What is the cognitive-behavioral approach to behavioral addiction?
People call addictions habits because, unlike the disease model, they see addiction as an evolutionary process. It is like, you know, brushing your teeth in the morning. They just kind of do it; they don’t really think about it. They get dressed, they wash their face; it’s sort of automatic. It doesn’t appear from the inside that there is an organic or biological process going on, but rather it comes through repetition and practice that they engage in this particular behaviour. Another part of why people see addictions as a habit is because it has the same sort of muscle memory of other habits. There’s also a powerlessness. A powerlessness is central to the disease model, ‘twelve-step’, and to call it a disease is to call myself powerless. I’m doomed and destined. So, there’s often a complete resistance of people to own such a powerless position and they actually want to feel empowered, and calling it a habit puts their mind at ease. It eases their mind to think that there is something