Inside Out

1. 
Behavioral
Addictions

2. Addictive Disorder
Characteristics
 Recurrent failure to resist the behavior.
 Increased sense of tension or arousal prior to
involvement.
 Pleasure while experiencing the behavior.
 Feelings of remorse and guilt over doing the behavior.

3.  Arousal: Sensations of intense, raw, unchecked power, feelings
of invulnerability. All powerful feeling. (ex: gambling, sex,
spending, stealing)
 Satiation: Full, complete, numb, beyond pain or distress.
(ex: food, TV, video poker)
 Fantasy: Imaginings about addictive experiences. Euphoric
recall. Milkman and Sunderwirth
Craving Ecstasy:
Three Types of “Highs”Three Types of “Highs”

7. Compulsive Shopping --Compulsive Shopping --
Oniomania
 Similar to gambling -- come to feel worth and self-Similar to gambling -- come to feel worth and self-
esteem from the shopping experience.esteem from the shopping experience.
 Fantasy of “specialness” & respect (salespeople)
 Belief that buying will bring one closer to ideal self
 Becomes impulse control issue

8. WARNING SIGNS:WARNING SIGNS:
Compulsive Shopping /
Spending
 Arguments with others about spending habits
 Feeling lost without credit cards
 Many purchases are never used.
 Lying to others about what was bought or how much money was
spent.
 Spending a lot of time juggling accounts and bills.

9. Exercise Addiction
 Feel depressed, guilty, or tense if don’t
get to exercise every day
 Work out despite illness, injury, or
dangerous conditions
 Push everything else in life aside
 Feel a lack of satisfaction after exercising
Diagnostic symptoms:

10. WARNING SIGNS:
Compulsive Exercise
 Working out alone,
isolated from others.
 Always following same
rigid exercise pattern
 Exercising more than two
hours daily, repeatedly
 Fixation on weight loss or
calories burned
 Exercising to the point of pain
or when in pain
 Skipping work, class, or social
engagement for workouts

11. Addicted to Love
 Obsessed -- hyper-involvement to notion of
connectedness
 Romantic --“in love with fantasy”
overwhelming need to care for, no matter the
price.
 Narcissistic -- possessive, controlling, or
demanding of partner
An unhealthyAn unhealthy
attachment to aattachment to a
person,person,
relationship orrelationship or
“romance”“romance”
(Susan Peabody)(Susan Peabody)

12. In Pursuit of Pleasure
 Persistent desire for sex
 An abundance of time spent in
activities preparing for, engaging in,
or recovering from the sexual
behavior (w/ or w/o partner).
An estimated 3-6% of
population are
affected.

13. Brain Changes & Sexual
Behavior
 Prolonged acting out alters a
person’s brain chemistry until they
“require excitement to feel normal.”
 MAO -- enzyme that regulated the
neurotransmission of arousal in the brain.
 Severe mood changes related to
sexual activity.

14. Sexual Addiction &
Abuse
Very high correlation exists
between childhood abuse and
adult sexual addiction.
 Emotional Abuse (97%)
 Sexual Abuse (83%)
 Physical Abuse (71%)

15. Cybersex Activity
 Has had historical approval
 Debate regarding harm
 Gender differences
 Visual vs relational stimulus
 Internet impact
 moved to a “virtual source of cocaine”

16. Cybersex Addiction
 Triggers reward pathway –
 Dopamine flooding
 Re-circuits the pathways –
 Takes away receptors
 Leads to tolerance
 Dis“ease” shows up in life
 Disinterest in “typical” sexual relations Neuroplasticity10
Porn hijacks the brain