Your addiction is harmless, right? That sounds like quite the oxymoron.
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.