ADDICTION

Is your passion for gambling, exercising or watching online videos a fun hobby or sign of something more serious? It might surprise you , but addiction is a comple condition that comes in many forms and can happen to anyone. Generally speaking, addiction is an inability to stopusing a substance (from tobacco to illefal drugs) or angaging in a behavior (from shopping to sex) despite negative consequences. This is because a reward center in the brain release dopamine in response to a pleasurable experience or hyperarousal. The more times people experience the behavior, the more dopamine is release and the more driven they are to return to the behavior. If you find yourself shifting priorities, increasingly isolated or feeling irritable when not engaged in a behaviors, it may be time to get help in breaking the pattern