Process Addictions
Process addictions are addictions to an activity or process, such as gambling, eating, spending, sex, and work. As to whether they are real addictions, the prevailing view is that they are. At least, they share commonalities with substance abuse addiction.
People sometimes have difficulty accepting these behaviors as addictions. They think that you should be able to simply stop the compulsive behavior. However, process addictions can be as debilitating and difficult to overcome as are addictions to substances such as drugs and alcohol.
The phrase “process addictions” serves only to differentiate the addictive behavior from “substance addictions.”
Current research supports the growing understanding that process addictions can impact neurotransmitters in the brain much the same way substances do.
Some types of process addictions are:
