Treatment for Process Addiction
Addiction may manifest itself in a variety of ways. It is frequently assumed that physical dependence characterized by withdrawal symptoms is required for someone to be diagnosed with an addiction disorder.
However, behavioral addiction can occur with all of the negative consequences in a person’s life minus the physical issues faced by people who compulsively engage in alcohol abuse and substance abuse.
Unfortunately, those living with behavioral addictions, like all others who battle with addiction, are unable to cease participating in the activity for any length of time without therapy and assistance.
Process Addiction
Process addictions are obsessive and addictive behaviors that are harmful to a person’s health. Regardless of the negative repercussions, a person will continue to engage in the action and may experience guilt and remorse as a result. Compulsive behaviors are an indication of a behavioral or process addiction in an individual.
Behavior addiction is a mental health disorder where there is an urge to engage in an activity or behavior despite the detrimental influence on the person’s capacity to be mentally and/or physically healthy and productive in the household and community. The individual may find the conduct psychologically satisfying or experience a “high” while engaged in the activity, but they may afterward have feelings of guilt, remorse, uncomfortable feelings, or overwhelmed by the negative consequences of their ongoing decision.
While process addictions may not involve chemicals, they exhibit many of the same features as drug addiction or alcohol addiction. People with process addictions, like those with substance addictions, have a loss of control and are unable to refrain from participating in particular activities.
A process addict, like a drug addict, will remain obsessed with a habit and would go to considerable measures to avoid the emotions of discomfort that would ensue from ceasing the action. A person suffering from a process addiction will continue to engage in a behavior despite the negative consequences, which is also one of the signs of drug addiction.
Types of Process Addiction
Food Addiction
Food addiction, or Binge Eating Disorder (BED), like drug use disorders, develops from attempts to alleviate psychological discomfort by eating chemicals that cause chemical changes in the brain. Food addiction is described as both a process addiction and an eating disorder. Food addiction develops when a person is unable to quit eating despite negative effects such as unwanted weight gain or other physical health issues.
Exercise Addiction
Exercise addiction is characterized by an unhealthy fixation with exercise and fitness.
Injury and illness seldom prevent someone with an exercise addiction from getting their daily workout done. Exercise addiction, like other addictions, is characterized by obsessive behaviors and obsessions. These compulsions and obsessions include ideas about fitness, body composition, and the patient’s physical objectives. Compulsive exercise is also common among those with eating problems.
Gambling Addiction
Compulsive gambling is a type of process addiction in which someone becomes addicted to the act of gambling. Having a gambling disorder may be divided into three categories: professional gambling, social gambling, and problem gambling. Gambling addiction can develop when a person believes that by gambling a small amount of money to win a huge amount of money, they can rapidly address financial concerns. Inevitably, a person loses money and feels compelled to recoup their losses, so creating a vicious cycle.
Internet Addiction
A study shows that there is an epidemiology of internet behaviors and addiction among adolescents in six Asian countries namely China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines. There are several kinds of internet addiction. People can utilize the internet to watch videos, play video games, and use social media. it has become one of the most common process addictions today. Each of these has the potential to be addictive. Because the internet provides so many options, addictions range from cybersexual to gaming. Some of the reasons for this addiction include excessive internet use as a child and the lack of parental supervision of online use. People who have recently had a traumatic incident, have high-stress levels, or have a drug use problem are at a higher risk of developing this sort of addiction.
Sex Addiction
People with sex addiction want sex in the same obsessive way that someone suffering from a substance use disorder craves their drug of choice. Uncontrollable desires and cravings to participate in sexual activities are said to be similar to drug cravings. The tension reduction and psychological high experienced when a person has a sexual release is another resemblance to drug addiction. Sexual behavior is an expected and healthy component of adult relationships. Thus, just liking, wanting, thinking about, or indulging in sex does not always indicate addiction. Unlike healthy sexual habits, sex addiction can harm other aspects of one’s life.
Porn Addiction
Porn addiction is a behavioral addiction or a process addiction. This type of addiction is an obsessive behavior pattern in which a person engages in an activity despite the negative consequences. Process addictions’ repeated actions generally grow over time in a fashion that resembles a drug use disorder. When someone obsessively watches porn, it can start to interfere with relationships and daily functioning. Compulsive viewers may abandon other activities in their lives because they are unable to stop watching porn.
Shopping Addiction
Shopping addiction is a pattern of obsessive shopping that, in its causes, course of development, and effects, is similar to other addictive illnesses. Shopping addiction and other behaviors of overspending are included in the phrase “spending addiction.” People who acquire shopping and spending addictions typically have co-occurring mental health issues and shop compulsively to relieve anxiety or enhance their mood. The loop of compulsive spending, like other addictions, tends to make people feel worse over time.
Video Game Addiction
A video game addiction or gaming condition is described as gaming habits characterized by a lack of impulse control and the persistence of gaming despite negative implications to one’s mental, physical, or emotional health. People who have a gaming addiction may quit going to school or a job as their primary focus. Some people may refrain from eating or showering. When difficulties arise as a result of an individual’s gaming habit, video game consumption becomes unhealthy or pathological.
Work Addiction
When taken to the extreme, work commitment can cause disruptions in other aspects of life. Overly committed employees, sometimes known as “workaholics,” frequently find it difficult to unplug from work. Working long hours is natural at times, but for someone who fails to step back from their job, working late is likely to be the norm. Overworking may have a bad impact on one’s personal life, physical health, and mental health. Work addiction may be present when a person’s work habits follow this pattern of obsessive overworking.
Signs and Symptoms
There are several indicators that a family member, friend, or loved one has a process addiction. It is therefore important to know the signs and symptoms of this mental health condition. The following are some of the most common signs of process addiction:
- Spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about or engaging in the behavior
- Decreased capacity to manage behavior
- Maintaining a behavior despite unpleasant physical or emotional effects
- Having difficulty quitting a behavior, including unsuccessful attempts to do so
- Ignoring work, school, and family duties in favor of the behavior
- Using the habit to deal with unpleasant thoughts and moods
- Minimizing or downplaying the gravity of the situation
- Developing tolerance for the behavior, so the person must raise the frequency or intensity of the behavior to continue to derive pleasure and fulfillment from it
- When the action is halted or avoided, emotional withdrawal occurs
- After the activity has stopped, developing mental health issues such as anxiety, anger, sadness, or drug addiction
Process Addiction and Substance Abuse
Process addiction and substance abuse typically co-occur and are triggered by similar sensations and cravings. There are several connections between drug abuse and various sorts of process addictions, such as sex addiction, porn addiction, and gambling addiction. Although process addiction and substance use disorder are distinct disorders, both are ineffective coping mechanisms. When a person moves back and forth between them, the processes of addiction and substance misuse can overlap, occur concurrently, and feed off one another.
Process Addiction Treatment
Process addiction treatment plans frequently entail professional involvement since many people are unable to overcome them on their own. If not addressed, process addictions can have harmful consequences on a person’s emotional, intellectual, professional, financial, and social life.
Treatment for Process Addiction includes psychotherapy with a behavioral component. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is an effective kind of behavioral addiction treatment because it helps people control negative thoughts and change maladaptive patterns of behavior. People in treatment programs learn about their addiction’s triggers, examine how and why their addictions developed, and acquire healthy coping skills to regulate their impulses and desires.
Process addiction often has co-occurring disorders such as drug abuse or other types of addiction. Both disorders must be treated together. Each disease must be thoroughly treated, as well as any potential interconnections between the two disorders.
Get the best Process Addiction Treatment at Milestone Health and Wellness
If you have a mental disorder or know someone exhibiting physical symptoms or mental health symptoms, then it is best to seek help from mental health professionals. Milestone Health and Wellness is best suited for treating Process Addiction and other mental disorders, we can identify underlying issues or any co-occurring condition so that these may be treated simultaneously. Let us help you get back to living your daily life to the fullest.
