“Addiction” and “bad habit” are often used interchangeably. However, there are many distinct differences between them. Here’s how to tell if you have an alcohol or drug addiction or a bad habit, and how to overcome it.
What Is Addiction?
Addiction is the repeated dependency on a substance or behavior that causes an individual harm, but which they can’t stop doing despite wanting to. It’s all-consuming, interfering in a negative way with a person’s life. Addiction has a negative impact on relationships, finances, and work and family life.
What Is a Habit?
A habit is formed by repeating learned behavior. Even healthy habits become difficult to stop as time goes on. Habits like eating junk food or biting your nails can be annoying but broken with effort and treatment aids over several months. When habits become bad ones, they can lead to addiction.
Differentiating Between Habit and Addiction
A nail-biting habit may cause you to behave this way unconsciously, but an addiction will cause you to think about doing something so much that it may start interfering with your ability to do everyday things, such as:
- Sleeping
- Concentrating
- Controlling your emotions
- Taking care of your health and hygiene
- Meeting your financial and work obligations
A drug or alcohol addiction goes beyond deciding to behave in a certain way or consume a substance; instead, a person with an addiction will experience increasingly intense withdrawal symptoms and cravings from their brain’s unsatisfied reward system until those cravings are satisfied.
Unlike an unhealthy habit, it simply isn’t enough to stay away from a substance you’re addicted to, because you’re no longer in control; the substance is. When this happens, you don’t make your own decisions. Instead, you begin to make them according to your need for a substance. This is called addictive behavior.
Getting a Diagnosis
Without treatment, addiction can become a never-ending and long-term cycle. Thankfully, there are many solutions for achieving a full recovery. Getting a diagnosis is the first step.
Why Is Diagnosis Important?
Getting a diagnosis is important because it helps addiction specialists identify which experiential therapies may be most effective for you. If you’re struggling with mental health, as well as having an addiction, this requires a different course of treatment than if you needed treatment for a single disorder.
How One Touch Recovery Center Can Help
Located in Pomona, California, One Touch Recovery Center offers both intensive outpatient (IOP) and partial hospitalization programs (PHP), as well as counseling to those seeking to recover from addiction.
Our IOP program allows for addiction treatment around your schedule and responsibilities. Our PHP programs are the next step for those who have completed detox. Regular weekly counseling sessions are also offered. We welcome walk-ins, and we also have a virtual addiction treatment program.
Addiction doesn’t have to run your life; if you’re struggling with addiction and substance abuse, One Touch Recovery Center can help you regain control. Learn more about our team and treatment curriculum online, or call (909) 351-4480.
