Is the physical experience of behavioral addiction the same as the physical experience of substance addiction?
Pharmacologically, biologically, it’s exactly the same with substance versus a behavior. One is just with the outside substance; the other one is sort of part of the process, part of doing it over and over again. There is a reward in it. People do not do things if there’s no reward in it unless they [...]
Why are some behaviors more addictive than others?
The reason people get addicted to anything is because it makes them feel good. The reason why people get addicted to gambling is there’s a potential for them to feel better at the end of the involvement with the gambling, at least at first. Things don’t make you feel better, chances are that you won’t [...]
What role do genetics play in behavioral addictions?
The reality is that in all addictions and behavioral addictions included, there is a strong genetic component and a strong social, psychological, component. The research is inconclusive, but it varies to a small percentage to 5-50. If you grew up in a monastery, would you become a gambler? Chances are you wouldn’t, even though you [...]
Why does an addict cling to a behavioral addiction, even when their life is in danger?
It’s part and parcel of why it’s so difficult, is because you have pushed away more adaptable, healthier ways to feel good. You have nothing left, you don’t have your family, you don’t have your job, you don’t have your bank account. Well, you’ve got this one little, minuscule way of coping with life, of [...]
Is behavioral addiction driven by the mind or by the body?
It’s very difficult to be absolutely concrete about behavioral addiction. Everybody’s different. For some people, there’s a small genetic component and a large part is psychological or sociological. For others, it’s the opposite, where a large part of behavioral addiction is genetically driven and a small part is socially or psychologically driven.