradually he moves from simple genres of pornography to more complex ones, since the previous pictures no longer excite. Over time, watching erotic scenes on the screen becomes preferable to the individual than real life and a real sexual partner. Pornophilia affects both men and women equally often.

Pathological love and sexual addiction

A type of emotional addiction is its love form, the causes of which lie in cold parent-child relationships or childhood sexual trauma. The chosen one becomes necessary for the addict, like air. Being in the grip of this addiction, a person seems to be in a state of mild intoxication. The mottos of such relationships can be:

- “I can’t live without her (him)!” - “He offends me, but I endure it because I love him!”

The psychological criterion for addictive behavior of this type is a person’s confidence that without his chosen one his life will lose meaning. If the relationship ends, the addict begins to experience physiological withdrawal.

A person with this form of addiction suffers greatly mentally, as a result he develops psychosomatic disorders.

Sexual addiction is a human behavior in which an intimate partner is not perceived as a person. The addict regards it as a means of satisfying his sexual needs. There are different forms of manifestation of sexual addiction:

the desire for numerous sexual contacts with as many different partners as possible;
morbid passion for sexual perversion;
fetishism;
morbid addiction to photographs of erotic content;
tendency to wear clothes intended for people of the opposite sex;
exposure of genitals to children or persons of the opposite sex;
spying on other people's sex lives or dressing up as people of the opposite sex.

All forms of sexual addiction disrupt the normal emotional basis of a person's relationships with other people. Such people often have sexual behavior disorders and are at high risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections.

Psychotherapy addiction

Consultations with a psychotherapist help optimize your psycho-emotional state or develop vital skills. However, it happens that a person visits a psychotherapist for years without having any special personal problems. The biological mechanism of this type of addictive behavior is a person’s desire to shift responsibility for his own life to a psychotherapist.

Gaming addiction

Gambling addiction is based on gambling. The longer a person gambles, the more time he devotes to it. Being outside the game, he experiences discomfort and anxiety. The mechanism of formation of gambling addiction is determined by the desire for competition and the thirst for positive emotions.

Alcoholism and drug addiction often develop against the background of gambling addiction.

Errors in family upbringing are a risk factor for the development of gaming addiction. Excessive demands on the part of parents and a lack of parental love create the preconditions for the development of a gaming addiction in a child.

Gamers can be divided into types:

Laughing players. For them, the game is entertainment, and the chance to win is a kind of bonus. The game comes to the fore, crowding out all other areas of life. They perceive losses and failures in the game as an accident; they do not stop playing even when losses follow one after another. Such people, in pursuit of big winnings, can easily lose their last money and borrow huge sums at high interest rates. Such gamblers believe that one fine day they will win a large sum and all their problems will be solved.
Desperate players. These are people who neither work nor study anywhere. They have practically no friends. They play because they cannot find any other pastime. They understand that gambling addiction destroys their personality, but attempts to stop gambling lead to physiological disorders. Outside the game, they have suicidal thoughts.

Workaholism

At first glance, dedication and complete dedication in production are positive qualities of an employee. However, this approach to work is based on disturbances in the individual’s emotional sphere and problems of interpersonal interaction: with the help of complete immersion in work, a person tries to get away from problems in the family. There is a substitution of life values: friendships, love, hobbies are lost, and professional responsibilities take the leading position in a person’s life. A workaholic cannot enjoy ordinary things; he only enjoys production activities.

Workaholics are rigid, pedantic, and conservative. They expect constant approval from their superiors, and take criticism very painfully.

Types of addiction in psychology

Experts distinguish different types of addictions, which differ in their specificity and in what is the object of painful desire. Addicts feel the need to escape reality and choose different ways to achieve their goal.

This can be a chemical addiction (alcoholism, nicotine addiction, drug addiction, and so on) and non-chemical, behavioral addiction (workaholism, gambling addiction, computer addiction, eating problems, sexual and love addiction).

Addictive disorder (chemical forms) are a complex of signs of altered consciousness due to the intake of active substances that affect the psyche. The cause of such addiction can be not only drugs and medications, but also cigarettes, tea, coffee, and chocolate.

▪️Nicotine addiction. This is the name of the physiological need to obtain nicotine (smoking). The danger of this phenomenon is that the smoker puts people around him at risk. Nowadays, conventional cigarettes are increasingly being replaced by electronic, vapor analogues, but this does not solve the problem of chemical dependence.

▪️Alcohol addiction. This additive dependence appears after regular consumption of strong drinks in large (most often) quantities. Because of this habit, problems arise in society (in the family, at work, in society). Obsessive addiction to alcohol-containing drinks causes not only a psychological need, but also addiction at the physiological level. Attempts to give up habitual alcohol consumption are fraught with withdrawal symptoms. The result of alcoholism is the degradation of a person as an individual.

▪️Substance abuse. Conscious regular inhalation of chemically active toxic substances that affect consciousness.

▪️Drug addiction. Also physiological and psychological dependence on taking narcotic hallucinogenic substances.

▪️Caffeine addiction. It manifests itself as excessive consumption of this invigorating drink. Exceeding the recommended dose leads to the disruption of natural processes in the body and a person is unable to feel alert without an additional cup of coffee.

▪️Medicine addiction. It can arise under forced circumstances or by a person’s personal choice. In the first case, we are talking about people who are prescribed potent, addictive drugs. In the second case, athletes most often become victims of this kind of addiction. Drugs that increase endurance and help build muscle tissue also require constant use.

Addictive states in cases of chemical dependencies appear due to the fact that the substances used increase the concentration of dopamine in the blood and contribute to a feeling of artificial euphoria.

It is to repeat these sensations that drug addicts and alcoholics strive. Exposure to toxic, active substances has a destructive effect on the body, causing harm to health. The person himself, subject to bad habits, does not notice this and, as a rule, categorically refuses to acknowledge the obvious fact. When using doping, natural metabolism is disrupted and the substances are integrated into the endocrine system, causing addiction.

Non-chemical forms of addiction are behavioral disorders of various kinds. They occur without the use of chemically active substances, but the mechanism for producing dopamine is approximately the same. Only in this case the body itself produces a dose that turns into addiction. The source of pleasure can be food, social networks, a painful love of cleanliness, gambling addiction, and so on.

▪️Gaming addiction. This is the term that scientists used to call gambling addiction. A person suffering from such an addiction can spend all their money on gambling and get into exorbitant debts. This occupation is high on the list of priorities. Everything that is is sacrificed, including the lives of loved ones.

▪️Internet addiction (Internet addiction). In this case, a person is completely immersed in virtual space and fenced off from live communication. It is now fashionable to present this type of dependence as introversion, although this is not so. In adolescence, this is the norm, but it can acquire proportions that are fraught with the destruction of the individual.

▪️Addiction to a computer, phone, or other electronic gadget. A type of Internet addiction, excessive passion for programming, games, online communication, and so on. The consequence of the habit is a violation of the biological regime, headaches, blurred vision, overstrain of the cervical spine, and carpal tunnel syndrome.

▪️Addiction to brands. This is especially clearly expressed in the desire to purchase a new phone model from a well-promoted brand, even at the expense of quality of life.

This also applies to clothes, cars and other things. Becoming the owner of a new product, a person receives a short-term surge of pleasure and an increase in self-esteem, taking this as happiness. Subsequently, the addict seeks to repeat pleasant experiences and seeks self-affirmation through expensive, branded items.

▪️Love addiction (sexual addiction). The manifestations of this dependence are different. The target for painful passion becomes a real person or a fictional character. Even refusal of intimate life can be a sign of such addiction, which has taken a paradoxical form. In this case, a person gives preference to “spiritual intimacy.” Another manifestation of addiction is pathological jealousy and a painful desire to control a partner in all areas of life.

▪️Addiction of avoidance. The opposite of sex addiction. Behind it lies the fear of close relationships and the fear of emotional attachment. Addicts consider “freedom” to be the main value and try to preserve it by all means.

▪️Addiction to work. Everyone has heard about workaholics, and some people know them. What at first glance seems like a positive character trait is actually also a painful addiction. Work replaces all other types of activity for a person - communication, hobbies, self-development. He escapes reality into his own world, having a “good excuse” for his behavior.

▪️Time dependence (urgent addiction). The desire to fit your entire life into a certain time frame, to plan everything for many years in advance. A person works to the limit of his capabilities, undermining his health and exhausting his reserve of strength. The result of addiction is emotional burnout and chronic fatigue with all the ensuing consequences.

▪️Dependence on religion. In psychology there is a definition for such people. They are called religious addicts. Most often these are adherents of sects, but fanatics of officially recognized faiths also suffer from painful addiction.

▪️Addiction to sports. The addict strives to constantly increase his time for studying. He is obsessed with the idea of maximum achievements, so he devotes all possible time to training, neglecting other areas of his life.

▪️Food addiction. This type of addiction includes all types of disordered eating behavior (bulimia, anorexia, overeating, obesity, starvation, and so on).

▪️Addiction to shopping (shopaholism). Non-chemical addiction in the form of a passion for shopping. A person is unable to control his actions and expenses. At the same time, the feeling of happiness from owning an item is fleeting, and the feeling of guilt and self-contempt weighs heavily after every trip to the store. The euphoria does not last long, then the addict needs a new portion of dopamine. He doesn't know any other way to get pleasure.

Diagnostics

There are special psychological tests that can reveal a person’s tendency towards addictive behavior: this is evidenced by certain character traits. These include:

the need to stand out from the crowd with bright clothing accessories, an extraordinary image, and defiant actions;
gambling and risk taking;
mental instability;
tendency to loneliness and solitude;
pessimism;
poor development of the emotional-volitional sphere.

However, the presence of a tendency to addiction does not guarantee the development of one or another type of addiction. Negative character traits only create the preconditions for addiction. It will be formed only if a person finds himself in unfavorable social conditions.

Psychiatrists diagnose the presence of addictions in an individual through a special conversation and by assessing the patient’s appearance. Signs of addiction are found in the patient’s speech and his reactions to the doctor.

Diagnosis of chemical dependencies is the competence of a narcologist. It is detected through tests.

Stages of addiction formation

Initial - “This is interesting!” . Commitment to certain behavior or actions. Emotions of interest and curiosity dominate. But if necessary, a person can easily abandon this type of activity.
Intermediate - “You can’t do without this!” . There is an obsessive need to perform certain actions. A person thinks more and more about the subject of his addiction, looking for opportunities to realize his desired behavior. Other activities begin to irritate, even cause aggression. Emotions at this stage are bipolar: from anger, hatred to joy and euphoria. It’s as if a person is swinging on an emotional swing: at first everything is bad, but when addictive behavior is implemented, it immediately becomes great.
The final one is “This is Me!” . Addiction manifests itself in full force. All human thoughts are devoted to addiction. It seems that the individual lives to play, spend money, run, communicate on social networks. Addiction completely consumes a person's life. Because of this, various psychosomatic disorders arise: sleep is disturbed, appetite disappears, and asymptomatic headaches occur. In addition, interpersonal interaction is disrupted. A person no longer needs close people, friends, if they are not related to the subject of addiction, they recede into the background.

What is the destructive nature of addiction ? If we summarize the main consequences, we can highlight the following points:

a person does not control himself;
self-control and self-criticism decreases;
life goals and priorities are distorted;
physical and mental well-being is impaired;
aggressiveness and anxiety appear;
interpersonal connections and relationships collapse;
Labor productivity and academic performance decrease.

Treatment

Treatment of addictive behavior will be effective if the person himself wants to overcome the addiction. Therapeutic methods are chosen by a psychiatrist or psychotherapist.

Psychotherapy has proven itself well in the fight against non-chemical addictions. The psychologist begins his work by establishing the reasons for the formation of addictive behavior. Depending on the severity of symptoms, the psychologist prescribes a course of group or individual sessions. Psychocorrection is aimed at optimizing the addict’s intrafamily relationships, his self-actualization, and correction of the value system. The psychologist corrects habits.

After completing the course of psychotherapy, the psychologist helps the client socialize and return to a healthy rhythm of life. For 3-6 months, the psychologist monitors the individual’s rehabilitation process, preventing relapse.

Drug and alcohol addictions are treated in a hospital setting, as it is necessary to detoxify the addict’s body. Therapy in this case involves the use of sedatives to minimize the risk of the patient escaping from the hospital. The support of loved ones is extremely important in the treatment of any type of addiction.

What types of addiction are identified in medicine?

The main types of addiction are: alcohol addiction , which is based on the consumption of alcohol-containing drinks; drug addiction is associated with the use of substances that have a specific effect on the central nervous system; substance abuse develops with the use of medications and substances that are not drugs, but change the state of a person’s mental activity and behavior; drug addiction occurs when using psychotropic substances; tobacco smoking as a type of drug addiction associated with smoking tobacco.

Next, there is a gaming addiction or gambling (from the English gambling - playing) - this is an addiction to gambling and computer games; workaholism as a socially approved addiction; computer addiction ; sex addiction ; food addictions such as bulimia (overeating) and anorexia (voluntary refusal of food), addiction to taste: the taste of coffee, chocolate, cream, etc.

Some addictions are approved by society (for example, workaholism), others begin to pose a threat to the addict’s personality over time, and others are socially dangerous. The problem of addiction diseases has recently become increasingly relevant due to the fact that they affect young people, cause rapid desocialization of sick people, cause direct and indirect economic damage to patients, their families, society, and lead to the criminalization of patients. Narcologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychotherapists deal with issues of addictive behavior.

Prevention

Early prevention of addictive behavior is considered the most effective. Early prevention is based on the diagnosis of an individual’s predisposition to the development of deviant and dependent behavior.

In educational institutions, addiction prevention is implemented in the classroom. The educational work of a social teacher and psychologist at school includes informing children and adolescents about the consequences of addiction. During class hours and specially organized extracurricular activities, experts offer alternative ways to deal with stress and psychological tension.

My recommendations

My work experience shows that the main difficulty in treating addiction is the patient’s refusal to admit his problem. Here I rely not only on the diagnostic results, but also on the help of the client’s relatives. If through joint efforts it is possible to bring a person to admit the harmfulness of his habit, then I enter into a contract with him.

During classes, addicts systematically move towards a healthy lifestyle:

- list the reasons why they should get rid of the addiction; - describe their life regardless of dependence, make a collage “Past – Present – Future”.

Despite all the efforts of psychologists, psychotherapists and psychiatrists, it is very difficult to overcome addiction. According to statistics, only 20% of addicts return to normal life after rehabilitation measures.