Other Addictions

Eating disorders, compulsive gambling, and shopping addictions are not ordinary addictions. Eating disorders, like anorexia and bulimia, depend upon genetics. According to USA Today, an anorexia-related gene has been identified. This addiction is more common in females. Overeating is another part of eating disorders but it has minimal research (Van Wormer & Davis, 2008). Compulsive gambling is another addiction that is widespread except for Utah and Hawaii. It is seen as the socially acceptable activity and affects men and women. There are casinos in 29 states. Blacks and Latinos are more likely to be pathological gamblers. The shopping addiction is found to be related to compulsive behavior and not materialism necessarily. It is likened to kleptomania. Results in controlled studies have shown that antidepressants and serotonin enhancers help because the shopping addiction is said to be connected to more than one psychiatric disorder (Van Wormer & Davis, 2008).

Treatment of these addictions would most likely include individual therapy, 90 minute group therapy sessions, and/or medication. Family therapy would benefit those with eating disorders. Healthy models of expression need to be learned. Eating disorders are harder to treat since abstinence from food is impossible (Van Wormer & Davis, 2008).

Addiction may be considered an example of a quite thorough going failure of self-control. Persons with addictions are sometimes aware that their addictive behavior should be altered, and yet they have great trouble bringing such change about. Explaining why this is so, however, is not easy. Among the various explanations offered are the disease conception of addiction, where the behavior is medicalized; the notion that such people are the victims of ‘irresistible desires’ or overwhelming compulsions; that they have disordered desires, weighing the benefits and costs of the addictive behavior differently to others; or that they tend to discount future costs at a greater rate than other people. These are examples of explaining why such people fail to control their own behavior (Walker, 2010).

Van Wormer, K., & Davis, D. R. (2008). Addiction treatment a strengths perspective. (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Walker, M. (2010). Addiction and Self-Deception: A Method for Self-Control?. Journal Of Applied Philosophy, 27(3), 305-319. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5930.2010.00493.x


Lilia Sedano
HS8764
Capella University