Addiction is categorized as a mental health disorder, one which results in things like impulsive and maladaptive behaviors. This often happens when an individual gets a lower level of treatment than they actually need, doesn’t find the right type of behavioral interventions as part of their treatment plan, or tries to get clean on their own.
When these situations happen, individuals may not have the skills or the tools they need yet to truly understand things like underlying motivation, or emotions that contribute to addictive behaviors.
As a result, those behavioral patterns are still there so when an individual gets treatment for one addiction, those patterns shift toward another. So what is transfer addiction? And what can be done to treat it?
What is Transfer Addiction?
Transfer addiction is where a person transfers one form of addiction for another. This might happen when someone goes to rehab for drug addiction, but develops an alcohol addiction instead.
A lot of the individual risk associated with developing transfer addiction comes from the changes to brain chemistry brought about by regular drug or alcohol abuse.
Without the right type of treatment program to help individuals understand those changes and restructure the brain in a healthy fashion, there’s a higher risk of getting clean only to replace one addiction with another.
In some cases individuals might replace one addiction with a non-substance addiction, like compulsive exercising, overworking, shopping, or gambling. These, too, can be physically, psychologically, or financially damaging. Someone, for example, who gets treatment for an alcohol use disorder might turn to exercise as a regular part of their recovery plan, improving their physical and mental health. But that exercise can, like alcohol abuse, become something that is done compulsively or obsessively and escalate to where that same individual can’t control how frequently or intensely they are exercising.
Signs of Transfer Addiction
Transfer addiction takes the form of any new behavior or habit that extends outside of your control, something that you cannot stop.
Some signs might include:
- Financial or health problems relating to your new behaviors
- Obsessions relating to new behaviors
- A noticeable change in your appearance whether that is your weight or your personal hygiene
- Lying or secretive behavior particularly about your activities
- Behaving recklessly or impulsively
- Continuing to engage in activities despite negative consequences
- Spending too much time with new activities to the detriment of personal or professional responsibilities
- Problems with personal relationships as a result of new activities
Whatever signs you might struggle with, our team can help.
Find Support for Transfer Addiction
If you are showing signs of transfer addiction, it’s important that you reach out to our team to talk about your treatment options. Whether you are struggling on your own or you recently completed treatment for one addiction but are now dealing with another, we can help you break that cycle by first recognizing any underlying trauma or emotions that might be tied to maladaptive behaviors in the first place.
Our team will start with an individual assessment to incorporate therapies and holistic interventions that can help you work through these issues and build healthy coping mechanisms within your control.
Call our admissions team today at (424) 390-7816 to learn more about transfer addiction.
FAQ
What Causes Transfer Addiction?
With regular drug and alcohol abuse, your brain chemistry starts to change such that the rewards you feel for healthy behaviors under normal circumstances become compromised. This means you only start feeling those same neurochemical rewards when you participate in drug or alcohol abuse.
This desensitization can make it difficult to commit to healthy behaviors that don’t, initially in your recovery, generate that same type of happy feeling. Sometimes, as a result, people in recovery will transfer their addictive behaviors to a new activity that activates the same type of pleasure centers like changing binge drinking for binge eating.
What Types of Addiction Can Be Transferred?
Any type of addiction or behavior can qualify as a transfer addiction when one compensates for a lack of former routine/habit with something new. These can include substance addictions like prescription drugs, alcohol, or cannabis. They can also include non-substance addictions like eating, gambling, or sex.
Do I Need Treatment for Non-Substance Transfer Addiction?
If you have started to get help for a substance abuse addiction to alcohol or drugs, but you have found yourself compensating for that absence in your former routine or habit with things like unhealthy eating, compulsive dieting or exercising, gambling, or sex, it’s still important to get help.
Treatment can help you understand how drugs and alcohol change your brain chemistry over time making you desensitized to the effects of your biological rewards and better understand what your compulsive behaviors might be so you don’t risk transfer addiction.
Will I Automatically Get Transfer Addiction if I Get Clean?
No. Transfer addiction can happen when you get clean without the right type of support. A comprehensive program will help you overcome your addiction by attending therapy sessions and participating in support groups. These are essential in developing a social network and peer support that helps you avoid falling back into bad habits.
Moreover, the right type of luxury treatment can give you access to the ongoing care and holistic interventions that help you avoid compulsive behaviors in the future.
How Do I Know if I Have Transfer Addiction?
Transfer addiction symptoms can vary from one person to the next. If, for example, you are struggling with an addiction to cocaine, you might end up transferring your addiction to exercise. This would look like obsessive exercising to the point that you spend too much time prioritizing exercise over other activities, experience significant health problems as a result of the damage you do to your body, and even start to lie about your exercise related activities much the same as you might have done previously with cocaine.
