Historically the term 'addiction' has been used to indicate repeated and continual use of a substance leading to physical dependance, with no regard for the social, monetary and health costs ; the definition of addicts was earlier proscribed to folks who were helplessly contingent upon substances like nicotine, alcohol, heroin or other drugs. Latterly medical analysts and trick cyclists have come round to the view that obsession needn't be restricted to substances but can also include activities.

This sort of obsession is also called behaviour or process obsession.

Medical researchers believe that behavior dependencies can be classified as obsessions because these exhibit the same core elements that identify chemical or drug use.

These core identifiers are mood alterations, toleration, withdrawal and relapse. Behavioral obsessions bring on mood changes by creating an exhilarated feeling or a 'high' ; the toleration factor implies the quantity of time expended in the indulgence has to continually increases to result in mood modification ; the withdrawal syndrome refers back to the extremely negative emotional and physical reactions displayed by the addict when the behaviour is abandoned ; and, eventually, the relapse symptom indicates the addict's failure to reduce or stop partaking of the activity. Research has established that in a substance addiction, what the body gets dependent on isn't the abused chemical as much as the neurochemistry the obsession triggers. In reality, the triggers of addictive illness are the modifications made in the body's neurochemistry by the abused substance and this is true for behavior addictions too. The expanded definition of obsession is predicated on the observation that when the addict indulges in an obsession, the brain is essentially looking for a 'reward' and this reward could be a chemical substance or an experience. The necessity to continually go thru the experience ends up in the person becoming besieged in compulsive behaviour Behavior obsession includes indulgence in betting, shopping, sex, net, TV or maybe food. All of these activities are a part of life and don't have any negative impact in the standard course.

As an example an occasional trip to a casino can't cause any harm, except perhaps the loss of some cash ; but if an individual engages in casino or online gambling fairly often and does so at the price of his regular work, then there's certainly cause for concern. When such someone is not able to refrain from betting, notwithstanding knowing absolutely well the habit can spoil his life, he's a behavior addict. TV can be another source of obsession, making an individual a couch potato, to the neglect of all the other routine activities.

Often such someone knows that his indulgence is misplaced, wants to give up, but is not able to do so ; in a few cases, the TV addict is just flipping channels and not watching anything particularly, but cannot bring himself to turn off and leave. It is this total helplessness that's most characteristic of behaviour obsession.Terms like 'workaholic' and 'shopaholic' actually are used to indicate such obsessions.

All these obsessions ruin not only private health or finances, but also have awfully inauspicious impacts on family, social and pro life.

The newest entrant to join this club is cyber-addiction or obsession to the Net, which is now inspiring folks of every age. The web has opened up such a massive, seemingly infinite, virtual world that folk are getting lost in its maze. Aside from addictive games and competitions, cyber world can also satisfy the majority of the other obsessions online, be it betting, shopping, TV, sex or perhaps work. Web obsession at home and at the workplace is quickly turning into a source of worry for families and bosses. As well as marring vision and posture, web indulgence may lead to isolation and reclusive behavior and suggestions are that with the increased reach of technology, this obsession will affect more folks in the times to come.