Behavioral addiction

Behavioral addiction, process addiction, or non-substance-related disorder is a form of addiction that involves a compulsion to engage in a rewarding non-substance-related behavior – sometimes called a natural reward – despite any negative consequences to the person's physical, mental, social or financial well-being. In the brain's reward system, a gene transcription factor known as ΔFosB has been identified as a necessary common factor involved in both behavioral and drug addictions, which are associated with the same set of neural adaptations.

Addiction traditionally refers to substance abuse, wherein the user develops a physical dependence; however, since the 1990s the term's colloquial connotation has expanded to include behaviors and experiences that may trigger the brain's reward system (such as gambling, eating, or shopping).

In addition, modern brain scan technologies have suggested that chemical and experience rewards have virtually identical reactions on the organ. Through this reward system, the brain becomes vulnerable to the possible risk of being trapped in compulsions. Such findings imply that addiction may be partially based on behavior rather than solely on chemical processes, given the fact that some behaviors can also have negative impacts on an individual’s brain. Still, the framework to diagnose and categorize behavioral addiction is a controversial topic in the psychopathology field.