Treatment of addictive behavior. Characteristic features of an addictive personality

Addictive behavior - this is one of the types of deviant behavior with the formation of a desire to escape from reality by artificially changing one's mental state by taking certain substances or constantly fixing attention on certain types of activity in order to develop and maintain intense emotions (Ts.P. Korolenko, T.A. Donskikh).

Dependent behavior of a person is a serious social problem, since in a pronounced form it can have such negative consequences as loss of working capacity, conflicts with others, and the commission of crimes. In addition, this is the most common type of deviation, one way or another affecting any family.

In a broad sense, addiction is understood as "the desire to rely on someone or something in order to obtain satisfaction or adaptation." Conditionally, we can talk about normal and excessive dependence. All people experience a "normal" dependence on such vital objects as air, water, food. Most people have healthy attachments to parents, friends, spouses...
In some cases, violations of normal dependency relationships are observed. The tendency to over-dependence breeds addictive behavior.

Dependent behavior, therefore, turns out to be closely related both to the abuse of something or someone by the individual, and to violations of its needs. In the specialized literature, another name for the reality under consideration is used - addictive behavior. Translated from English addiction- addiction, bad habit. If we turn to the historical roots of this concept, then lat. addictus- one who is bound by debts (sentenced to slavery for debts). In other words, the person who is in a deep slavish dependence on some irresistible power.

Dependent (addictive) behavior, as a type of deviant behavior of a person, in turn, has many subspecies, differentiated mainly by the object of addiction. In real life, such objects of dependence as psychoactive substances, food, games, sex, religion and religious cults are more common.

In accordance with the listed objects, the following forms of dependent behavior are distinguished: chemical dependence; violations eating behavior, gambling, sexual addictions, religious destructive behavior.

As people's lives change, new forms of addictive behavior appear, at the same time, some forms gradually lose the label of deviance.

Allocate common signs of addictive behavior. First of all, the dependent behavior of the individual is manifested in a steady desire to change the psychophysical state. This attraction is experienced by a person as impulsively-categorical, irresistible, insatiable. Outwardly, this may look like a struggle with oneself, and more often - like a loss of self-control.

Addictive behavior does not appear suddenly, it is a continuous process of formation and development of addiction and has a beginning (often harmless), an individual course (with increased dependence) and an outcome. The motivation for behavior is different at different stages of addiction.

Another characteristic feature of addictive behavior is its cyclicality. Let's list the phases of one cycle:

- the presence of internal readiness for addictive behavior;

- increased desire and tension;

– expectation and active search for the object of addiction;

- obtaining an object and achieving specific experiences;

- relaxation;

- phase of remission (relative rest).

Dependent behavior does not necessarily lead to illness or death (as, for example, in cases of alcoholism or drug addiction), but naturally causes personality changes and social maladaptation. C.P. Korolenko and T.A. Donskikh point to the typical socio-psychological changes that accompany the formation of addiction. Of paramount importance is the formation of an addictive attitude - a combination of cognitive, emotional and behavioral characteristics that cause an addictive attitude to life.

The addictive attitude is expressed in the appearance of an overvalued emotional attitude towards the object of addiction (for example, in anxiety about having a constant supply of cigarettes, drugs). At the same time, the so-called magical thinking is formed (in the form of fantasies about one’s own power or the omnipotence of the drug) and “thinking at will”, as a result of which the criticality to the negative consequences of addictive behavior and the addictive environment decreases (“everything is fine”; “I can control myself”; All drug addicts are good people.

In parallel, distrust develops towards all “others”, including specialists who are trying to provide medical and social assistance to the addict (“they cannot understand me, because they themselves do not know what it is”).

An addictive attitude inevitably leads to the fact that the object of addiction becomes the goal of existence, and use becomes a way of life. The living space narrows down to the situation of obtaining an object. Everything else - the old moral values, interests, relationships - ceases to be significant. Criticality to oneself and one's behavior is significantly reduced, defensive-aggressive behavior is intensified, and signs of social maladaptation are growing.

One of the most negative manifestations of an addictive attitude is anosognosia- denial of the disease or its severity. The addict's unwillingness to admit his addiction ("I'm not an alcoholic"; "if I want to, I'll stop drinking") complicates his relationship with others and significantly complicates the provision of assistance, and in some cases makes the addiction insurmountable.

The following psychological features of persons with addictive forms of behavior are distinguished (B. Segal):

Reduced tolerance for the difficulties of everyday life, along with good tolerance for crisis situations;

Hidden inferiority complex, combined with outwardly manifested superiority;

External sociability, combined with fear of persistent emotional contacts;

The desire to tell a lie;

The desire to blame others, knowing that they are innocent;

The desire to evade responsibility in decision-making;

Stereotyping, repeatability of behavior;

Addiction;

Anxiety.

Normally, as a rule, mentally healthy people easily (“automatically”) adapt to the requirements of everyday life and endure crisis situations more difficultly. They, unlike people with various addictions, try to avoid crises and exciting non-traditional events.

An addictive personality has the phenomenon of “thirst-seeking” (V.A. Petrovsky), which is characterized by an impulse to take risks, due to the experience of overcoming danger.

According to E. Bern, a person has six types of hunger: for sensory stimulation; by confession; by contact and physical stroking; sexual hunger; hunger for structuring time; hunger for incidents.

Within the framework of the addictive type of behavior, each of the listed types of hunger is exacerbated. A person does not find the satisfaction of the feeling of "hunger" in real life and seeks to relieve discomfort and dissatisfaction by stimulating certain types of activity. At the same time, objectively and subjectively, poor tolerance for the difficulties of everyday life, constant reproaches for unsuitability and lack of love of life from relatives and others form a hidden "inferiority complex" in addictive individuals. They suffer from the fact that they are different from others, from the fact that they are not able to "live like people." However, such a temporarily emerging "inferiority complex" turns into a hypercompensatory reaction. External sociability, ease of establishing contacts is accompanied by manipulative behavior. Such a person is afraid of persistent and prolonged emotional contacts due to the rapid loss of interest in the same person or activity and the fear of attributing responsibility for any business. The motive for the behavior of a "hardened bachelor" (categorical refusal to tie the knot and have offspring) in the case of the prevalence of addictive forms of behavior may be the fear of responsibility for a possible spouse and children and dependence on them.

The desire to tell lies, deceive others, and also blame others for their own mistakes and mistakes stem from the structure of an addictive personality, which tries to hide its own “inferiority complex” from others, due to the inability to live in accordance with the foundations and generally accepted norms.

The basic characteristic of an addictive personality is dependence. The following signs are distinguished, five of which are sufficient to diagnose addiction in the subject:

Inability to make decisions without the advice of other people;

Willingness to let others make important decisions for him;

Willingness to agree with others for fear of being rejected, even when they know they are wrong;

Difficulties when you need to start a business on your own;

Willingness to volunteer to perform humiliating or unpleasant work in order to gain the support and love of others;

Poor tolerance for loneliness - the willingness to make significant efforts to avoid it;

Feeling empty or helpless when a close connection is cut off;

Preoccupied with the fear of being rejected;

Slight vulnerability at the slightest criticism or disapproval from the outside.

Along with addiction, the main thing in the behavior of an addictive personality is the desire to escape from reality, the fear of an ordinary “boring” life filled with obligations and regulations, a tendency to search for transcendent emotional experiences even at the cost of serious risk and inability to be responsible for anything.

Escape from reality occurs in addictive behavior in the form of a kind of “escape”, when instead of harmonious interaction with all aspects of reality, activation occurs in one direction. At the same time, a person focuses on a narrowly focused area of activity (often inharmonious and destroying the personality), ignoring all the others. In accordance with the concept of N. Pezeshkian, there are four types of "escape" from reality: "flight to the body", "flight to work", "flight to contacts or loneliness" and "Escape to Fantasy".

When choosing to escape from reality in the form of “escape to the body”, traditional life activity aimed at the family, career growth or hobby is replaced by a change in the hierarchy of values of everyday life, reorientation to activities aimed only at one’s own physical or mental improvement. At the same time, the passion for health-improving activities (“health paranoia”), sexual interactions, improving one’s own appearance, the quality of rest, and ways of relaxation become hypercompensatory. “Escape to work” is characterized by a disharmonious fixation on official affairs, to which a person begins to devote exorbitant time in comparison with other areas of life, becoming a workaholic. A change in the value of communication is formed in the case of a choice of behavior in the form of "escape to contacts or loneliness", in which either communication becomes the only desirable way to satisfy needs, replacing all others, or the number of contacts is reduced to a minimum. The tendency to think, project, in the absence of a desire to bring something to life, to perform some action, to show some real activity is called "flight into fantasy." As part of such a departure from reality, there is an interest in pseudo-philosophical quests, religious fanaticism, life in a world of illusions and fantasies.

There are no independent people, and each person has one or another addiction, according to narcologists and psychiatrists. Addictive behavior goes beyond the usual, and is a borderline state between the norm and pathological addiction. Drug use, overeating and starvation, the need for endless purchases of things - all these are addictive behaviors.

Addictive behavior - what is it?

A few decades ago, "addiction" was considered a term in the work of narcologists and meant from all sorts of chemical substances. Today, addictive behavior is a form of destructive behavior aimed at self-destruction. An addict is a person who tries to avoid reality with its problems by leaving it with the help of a certain kind of dependence on substances, phenomena, objects. With addiction, a person develops a strong emotional connection or attachment to the object of addiction.

Reasons for addictive behavior

The concept of addictive behavior includes many causes or prerequisites for occurrence:

Biological causes. In 1990, the American scientist K. Blum conducted research on the genetics of alcoholism, discovered the addictiveness gene, which he called the “reward gene”. Later, in a study of people prone to smoking, overeating, this gene was also identified. Another reason is that the pleasure center in the addict's brain is not activated properly and the person begins to compensate for the lack of pleasure with the help of synthetic substances or compulsions.
Social causes. Conditions conducive to the development of an addictive personality:

parental neglect
family conflicts, high-profile scandals;
neglect of the problems, feelings of the child;
parents "flood" problems with alcohol, drug use.

Psychologists separately single out the reasons associated with the personal characteristics of the development of an addict (often this manifests itself in adolescence):

emotional scarcity;
desire to stand out among peers;
low level of adaptability to difficult conditions;
personal immaturity;
defenselessness;
desire for sharp, exciting sensations.

Signs of Addictive Behavior

The tendency to addictive behavior is not always recognized in the early stages and it is difficult to determine the type of addiction that is forming. Signs by which you can recognize an addictive personality:

fear and intolerance of loneliness;
fear of being rejected;
vulnerability in response to criticism;
out of fear of being rejected, agrees with others, even if they are wrong;
no sense of responsibility;
deceit;
anxiety and emotional lability;
rituality and stereotyped (repetitive) actions in behavior;
preference for artificial reality;
persistent changes in the psychophysical state.

Types of addictive behavior

Addictive behavior and its types in traditional psychiatry and narcology:

Addiction. The desire for new unexplored sensations completely displaces everything that is not related to drugs from a person’s life.
Alcoholism. The tendency to relax and “drown” your problems in alcohol leads to the rapid formation of alcohol dependence.
Sexual addiction. Don Juanism, sexual behavior disorders, are typical for those who grew up in an emotionally cold family or became victims of sexual abuse in childhood.
Food addiction. Anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders. Fasting is a way of self-realization for an addict through overcoming the “weaknesses” of the body. With bulimia, food becomes a way to distract a person from sad thoughts, feelings of inferiority.
Internet addiction. Leaving real world into virtual illusory.

Treatment for addictive behavior

Persistent addictive behavior is difficult to treat if the addict is not aware of his addiction. The main treatment is carried out by a psychiatrist, and in case of chemical addictions, it is accompanied by the treatment of a narcologist. Correction of addictive behavior, in addition to drug therapy, includes psychotherapy. Addictive behavior in psychology is successfully corrected by methods of behavioral therapy.

Addictive Behavior - Books

When a loved one changes and not for the better, it becomes difficult to understand what is happening to him. The literature on this topic does not replace the advice of a specialist, but helps to “shed light” on the problems that have arisen:

"Guide to Addictology" V.D. Mendelevich and co-authors. The book explains what addictions and addictive behaviors are in a strictly scientific style.
"Relief from addictions or the school of successful choice" A.V. Kotlyarov. The manual was written for patients. Contains useful techniques, metaphors, parables.
"On addictions and addictive behavior" V. Kachalov. What are the dependencies.
"Prevention of addictions in children and adolescents" Trubitsyna L.V. The publication is dedicated important aspect addictive behavior - prevention.

Addiction is an obsessive desire to perform an activity or an urgent need to perform it. FROM recently opinion about such disorders has changed dramatically, and drug addiction is considered on a par with behavioral abnormalities.

Addiction is a disease that can be roughly divided into 2 main categories. Let's consider them further. Types of addictions:

Chemical (substantial, or physical).
Behavioral (non-substantial, or psychological).

Chemical addiction: options

Chemical addiction is a disorder associated with the use various substances that change physical state the person receiving them. Many of them are poisonous (or toxic), which leads to organic lesions. Chemical addictions cause significant harm to health from the very beginning of their development.

Alcohol addiction

Among the chemical varieties, alcohol addiction is the best studied. It leads to multiple disorders in the body. Everything suffers from it: internal organs, psyche, nervous system. After some time of drinking and after the first two stages, where the main problem is the state of a slight hangover, the third stage begins. Here, a person can no longer fight a strong, unbridled desire to hangover, with internal discomfort, sharp negative feelings in the worldview, since irreversible changes have already occurred in the body at the physical level.

drug addiction

Patients with drug addiction are characterized by cravings for various psychotropic and toxic substances. That is, substance abuse also applies to this species. A similar dependence occurs almost immediately after the first use of these substances. Drug addiction is worse than alcoholism. Since two types of dependence are combined here: psychological and physical. With such an addiction, the patient each time needs an increasing amount of a narcotic substance, which slowly kills the body. It occurs and then most often the result is death.

Non-chemical addictions. Behavioral addiction: options

Behavioral addiction is characterized by attachment to a particular activity. And also the inability to get rid of it on their own. Addictive behavior most often arises from the desire to break away from reality and get into the world created by consciousness. Currently, there are forms of such addiction that are acceptable and safe for a person: falling in love, meditation, creativity, spiritual practices, workaholism, and extreme sports.

Behavioral addiction is a non-chemical variety. That is, it represents the influence of some action pattern. Almost any hobby of a person, which has an overvalued value for him or in which activity becomes the main guide of his behavior, is a similar variant of addiction.

gambling addiction

Non-chemical addictions also include gambling addiction, when a person cannot imagine his life without gambling. These can be casinos, slot machines, roulette, etc. Many psychologists say that any gambling is a very serious social problem which poses a real threat to the population. Addiction is exacerbated by the relaxation resulting from the game, the decline in emotional stress.

The main signs of gambling addiction can be called:

Constant interest in the process.
Increase the time given to the game.
Changing the circle of communication and interests.
Loss of control.
Gradual increase in irritation.
Raising rates.
Lack of ability to resist play.

If at least a few of these signs appear in a person, you should immediately seek medical attention. professional help to a psychotherapist or psychologist.

Relationship addiction

The following relationship addictions can be distinguished: avoidance, love and sexual. The cause of such disorders is most often inadequate self-esteem, as well as the inability to love yourself.

Love addiction is a manic attachment to another person, fixation on him. Often similar relationship occur in two co-dependent people, co-addictive. Such a relationship can appear in a parent and child, husband and wife, friends.

Love addiction has the following features:

A large amount of time and attention is given to the object to which the addiction is directed.
The appearance of obsession, from which it is impossible to get rid of.
There are experiences from fictional relationships.
There is a loss of interest in their personal hobbies.

Signs of addiction avoidance:

Avoiding an intense relationship with a previously significant person.
Intentionally spending time with other people, even if they are not at all interesting.
Attempts to avoid intimate contact.
Maintaining a psychological distance.

At a subconscious level, patients with avoidance addiction have a fear of abandonment. He is the main reason for this behavior.

A love addict and an avoidant addict are usually always drawn to each other. This attraction arises from the presence of acquaintances psychological traits character, which, although unpleasant, cause emotional pain, but are familiar.

Sexual addiction has the following main features:

Lack of control over sexual behavior.
The impossibility of dealing with this way of action, despite all the negative and dangerous consequences.

In the appearance of such a disorder as sexual addiction in a person, sexual trauma in childhood is of great importance.

workaholism

Workaholism, like any other addiction, is an escape from reality through a change in mental state, which is achieved by fixing on work. A person with such an addiction does not seek to work only for money or a goal. It replaces various types of activity with work: affection, entertainment, love, friendship, etc.

One of the noticeable and obvious features of workaholism is the compulsive desire for approval and success. has a great fear of failing, of being a little worse than others, or of being seen as incompetent and lazy. Such people behave quite aloofly with friends and family. A workaholic lives only in the system of his own experiences with direct fixation at work.

A person suffering from such a disorder convinces not only himself, but also those around him that he is trying solely for the sake of money or promotion. In fact, this is a certain protection that is accepted by society, and the person himself does not understand that such a path is a dead end and will not help realize his potential. If a workaholic is fired, he cannot cope with such stress. Timely contacting a specialist will help to avoid problems in the future. Since such people subsequently develop chemical addictions more often than others. At the same time, it is workaholism that is one of the methods of rehabilitation of drug addicts or alcoholics.

internet addiction

AT modern world this problem has almost caught up with chemical dependencies in its scope. There are several types of such a disease as Internet addiction:

Obsessive addiction (games or programming).
Compulsive site navigation.
Internet gambling addiction.
Addiction to social networks.
Internet pornography addiction.

Computer addiction has the following main psychological symptoms:

Excellent state bordering on euphoria.
The inability to stop.
Constant increase in the amount of time spent at the computer.
Complete disregard for loved ones.

Internet addiction has the following physical symptoms:

Constant pain in the wrist due to tunnel damage to the nerve trunks of the arm caused by overexertion.
Dry eyes and headaches.
Neglect of personal hygiene.
Sleep disturbance.

Computer addiction can lead to sad consequences, especially in adolescence. A person as a result of such an addiction can lose loved ones, friends and return to real life only with the help of a psychologist.

Sports addiction

Modern science distinguishes between sports necessary for health and professional sports. In addition, there are its extreme types, which are now becoming increasingly popular.

Sports addiction is a disease that is on the border of socially acceptable behavioral responses and physical dependence. It should be remembered that an excessive passion for sports can easily change direction and form, as a result of which it will go into another type, even into a chemical one. Therefore, there are enough high percent drug addiction, alcoholism and drug addiction among former athletes.

Shopaholism

Shopaholism refers to the dependence on making purchases and their lack of control. They bring satisfaction only for a short period of time, which leads to serious consequences in the future, for example, huge debts and problems with the law.

The main signs of shopaholism:

Frequent preoccupation with shopping.
Sudden, irresistible desire to acquire something.
Making purchases beyond your means.
Buying unnecessary things.
More and more time is devoted to shopping.
Sudden urge to buy something.
Inappropriate waste of time.

All of the above is gradually becoming a rather serious hindrance in ordinary everyday life. It also causes great harm to the professional sphere and entails material problems.

Dependence on the constant desire to spend money and acquire unnecessary things manifests itself in the form of repetitive, irresistible urges to buy in huge quantities. In the intervals between them, tension usually builds up, which can be eased only by making the next purchase. After that, it usually appears. Such addicts tend to have enough wide range existing negative emotions, while positive ones arise only in the process of making purchases. Dependent people of this type have growing debts, loans, problems in relationships with relatives and friends. You might even get in trouble with the law. In the modern world of technology, shopaholism is increasingly being implemented through online shopping in virtual stores.

food addiction

Food addiction includes overeating and fasting. They are also called intermediate types. In the literature, one can often find a more extended interpretation of food addictions. They also include bulimia. Now there is a separate addiction to chocolate. There is an opinion that chocolate made from cocoa beans has the ability to form an addiction. This is caused by the presence in beans of compounds that are close to endogenous cannabinoids in their chemical composition.

Binge eating

Food addiction is both a psychological addiction and, in some ways, a physical one. Because it helps you feel full. As ordinary food acquires greater addictive potential, it is precisely the artificial stimulation of hunger that occurs. Any person who is prone to overeating can create a zone of overestimated exchange balance in a similar way. As a result, when the concentration of glucose in the blood decreases after the next meal, the feeling of hunger appears immediately, and a person cannot bear it calmly. Physiological mechanisms very quickly mismatch. The addict begins to eat a lot, often and indiscriminately, everything. At some point, this behavior is supplemented by constant feeling shame that increases after eating. As a result, a person intensively hides his addiction, begins to eat secretly, after any load, his hunger intensifies. All this eventually leads to very dangerous consequences for health: metabolic disorders, weight gain, malfunction internal organs and digestive systems. A person ceases to control himself and begins to consume a volume of food that can be life-threatening.

Starvation

Currently, there are two main mechanisms for the emergence of fasting addiction: medical and non-medical. The medical option involves the use of unloading diet therapy. The initial phase of entering hunger has certain difficulties associated with the ever-emerging need to suppress appetite. The next phase is characterized by a state change. As a result, appetite decreases or disappears, strength appears, as if a second wind opens, mood rises, a desire for physical activity appears. Many patients like this state very much, and they want to stay in it longer, to prolong it.

Repeated fasting is already carried out independently. As a result, at a certain level of euphoria resulting from fasting, there is a loss of control. The addict continues to starve even when it becomes unsafe for health and life, there is a loss of a critical attitude towards the state.

Any addiction, dependence, whether physical or mental, does not go away on its own. Inaction and unwillingness to fight it can lead to sad consequences, sometimes irreversible. Often a person suffering from addiction is not able to critically assess his condition and ask for help. Patients with gambling addiction, shopaholism, food addictions cannot really realize the scale of their illness.

Prevention of addictions

Prevention of addiction should begin at school, where children are told in detail about its existing types, their causes and consequences. If a child learns about destructive consequences, for example, chemical addictions, most likely, he will not even want to try alcohol, drugs or cigarettes.

The example of parents also plays an important role in the prevention of addiction in children. Help and support from loved ones in difficult situations, talking about problems - all this will help to avoid a person’s desire to leave for a fictional world.

A timely appeal to a psychologist and his direct participation in eliminating the causes of an emerging addiction will certainly help to overcome it.

Addictive behavior is one of the forms of the so-called destructive (destructive) behavior, in which a person seems to seek to escape from the surrounding reality, fixing his attention on specific activities and objects, or changing his own psycho-emotional state by using various substances. In fact, resorting to addictive behavior, people seek to create for themselves the illusion of some kind of security, to come to a life balance.

The destructive nature of such a state is determined by the fact that a person establishes an emotional connection not with other personalities, but with objects or phenomena, which is especially characteristic of chemical dependence, addiction to card and other gambling games, Internet addiction, etc. Very often, pathology occurs among minor adolescents, schoolchildren and students, but it is often diagnosed in adults of various social status. In this regard, timely prevention of addictive behavior among children with a predisposition to this is very important.

Psychology describes addiction as a kind of borderline state that occurs between pathological addiction and the norm. This line is especially thin when it comes to the addictive behavior of adolescents. Departing from reality through the use of psychoactive substances, computer games, etc., they experience pleasant and very vivid emotions, from which they can become addicted very soon. This reduces the ability to adapt. We can say that any kind of addiction is a kind of signal about the help that a person needs in order to remain a full-fledged member of society.

Reasons for development

It is impossible to identify unambiguous reasons for the development of addictive behavior, since a combination of various unfavorable factors usually occurs here. external environment and personal characteristics of each specific person. As a rule, it is possible to identify a predisposition to addictive behavior in adolescents and children using special psychological techniques and by the presence of certain personality and character traits.

Addictive behavior usually develops when the above features are combined with certain circumstances, for example, an unfavorable social environment, a child's low adaptation to the conditions of an educational institution, etc. Additional risk factors are also distinguished, such as the desire to stand out from the crowd, gambling, psychological instability, loneliness, perception of ordinary everyday circumstances as unfavorable, scarcity of emotions, etc.

It is worth emphasizing that in the process of addiction formation, a certain
role belongs to almost all existing public institutions. In the emergence of deviant behavior, one of the leading roles belongs to the family, just as in the process of treating pathology. However, the presence of a destructive member in the family, be it a child or an adult, can lead to its degradation. For the most part, dysfunctional families are characterized by rather specific methods of solving emerging problems and self-expression, based on self-affirmation at the expense of other family members and compensation for their own negative emotions on them.

The relationship between addiction in parents and children can manifest itself even through the generation, leading to the birth of grandchildren with a hereditary predisposition, for example, to alcoholism. Since the family is the main criterion and example for any person, addictive behavior often affects children from incomplete or immoral families, families whose members are prone to violence or have clearly criminal tendencies, conflict families.

Some prerequisites for the development of addiction can be provided not only by the family, but also by another public institution - the school. The fact is that modern system school education encourages very hard work, almost ignoring interpersonal relationships. As a result, children grow up without acquiring useful life experience and social skills, trying to avoid any difficulties and responsibilities. Characteristically, addictive tendencies often occur in students of schools for gifted children who attend many additional classes and circles, but have practically no free time.

Religion can also be considered as a predisposing factor to the development of addictive behavior, which, on the one hand, gives meaning to life and people and helps to get rid of addictions, but on the other hand, it can itself become a pathological addiction. Even traditional religious movements can contribute to the formation of dependence, not to mention various destructive sects.

Stages of development

The development of any pathological addiction usually goes through several stages, which can also be considered as the severity of addictive behavior. The first stage is the period of the first trials, when a person first tries something that can later turn into an addiction. Then comes the stage of "addictive rhythm", when a person begins to develop a habit.

At the third stage, obvious manifestations of addictive behavior are already observed, and
addiction becomes the only way to respond to any life difficulties. At the same time, the person himself denies his own dependence, and there is a clear disharmony between the surrounding reality and his perception.

At the stage of physical dependence, addiction begins to prevail over other areas of a person's life, and turning to it no longer brings emotional satisfaction and effect. Have a good mood. At a late stage, complete emotional and physical degradation occurs, and with dependence on psychotropic substances, disturbances occur in the work of almost all organs and systems of the body. This is fraught with the occurrence of severe physiological and mental disorders up to death.

Kinds

Forms of addictive behavior are quite diverse, the following types can be distinguished by origin:

chemical - smoking, drug addiction, substance abuse, alcohol abuse;
non-chemical - computer addiction, addiction to the Internet, video and gambling, workaholism, shopaholism, sexual addiction, etc.;
eating disorders - addictive fasting or overeating;
pathological enthusiasm for any type of activity, leading to complete disregard or aggravation of existing life difficulties - sectarianism, religious fanaticism, etc.

It should be noted that the presented classification is very conditional. Consequences various forms dependencies can differ significantly for the individual and society. This also causes a different attitude in society to different types of addictions. So, for example, many have a tolerant and neutral attitude towards smoking, and religiosity often evokes approval. Some particularly common addictive behaviors will be discussed in more detail.

AT last years The number of people who are addicted to gambling has increased significantly around the world. This is not surprising, because today there is great amount ways to satisfy your pathological cravings: slot machines, card games, casinos, lotteries, sweepstakes, etc. In principle, a certain amount of excitement may be present in a completely healthy person, manifesting itself in the desire for victory and superiority, as well as financial enrichment. At the heart of this are exclusively positive emotions that people tend to experience again and again. It is then that excitement takes on an affective form in the absence of rational control over its emotional component. In such a state of affect, perception is disturbed, and the will of a person is concentrated on only one object.

When gambling becomes an addiction, in medicine it is called an addictive addiction. At the same time, problem players can be divided into several types. The first type is the so-called "laughing" gambler, who still perceives gambling as entertainment. However, over time, winning becomes more important, which means that the stakes also increase, while failures are perceived simply as an unfortunate set of circumstances or cheating on the part of other players.

After a fairly short period of time, such a person can turn into a “crying” gambler, start borrowing money to satisfy his craving for gambling. At the same time, addiction to the game dominates over other areas of life. Despite the ever-increasing financial debts and detachment from reality, the “crying” player still believes that in some magical way all his problems will be resolved, for example, with a big win.

After that comes the stage of despair. The “desperate” player is busy only with the game, he often has neither a permanent place of work or study, nor friends. Realizing that his life is going downhill, such a person is not able to overcome the addiction on his own, because when he stops playing games, he develops very real disorders that resemble a hangover in alcohol addiction: migraines, appetite and sleep disturbances, depression, etc. Suicidal tendencies are quite common among desperate players.

In the era of computer technology, their use brings significant advantages, both in educational and professional activities, but it also Negative influence on many mental functions of a person. Of course, the computer facilitates the solution of many tasks, and, accordingly, reduces the requirements for the intellectual abilities of the individual. Also, such important mental functions as perception, memory and thinking are reduced. A person who possessed certain positive traits can gradually become overly pedantic and even aloof. In his motivational sphere, destructive and primitive play urges begin to dominate.

Such addictive behavior is especially common among teenagers. It can manifest itself depending on computer games, social networks, the phenomenon of hacking, etc. Having unlimited access to the Internet and the information contained in it, a person loses a sense of reality. This risk is especially great for people for whom the Internet is the only means of communication with the world.

One of the most common forms computer addiction is a morbid passion for video games. It has been found that among children and adolescents, aggression and anxiety in the absence of the opportunity to play become a kind of side effect of such an addiction.

As for the passion for all kinds of social networks and other services created for communication, there is also a lot of danger here. The fact is that on the network everyone is able to find the ideal interlocutor that meets any criteria, with whom there is no need to keep in touch further. Dependent people develop a disdainful attitude towards contacts with people in life. In addition to limiting communication with real people, there may be sleep disturbances, boredom, and a depressed mood. Passion for the computer prevails over any other activities, and communication with real people is very difficult.

Alcohol addiction, like addiction to drugs, is a form of addictive destructive behavior that can lead to catastrophic consequences. If at the initial stage of alcoholism a person still controls own life, then in the future, addiction already begins to control him.

Individuals suffering from alcohol addiction are characterized by such personality and character traits as difficulties in making important decisions and tolerance of life's troubles, an inferiority complex, infantilism, egocentrism, and a decrease in intellectual abilities. The behavior of alcoholics is usually distinguished by its unproductiveness, mental development gradually comes to a primitive level with a complete lack of interests and goals in life.

Women's alcoholism is especially difficult. In society, drinking women are subject to much stronger condemnation than men, which is why most of them hide their addiction. As a rule, women are more emotionally unstable, so it is easier for them to become addicted to alcohol when life's difficulties arise or under the yoke of their own dissatisfaction. Often female alcoholism is combined with dependence on tranquilizers and sedatives.

Clinical signs

The main goal of addiction is self-regulation and adaptation to existing living conditions. Recognize symptoms of addictive behavior loved one not always easy, as their degree may vary. Features of patients with deviant behavior can be both a cause and a consequence of their dependence. These features include:

absolutely normal state of health and self-confidence in difficult life situations that cause other people, if not despair, then significant discomfort;
the desire to lie and blame others for what they did not do;
low self-esteem, combined with external manifestations of one's own superiority;
fear of emotional attachment and close interpersonal contacts;
the presence of stereotypes in thinking and behavior;
anxiety;
avoidance of any form of responsibility;
desire to manipulate others.

Diagnostics and therapy

A qualified psychologist can identify addictive behavior based on the results of a detailed conversation with the patient, during which the doctor collects a detailed family history, information about life and professional activity sick, reveals him personality traits. During such a conversation, the specialist carefully observes the patient's speech and behavior, which may also contain certain markers of addiction, for example, reactivity or sticking in speech, negative statements about oneself, etc.

Psychotherapy is used as the main treatment for addictions. If we are talking about severe drug or alcohol addiction, it may be necessary to hospitalize the patient and detoxify the body. Since most psychologists view addiction as a side effect of family dysfunction, family therapy is usually preferred, which can be strategic, structural, or functional. The main goals of such psychotherapeutic treatment are to determine the factors that caused deviant behavior, normalize relations within the family, develop individual approach to treatment.

Preventive measures

Prevention of addictive behavior will be more effective the sooner it is started. Early warning of the development of addiction includes, first of all, the diagnostic stage, which should be carried out in educational institutions in order to identify children with a tendency to deviant behavior. Primary prevention also means preventing the involvement of children and adolescents in any form of addiction. This also includes information about possible consequences addiction methods of dealing with stress and communication technologies. Experts note the importance for modern society of popularizing other types of leisure, for example, sports clubs.

Addictive behavior resembles the rejection of the world around, in which the individual delimits himself from society, using any entertainment in the form of Internet entertainment, sex, gambling, overspending. This problem occurs not only in adults, but also in adolescents.

Reasons for addictive behavior

The basis of alienation from reality is the lack of interaction or disruption of communication in the environment in which the child grows up. Hormonal changes that develop in adolescents lead to a surge of emotions, the appearance of aggressiveness (see). They are influenced by parents, friends, classmates, with whom the child often cannot find a common language.

The psyche of adolescents is not fully formed, and young people themselves are not sufficiently adapted to adult life. Addiction is also associated with the use of various psychotropic drugs. In some, addictiveness is almost imperceptible; in others, it is combined with normal behavior and only occasionally manifests itself. Sometimes there is a violation of the manner of holding, expressed up to the occurrence of extremes. High degree severity can lead to the development of psychosomatic diseases.

There are many forms of addictions that can combine and move from one to another. For example, after giving up drinking alcohol, a teenager starts smoking, and after quitting computer games, he starts going in for extreme sports, developing a new addiction.

Read about diseases of a neurological and psychiatric nature.

Learn about typical symptoms and treatment.

Types of addiction

The addiction that occurs in adolescents is similar to adult addiction. Distinguish between chemical and non-chemical. The first is related to the use of substances that affect nervous system, causing saturation of pleasure centers. These funds include:

alcohol (see);
substance abuse;
cigarettes;
hookah smoking;
medications.

Non-chemical addiction is in any area of activity that leads to the destruction of mental health. It includes:

gambling addiction;
gluttony;
workaholism;
sectarianism;
sexual behavior;
masochism;
listening to specific music.

The appearance of addictiveness can serve the development of asocialization, as well as the emergence of a teenager:

bipolar associative disorder ();
psychosomatic pathologies;
homicidal or suicidal tendencies;
paranoid schizophrenia;
degradation;
sociopathy.

Provoking factors

There are certain moments that cause a teenager to be prone to addictions. In this regard, it is important to consult psychologists who can determine his personality type and psychological portrait.

Children at risk include:

vulnerable;
often ill;
susceptible to criticism;
victims of domestic violence;
with a strict upbringing.

According to psychological research, there are 4 main reasons:

economic;
social;
biological;
individual.

The formation of the human body and the formation of personality lies in the development of mental health and the stability of the body. Teenager becomes more confident after taking psychotic drugs (substance abuse) energy drinks, caffeine, alcohol).

The disorders that these substances lead to begin to form during adolescence, and the acquired effects are more often detected in adulthood. So, the fear of the dark turns into a fear of looking in the mirror, and loneliness is transformed into a persecution mania. In addition, deviant behavior (which does not correspond to social norms) joins.

Prerequisites for the development of addiction can also be head injuries: concussion, bruises, increased intracranial pressure, and mental retardation. Teenagers have the following personality types:

Hyperthymic. It has a non-standard look and speed of thinking, intellectual activity, creativity and creativity prevail in their life. They stand out among others for their leadership qualities.
Hyperexcitable. Teenagers are too impulsive, are in emotional overexcitation. They are unable to control their behavior and desires, restless, irritable and impatient. They cannot calmly treat criticism addressed to them and perceive everything “with hostility”. The development of addictiveness for children of preschool age is characteristic.
Hysterical. Manifested by a thirst and desire to become noticed, recognized. They defiantly talk, exaggerate certain events, trying to impress others, sometimes even with fictional stories. They are also capable of lying, slandering themselves or attributing incurable diseases and suffering.
epileptoid. Adolescents experience personality changes resembling epileptic disorders. They are in an aggressive state and constantly come into conflict.
The unstable type is characterized by weakness, apathy. Adolescents are naughty, do not follow the usual rules of behavior, they need to be constantly monitored. But they are afraid to obey other people. At school, such children are lazy, constantly running away from lessons. Able to commit petty crimes in the form of hooliganism and theft.

These personality types sometimes do not occur on their own, but are combined with each other, leading to the development of addiction. Psychologists or psychotherapists should diagnose an addictive disorder. The test for addictive behavior is carried out in order to find out the neglect of a particular addiction (alcohol, nicotine, gaming), as well as to identify its effect on the body. Tests should be passed not only by teenagers, but also by their parents.

Helping Teenagers with Addiction Behavior

Depending on the severity of the addictive disorder, treatment is carried out by specialists in psychotherapeutic sessions or in a psychiatric clinic. With a mild degree of violations with the help of special techniques help a teenager get rid of addiction to games, overeating, shopaholism.

In case of alcohol, drug or drug addiction, therapy is provided in a special department, detoxifying the body. Then they help the teenager to restore mental health.

Preventive measures should be carried out in sanatorium-resort places to saturate the life of a teenager with new experiences. Addictive disorder in most cases is destructive. The earlier addictions are detected, the easier it is to get rid of them with timely complex therapy.