Addiction can be defined as a disease that negatively affects your brain. When addiction is in play, there is an intense urge to keep performing the habit even when the adverse signs are there.
Generally, addiction is divided into two categories: Behavioral and Substance addiction.
Behavioral addiction
Behavioral addiction is a disorder where an individual is addicted to some habits that come with unpleasant consequences.
Examples of behavioral addiction are sex addiction, video gaming addiction, gambling addiction, shopping addiction, etc.
When someone is addicted to any of these addiction types, they are likely to approach them with the highest priority.
This means that they may not be productive in other areas of their lives because of the recurring addiction. Most times, the signs of behavioral addiction are mental, emotional, and psychological.
Substance addiction
Substance addiction is the opposite of behavioral addiction. It is an addiction type where an individual is addicted to drugs and alcohol.
When individuals are addicted to these substances, you will be able to tell easily from the physical symptoms.
However, this doesn’t understate the fact that they will still experience mental, psychological, and emotional effects.
Steps in addiction treatment
When it comes to addiction treatment, it is quite similar to behavioral and substance addiction.
The first step of addiction treatment for substance addiction is detoxification. And this is because toxins buildup as a result of drugs and alcohol, need to be removed.
Hence, detoxification is peculiar to substance addiction. The next stage is counseling, which applies to behavioral and substance addiction.
Counseling helps the individual to uncover the root cause of their addiction, which would make it easier to create a treatment plan.
Additionally, the individual learns some coping strategies that will make them fight off addiction cravings and triggers.
After the counseling stage, the next is inpatient or outpatient treatment, where the patient either stays within the treatment facility or goes from their location respectively.
The last stage is aftercare treatment which is a post-recovery phase. This is where the individual builds upon the knowledge and skills they have when it comes to evading addiction cravings and triggers.