Non-substance addictions: uncontrolled compulsive behaviors

We are going to talk about four behaviors typical of human beings that, when they go out of control, can become true addiction problems even though technically they are not substances.

Gambling, a game that is not a game

Linked to enjoyment and recreation, bingo or casino can provide all the necessary condiments for an unforgettable night: good food, music, drinks, fun. Also it can be unforgettable if you can't stop playing, if the salary is "invested", money is requested and owed, the car is sold, among other unimaginable things ...

We will talk about gambling if gambling gets out of hand, becomes compulsive, uncontrolled, until reaching desperate instances where impairments not only appear from an economic point of view, if not at the family, work, personal level. It is one of the most frequent non-substance addictions in Western countries.

Every excuse is valid to play again

If it is won, the motivation invades and it will be played again to increase what was earned. "Today I am in luck." If you lose, you will play again to recover what was lost, to lift your spirits, or try to escape the negative consequences of having lost. "If I recover what I lost, no one is going to find out what I lost, they won't even know that I came."

For the closest environment, when noticing the problem, bingo becomes a forbidden place for the gambling, which will imply for him having to hide it every time he attends, lying or looking for excuses to go to the bingo.

It's always night

The windowless and strategically thought-out architecture of bingo makes it impossible to discover when the night stops and dawn begins, which facilitates compulsion and the lack of limits. Losing track of time is key to gambling addiction. As well as the false belief that a gambler can choose when to go to bingo and when to leave, as if he could handle it.

If there is addiction, it will be very difficult to control the frequency and duration of the bingo stay. Therefore, it is a behavior to which you must pay close attention. If the game stops being pleasant and begins to be compulsive, necessary and problematic, it is no longer a game.

People addictions

Addiction to a person, or also known as codependencyIt can be just as troublesome as other addictions. It can cause isolation, family, social and work deterioration, low self-esteem, and even depression and death. Feeling that one lives for and for the other, that the reason for his life is that person, that if he is not there, nothing makes sense. Being dependent on another person cancels your own abilities by feeling that you cannot live alone or achieve anything in life.

Self-esteem is governed by what others express about oneself. They believe they deserve little or nothing, prioritize the other and can do what they do not want to please or not lose the other person.

The relationship with the dependent person has twists and turns, where the return to the bond is what prevails. Codependents come back again and again, over the years, as if the unhealthy relationship was stronger than them, where personal relationships are put aside and there are always opportunities to get back together

Live to work, work addiction

Something as necessary as it is rewarding and organizer of the personality as work, can become a problem. This will occur when a person dedicates most of the hours of the day, and sometimes of the night, to work issues, not allowing yourself to do other activities or rest.

Several are the causal factors of a work addiction: excessive self-demand, low self-esteem, feeling of inferiority, obsession, pathological ambition. And the consequences will also be varied. As in any addiction, there will be sequelae at the health, family and sociability level: physical exhaustion, stress, anxiety; isolation, discussions, claims, pressure.

What does the one who buys buy? Compulsive consumerism

Today shopping and consumerism are part of our western society, they are almost necessary to live. We consume food, clothing, appliances, entertainment moments, etc. But when buying becomes uncontrolled and compulsive behavior, we are talking about something else.

When buying calm, relieve or discharge, we must ask ourselves what it calms us down. What does it take us away from? Definitely, What do we avoid when we buy compulsively?

Spending large sums of money, far from generating the gratification for acquiring what was purchased, can lead to helplessness, anguish and restlessness. It can lead to getting into debt and continuing to buy. The purchase is not joyful, it is not a moment of pleasure, or it is, but then it is followed by a feeling of emptiness, of frustration because the purchased material does not completely fill or remove the unpleasantness that is doing us wrong. This, which is prior to the purchase, is what we have to reveal, because the purchase itself is not bad, the bad thing is that it is compulsive and as a resource to cover or calm some other need.

Returning to the title of this segment, the compulsive buyer buys relief, evasion, momentary tranquility. And, depending on the case, you can buy a place in the family, a reciprocated love, a feeling of success and prestige; you buy self-esteem, you buy feeling valuable and important. The metaphor here is, when in reality I do not achieve something or part of the reality that I live or the place I occupy in society frustrates me, In my head, buying replaces that non-material thing that I feel I don't have. And it relieves, because when buying "I forget" what is causing me so much discomfort.

We insist that buying has nothing wrong and it is part of our way of living. It will be a problem if the need to buy something is systematically imposed. Life is organized based on buying, all the time and if the purchase cannot be carried out, anguish and frustration invades.