Not every addiction involves a substance. The NHS defines addiction as not having control over doing, taking or using something. It becomes addiction at the point where it could harm you.
Alongside drugs and alcohol, it names work, the internet and gaming, shopping and sex. These are the behaviours this page covers.
Source: NHS: what is addiction
There is no single national service
Gambling has NHS clinics. Drugs and alcohol have local services in every area. The rest of the behaviours on this page have neither.
The NHS says to see a GP for advice. It also suggests an organisation that specialises in the addiction you have. That is the honest state of it.
If gambling is the behaviour, our gambling page has the specialist route, because that one does exist.
What the pattern usually looks like
The behaviour differs and the shape rarely does. It starts as relief, it stops working, and it keeps happening anyway.
Then the hiding starts, and the hiding costs more than the behaviour did. Most people arrive here because of what the hiding has done to a relationship.
Where a professional helps
This is territory a general therapist or counsellor can hold. The work is on what you reach for the behaviour to fix, and what else could do that job.
Ask any professional whether they have worked with compulsive behaviour before. For sexual behaviour, ask specifically, because that needs someone who will not be thrown by it.
If it is a partner's behaviour you are living with, our someone else's addiction page is written for you.
You might find it useful when
- Hours disappear into it and you cannot account for them
- You have hidden the cost, the time or the extent from someone close
- Stopping for a week works, and the fourth week never happens
- The behaviour follows stress, loneliness or low mood
- You want to understand what it is doing for you before you try to stop again
You do not need a diagnosis to bring this to someone. Wanting it to change is enough.
Thanks for your interest. We're not taking on new clients at the moment.
Ready to look at the pattern rather than the habit?
We ask what matters to you, then find professionals who fit.
- I cannot stop gaming and it is costing me sleep and work
- I shop when I feel bad and hide the parcels
- Work has become the only thing I do
- My sexual behaviour has started to frighten me
