Has there ever been a behavior, urge, or thought that you may have enjoyed but felt you could not control that effects your life or bothers you? These behaviors could include gambling, stealing, sexual behavior, compulsive shopping, fire-setting, Internet use, overeating, hair pulling or skin picking.
Just like a substance use disorder, these behaviors involve tolerance (over time need to do the behavior more to get the same effect), withdrawal after the behavior stops (such as personality change, insomnia, anxiety), and impairment in major areas of life functioning. These behaviors commonly co-occur with Major Depression, Substance Use Disorders, ADHD, and nicotine dependence. We are still not sure if these other disorders cause behavioral addiction or if behavioral addiction can sometimes cause the co-occurring disorder or whether there is a common stress, genetics, or trauma cause.
We do know very few people (<10%) with behavioral addictions receive treatment. However, some form of treatment is important as 20% of untreated people with behavioral addictions report suicide attempts due to the consequences and shame when they are caught. With treatment, people learn to avoid triggers or to cope with them differently. There are 12 step programs and brief cognitive-behavioral therapy. There are no FDA-approved medications for behavioral addictions but we now believe one medication, naltrexone, an opioid antagonist used to treat alcoholism and opioid addiction, may offer some benefits for behavioral addictions.
Remarkably, recent studies have shown the supplement N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC), an amino acid and antioxidant, is also effective in treating behavioral addiction. One study showed that NAC 600 MG 2-4 tabs every day along with cognitive behavioral therapy was effective for gambling. NAC was also found to be helpful in hair pulling, skin picking, and young adults with cannabis use. Time will tell if NAC is useful in the other behavioral addictions but if you or someone you know is struggling with a behavioral addiction, this intervention is inexpensive, without significant side effects (although some nausea in higher doses), and available in any health food store.