Addiction
What is Addiction?
Addiction is an inability to stop using a substance or engaging in a behavior or activity, even though it is causing psychological and physical harm. “Addiction” does not only refer to dependence on substances such as alcohol, heroin, or opioids. Addiction can also involve an inability to stop partaking in activities such as gambling, eating, or even working. Someone experiencing an addiction will be unable stay away from the substance or stop the addictive behavior. They may also be dismissive about how their behavior may be causing problems for themself or for others in their lives.
How does addiction work?
Addiction interferes with normal brain function, particularly in the brain’s reward system. When you ingest or do something that you find enjoyable, this reward system releases the dopamine (along with other chemicals), which reinforces the association you have between the thing you enjoy and the pleasure that you feel. This reinforcement drives you to seek out things that you find pleasurable again and again.
This drive is what can be referred to as a “craving,” and cravings can be made stronger by physical and social cues. Those cravings are also often a sign of addiction to the thing that you crave. As you continue using a substance or engaging in a behavior, your brain continues to produce larger amounts of dopamine. Eventually, it recognizes that there’s plenty of dopamine in your brain already and starts producing less in response to normal triggers, which sound good at first—wouldn’t a lessened response to a trigger mean that the trigger is no longer powerful?
Unfortunately, your brain’s reward system still needs the same amount of dopamine to function as it should. This ultimately drives you to see out more of the substance or perform more of the behavior in order to make up for the dopamine that your brain is no longer releasing. We call this effect becoming tolerant.
As a result, as addiction develops and begins to take over, it’s common to lose interest in other things that you once enjoyed because your brain no longer produces as much dopamine in response to those things. Even when you want to stop using a substance or engaging in a behavior, you might feel like you still need them in order to feel good at all.
Addiction usually involves a loss of control around using a substance or engaging in a behavior. There is a compulsion to ingest or do the thing that you crave. This can have huge effects on a person’s life, leading to health and relationship issues, doing poorly in school or work, among other things.
What are some types of addictions?
Addictions can be chemical or behavioral in nature.
Alcohol
Pertains to the addiction to alcoholic beverages.
Food
People who are addicted to food will eat excessively (beyond an amount necessary for normal human bodily functions) and continue to do so despite negative consequences to health or relationships.
Sex
Sex addiction is a compulsive need to perform sexual acts in order to reach a specific physical or emotional feeling, in the same way that a person with alcohol addiction gets from a drink.
Drugs
Drug addiction can include an addition to stimulants such as amphetamines and methamphetamines, nicotine (found in tobacco), THC (found in marijuana), opioid (narcotics), or other pain relievers, and cocaine.
Gambling
This includes both in-person gambling, such as at a casino, and online gambling that can be done via a computer or phone.
Work
Often called workaholism, work addiction is the inability to stop the behavior of doing work. It often stems from a compulsive need to achieve status and success, or to escape emotional stress.
Other Substances
This category refers to chemical substances that can be addictive such as caffeine and inhalants (examples include gasoline and cleaning products).
Technology
Technology addictions, also commonly referred to as '“digital addictions” or “internet addictions,” can have detrimental effects on individual’s career or education as they spend too much of their time engaging in digital usage rather than focusing on school- or work-related tasks.
How we treat anxiety at City Center Psychotherapy
City Center therapists specialize in treating addition through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is an excellent and widely used treatment method for addiction. CBT teaches recovering addicts ways to find connections between their thoughts, feelings, and actions. It also helps to increase awareness of how these things impact their recovery. CBT skills can aid in achieving recovery.
CBT therapists work with a client to identify and address how the client’s thoughts and behaviors connect to their drive to seek out the substance or behavior to which they are addicted. With a therapist, you will work to recognize how your thoughts and feelings influence your actions. By recognizing and changing negative thought patterns, as well as changing behaviors that lead to the worsening of addiction, CBT can help you develop the tools necessary to achieve successful recovery. Psychoeducation about why addiction occurs and exercises also support positive outcomes for clients.
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a type of therapy that focuses on exploring and resolving an individual’s ambivalence around areas that they would like to change, centering on the motivational process within the individual. MI is person-centered and places value on the autonomy of the individual in the change-making process. By collaborating with a therapist, an individual can address their issues of doubt and uncertainty in order to strengthen their drive to make improve their life.
Motivational Interviewing is a partnership between the individual and their therapist. Through targeted conversation, a therapist can help the individual evoke within themself the intention needed for change. MI involves open questions to explore one’s experiences and values and a process of reflecting on one’s past to determine where future success may lie. The therapist will provide support and encouragement as the client journeys through the change process.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT (pronounced like the word “act”) relies on a term called “psychological flexibility”, which helps clients change their relationships to their thoughts, connect with the present moment, and make behavior choices that serve their values. Therapists use talk therapy and experiential exercises to identify avoidant behavior and build tolerance for sitting with pain, discomfort, and uncertainty - all of which are essential human experiences.
*Telehealth (online) therapy available.