Addiction is a sensitive topic and a typically thorny one at that, despite the subject’s emotional nature. Helping a loved one battle substance abuse or addictive habits that can negatively impact every aspect of life isn’t always simple. People have come a long way regarding how they talk about, acknowledge, and treat addiction. Addiction is no longer considered an individual failing but rather a complicated, chronic health condition that affects mental and physical well-being.
It is possible to develop an addiction in one of two ways: either by abusing substances excessively or by engaging in negative behaviors notwithstanding the harm they cause.
Chemical addictions and their treatments
Addiction to chemicals works powerfully because your body gradually increases the amount needed to achieve the same effects. Often, the term “addiction” refers to the use of chemicals that can lead to a dependence on them.
Treatment: Choosing the correct treatment for a chemical addiction depends on several criteria. For instance, genetics, personality, and medical history play a crucial role in a person’s health. In the most extreme circumstances, the patient might need to undergo medically supervised treatment at an addiction center, where they will be closely monitored as they recover from the drug. For this purpose, Delphi Health Group also provides valuable services to cure addiction at every level. In these addiction centers, the physician monitors the person because of the seriousness of physical withdrawal symptoms, such as seizures and hallucinations and provides treatment accordingly.
- Alcohol addiction:Alcohol use disorder results from dependence on any alcoholic beverage, whether beer, champagne, or hard liquor. To have AUD, one must be incapable of controlling or stopping alcohol consumption despite the negative effects on health, work, or social life. In addition to mild, moderate, and extreme levels, AUD can also be classified into subtypes. A person may believe that only extreme AUD should be a reason for worry. However, mild to moderate AUD can be indicated by symptoms such as drinking more than you want to, feeling powerless to decrease drinking, and having a compulsive drive to drink.
- Tobacco addiction: Addiction towards any tobacco substance that contains nicotine—like cigarettes, pipes, and chewing tobacco—increases the concentration of dopamine (a substance in the brain that enhances pleasure).
- Addiction to prescription drugs: Addiction to prescription medicines is defined as taking more than the prescribed amount, utilizing someone else’s medication, or taking a prescription to get high. Opioids, stimulants including amphetamines, plus central nervous system mood stabilizers including sedatives and tranquilizers are among the most widely misused prescription medicines.
- Cocaine addiction: An illegal stimulating drug known as cocaine is the primary focus of this addiction.
- Addiction to cannabis: The word “cannabis use disorder” refers to symptoms of withdrawal that occur when a person stops smoking marijuana, etc. To put it another way, when your brain becomes accustomed to high doses of a drug and diminishes the sensitivities and creation of its neurotransmitter, it is considered a dependence.
Behavioral addictions and their treatments
This is a type of addiction that is characterized by compulsive actions. Although they don’t provide any genuine value, these are actions you keep repeating over and over. There are some similarities between chemical and behavioral addictions and some important differences. The conduct is the problem in behavioral addiction, not the substance itself.
Treatment: It’s common to treat behavioral addictions with psychotherapy, but it can also entail medication. Cognitive therapy and individual counseling are two of the most prevalent therapies for behavioral addictions, similar to those for drug addiction.
- Addiction to gambling: Compulsive gambling is defined by an uncontrollable urge to engage in certain types of gambling activities despite the potential harm they may cause.
- Addiction to video games: An internet gaming disease, also known as video game addiction, is a comparatively recent mental illness that manifests as a loss of self-control over one’s gaming activities and consequently causes problems in one’s personal, social, professional, and family relationships.
- Addiction to the internet: In the absence of an official diagnosis, the term “Internet addiction” is used to characterize a pattern of compulsive online behavior that leads to symptoms like anxiety, irritation, and despair in the absence of an internet connection.
- Addiction to shopping: Those who suffer from shopping addiction or compulsive shopping engage in compulsive purchases to alleviate or cover their bad emotions. Anxiety and stress can be serious repercussions even though they are not considered by many as disorders.
- Addiction to plastic surgery: Addiction to plastic surgery is a strong desire to alter one’s physical appearance through surgery. A condition known as BDD (Body dysmorphic disorder), which causes obsessive thinking about perceived imperfections in one’s appearance, is most likely to blame.
Even if more research is needed to understand how and why people get addicted, one is clear: Addiction is treatable. Addiction is the lack of ability to stop one’s activity, whether it be drug or alcohol consumption. Among other things, this can lead to job loss, health problems, and relationship challenges.