Addiction can be physical or psychological. While drugs and alcohol can be physically addictive, other behaviors like sex, gambling or shopping can also be addictive. Both types of addictions can impact your brain chemistry and change your pleasure and reward center. While physical addictions to things like alcohol and opiates can cause physical withdrawal, psychological and behavioral addictions can be just as difficult to overcome. Certain behavioral and psychological addictions are process addictions. But, what is a process addiction?

Process addictions involve an inability to change a behavior despite significant negative consequences and a desire to stop. They are so hard to overcome because it requires changing the way you think, perceive and react to situations and environments. A process addiction treatment center can offer you the support, understanding, and guidance to help you recover.

What is a Process Addiction?

A process addiction is a compulsive need to engage in a specific behavior. That behavior leads to strong feelings of euphoria, resulting in your brain’s pleasure and reward center associating that behavior with overwhelmingly positive emotions. When you see something that reminds you of the behavior, which is a trigger, you experience intense cravings.

Those cravings make it difficult to not repeat the behavior, even if you are facing serious negative consequences. You may feel anxiety, depression, and isolation when you try to stop the behavior.

Examples of behaviors that can be process addictions include:

  • Sex, pornography, and intimacy
  • Gambling
  • Shopping
  • Food
  • Exercising
  • Video games

These behaviors become a process addiction when you can’t stop or control them, and they begin to negatively impact your life. Process addictions can deplete your finances, damage your relationships and create employment issues. It has the potential to be just as damaging as a drug or alcohol addiction.

How is a Process Addiction Treated?

After wondering what is a process addiction, you may also be curious as to how it is treated. A process addiction is behavioral in nature, which means that evidence-based treatments like dialectic and cognitive behavioral therapy are highly effective. Therapy can help you change your behaviors by teaching you coping strategies and how to combat cravings.

Group therapy can help you improve your communication skills, decrease feelings of isolation and provide additional support during treatment. Individual counseling can provide you with a safe place to share personal goals, concerns, and emotions. Treatment can also include the use of medications, family therapy, and marital counseling.

Steps to Recovery is Here to Help  

If you or a loved one is wondering what is a process addiction, you may be ready to reach out for help. While a process addiction takes time, commitment and dedication to overcome, recovery is possible with the help of a compassionate, experienced and understanding treatment center. Steps to Recovery is here to walk you through the recovery process and offer you the hope you need to overcome your process addiction. Call us today 267.209.7312 to find out more about how our programs can help you find recovery.