What is addiction?
Addiction is a chronic (lifelong) condition that involves compulsive seeking and taking of a substance or performing of an activity despite negative or harmful consequences.
Addiction can significantly impact your health, relationships and overall quality of life. It’s crucial to seek help as soon as you develop signs of addiction.
Is addiction a disease?
Yes, addiction is a disease — it’s a chronic condition. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) defines addiction as a chronic brain disorder. Addiction doesn’t happen from having a lack of willpower or as a result of making bad decisions. Your brain chemistry changes with addiction.
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What are the types of addiction?
There are two main groups of addiction:
- Substance addictions (substance use disorders).
- Non-substance addictions (behavioral addictions).
Substance addictions
Healthcare providers and the medical community now call substance addiction substance use disorder. The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) has concrete diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders.
Substances are drugs that have addiction potential. They can be prescription medications or non-medical drugs and include:
- Alcohol.
- Caffeine.
- Cannabis (marijuana).
- Hallucinogens, such as PCP and LSD.
- Hypnotics, sedatives and anxiolytics (anti-anxiety drugs), such as sleeping pills, benzodiazepines and barbiturates.
- Inhalants, such as paint thinners, aerosol sprays, gases and nitrites (poppers).
- Prescription and non-prescription opioids, such as codeine, oxycodone and heroin.
- Prescription and non-prescription stimulants, such as Adderall®, cocaine and methamphetamine.
- Tobacco/nicotine, such as smoking cigarettes and electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes or vaping).
While these substances are very different from each other, they all strongly activate the reward center of your brain and produce feelings of pleasure. Use of these substances can lead to substance use disorders (SUDs) — but not always. SUDs can be mild, moderate or severe. Addiction is the most severe form of a substance abuse disorder.
Non-substance addictions
Behavioral addictions can occur with any activity that’s capable of stimulating your brain’s reward system. Behavioral scientists continue to study the similarities and differences between substance addictions, behavioral addictions and other compulsive behavior conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and bulimia nervosa.
The DSM-5 currently only recognizes gambling disorder as a diagnosable behavioral addiction in the subsection of “non-substance-related disorders” in the category of “substance-related and addictive disorders.”
The DSM-5 doesn’t currently include other behavioral addictions due to a lack of research on them. However, any activity or habit that becomes all-consuming and negatively impacts your daily functioning can cause significant mental, social and physical health issues, as well as financial issues in some cases.
Examples of potentially addictive activities include:
- Gambling.
- Eating.
- Exercising or dieting.
- Shopping.
- Shoplifting or other risky behaviors.
- Having sex.
- Viewing p*rnography.
- Video gaming (internet gaming disorder).
- Using the internet (such as on your phone or a computer).
What is the most common addiction?
Alcohol use disorder is the most common substance addiction in the United States, followed by nicotine and marijuana. About 10% of people aged 12 or older in the U.S. have alcohol use disorder.
