Your everyday activities that you may find to be therapeutic, like shopping, tanning, or exercising, have the potential to become just as addictive and destructive as drugs and alcohol. You may justify or even joke about your “harmless addiction;” but the fact of the matter is, it can be a real problem.
Ladies, listen up: board certified in Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine David Sack, MD, states that “while men are more susceptible to substance abuse, women are more apt to become addicted to a behavior.”
Pleasure is pleasure for the brain. It can come from a substance or an enjoyable activity. Addiction is not just a search for pleasure. Addiction is a disease and some experts consider it a true mental condition.
Do "harmless addictions" fall under definition?
Dr. Sack also talks about how your gender, genes, family upbringing, and mental health issues all increase a person’s risk of developing a dependency. He shares how you can seek proper treatment if your habits truly are a problem.
Dr. Sack is board certified in Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine, with extensive operational experience. He previously served as president of College Health IPA, now the largest behavioral health group in California. In addition, he served as senior vice president for Community Programs Aspen Education Group, a start-up he grew to more than $20 million. Prior to that, Dr. Sack was a senior vice president for clinical research at Comprehensive Neuroscience, Inc., a CNS-focused SMO, where he grew his division from $5 million to $30 million.