The definition of “pathological dependence“It is now used in the scientific field to underline the condition of subordination towards a chemical or behavior. The main feature of the addiction is the inability to resist Despite the repeated efforts that the person makes to get rid of it.
According to the data of the World Drug Report 2025 of the United Nations Office against drugs and crime, in 2023, about 6% of the world population (aged between 15 and 64) has made use of drugs in the last year. This data is equivalent to about 316 million, a significant increase compared to the 246 million estimated in 2013 (UNODC, 2025).
In this article we will deepen What it means to develop a pathological addictionwe will analyze the most common symptoms, the causes behind these behaviors and the main types of addictions, both by substances and behaviorals. We will also see why it is so difficult to get out of it alone and how therapy can become a fundamental tool for recovery and psychological well -being.
What are pathological addictions?
When a habit stops being a choice and becomes a need that you cannot control, you could find yourself in front of an addiction. This is not a lack of will, but of one complex condition that has deep roots in our psychological and biological functioning.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), addiction is a psychophysical condition that arises from the interaction with a substance or behavior. Dependence is characterized by a Compulsive desire to repeat the experienceboth to search for its pleasant effects, and to avoid the malaise that its absence causes.
An addiction becomes “pathological” when it takes the center of our lifebecoming totalizing and compromising well -being, work and relationships. This happens because the reward mechanism of the brain is activated in such an intense way that everything else put in the background.
Symptoms and characteristics of pathological addiction
Recognize a pathological addiction It is possible to observe a series of common characteristics at cognitive, behavioral and physiological level. Among the most important signals we find:
- Craving: the sudden and uncontrollable desire to take on a psychoactive substance, behavior or even a food.
- Control loss: the inability to resist the impulse and to limit use or behavior, despite attempts to stop.
- Abstinence: the appearance of unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms when interrupting or reducing the intake.
- Tolerance: the need to increase the dose of the substance or the intensity of the behavior to obtain the same effect of pleasure or relief.
- Neglect: the progressive abandonment of responsibility, social, work and recreational activities due to addiction.
The craving
The craving It is a cardinal aspect of pathological addiction. In psychopathology, two main forms of craving:
- The “craving negative”that is, the concern to take on the substance to avoid abstinence;
- The “craving positive” That is, the compulsion against the substance, supported by the expectation of a gratification.
The addiction mechanism
The search for a “reward” is particularly important for the maintenance of addictionbecause in the abstinence phase the craving He is particularly active and induces the person to return to the “old road”.
This happens because the person is attracted to stimuli that activate physical sensations and unpleasant thoughtswhich are associated with the interruption of taking substance or behavior. An example is the vision of a bar’s exigning for a person suffering from alcoholism. This image would trigger i Symptoms of abstinence:
- obsessive thoughts aimed at substance,
- cold sweating,
- tremor,
- anxiety,
- Depressed mood.
The New Addiction : how to recognize them Ift
A peculiar aspect of behavioral addictions (Brand et al., 2025) is that they involve “normal” drives such as sex, food, love or money, which however become pathological when they reach a certain level of excess and danger for the person.
The new main addictions are:
- Gambling: game addiction.
- Internet Addiction: Internet addiction.
- Video games dependence.
- Shopping compulsive, or dependence on shopping.
- Sexual Addiction: dependence on sex.
- Love addiction, which includes coded and emotional dependence.
- Food addiction.
The role of the reward circuit
From a purely chemical point of view, the substances and additive behaviors, such as food, activate the system or “reward circuit or gratification “ (Cooper et al., 2017), filling chronic deficiencies of pleasure or well -being that are unhealthy compensated by addiction. These neural structures are responsible for the motivation to seek rewarding stimuli and to avoid harmful ones.
The person who is suffering from pathological dependence thus tries to fill a sort of chronic deficiency of pleasant states, which could be associated, for example, with childish experiences of care not in tune with their own real needs. In such a case, yesterday’s child, as an adult, when he felt anguish and existential void will use a substance or behavior as a form of “self -medication”.
The causes of pathological dependence
There is no single cause for pathological addiction. On the contrary, it emerges from one complex interaction of biological, psychological and environmental factors that make a more vulnerable person.
From the biological point of viewthe substances and behaviors that create addiction activate the “reward circuit” in our brain. For example, cocaine increases the availability of dopamine by blocking the synaptic reuptake (li et al., 2021), confirming that the increase in this neurotransmitter pushes the brain to seek again and still the same feeling of pleasure.
TO psychological levelan addiction can arise as an attempt at “self -medication” to face difficult emotions such as anxiety, inner void or unresolved trauma (Turner et al., 2018). Complex life experiences, especially in childhood, can leave a mark, leading a person to look for a way in a substance or behavior to fill that void and manage pain.
Get out of addiction: a possible path
The phenomena of dependence, for some subjects, become real cages from which it appears impossible to come out. Several studies indicate that the prevalence of stable abstinence from the use of opioids is less than 30% After 10-30 years of observation (Hser et al., 2015) the person in fact lives a condition of imprisonment made of:
- lies;
- manipulations;
- fears;
- depressive symptoms;
- anxiety.
This condition, over time, also induces theinsulation From the affections that, after the first help attempts they lose hopes, understanding at their expense that are fighting with a monster, that of addiction, stronger than them. All this, adds to the numerous effects of drugs on the brain, when we find ourselves in front of substances dependence.
It therefore becomes indispensable to undertake a path of psychotherapy that may be the vehicle of new possibilities of nourishment And remedy the wounds internal of a cumbersome past, which reappears with self -destructive behavior.
The help of therapy
Recognizing that you have a problem with an addiction is the first, courageous step to resume your life in hand. It is important to remember that these behaviors often hide deep psychological needs and emotional wounds that deserve to be listened to carefully and without judgment.
Dressing this path in solitude may seem impossible. A professional as an online psychologist for addictions can become a precious ally, providing the tools to understand the roots of the problem, learn to manage the craving and build healthier strategies to face the difficulties of life.
