Behavioural Addictions
Ocean Recovery offer treatment options that suit your needs for Behavioural Addictions. Request a Callback
By John Gillen - Last Updated: March 16, 2022
Clinically Reviewed on by Dr Alexander Lapa (Psychiatrist). All information on this page has been reviewed and verified by a certified addiction professional.

Although when considering addictions, many turn their thoughts to drug and alcohol addictions, behavioural addictions are commonly experienced by individuals across the world.
Just as substance addictions require professional treatment, behavioural addictions do too. Yet many struggle in silence due to little knowledge surrounding the widely available treatment.
If you are struggling with a behavioural addiction, or think that a loved one may be, seeking treatment is highly recommended.
In order to help you gain a better understanding of what behavioural addictions are, and the treatment that is available, we have provided a wealth of information below.
If you have questions regarding behavioural addictions, wish to seek treatment for a behavioural addiction, or want to discuss referring someone for treatment, please do not hesitate to contact us.
The sooner treatment for behavioural addictions is administered, the sooner the consequences associated can be alleviated.
What Are Behavioural Addictions?
A behavioural addiction involves a compulsive desire to engage in destructive behaviours. Contrary to belief, a behavioural addiction does not include substance misuse, although it is common for the two to ‘co-occur’ in the same individual.
A behavioural addiction is capable of inflicting physical, mental, social and financial harm. Like substance misuse, behavioural addictions involve dopamine receptors in the brain.
The pleasure gained from engaging in addictive behaviour gradually sees the sufferer unable to control his or her actions without suffering from a range of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms.
With the exception of gambling addiction, many behavioural addictions are not officially recognised as mental health disorders.
This is despite calls from various academic authorities who say all behavioural disorders should be considered a bona fide mental health disorder, particularly given the disastrous ramifications these addictions have on an individual’s physical and psychological well-being.
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Start your Recovery - Call us nowTypes of Behavioural Addictions
Across the world, millions of people struggle with various behavioural addictions. Behavioural addictions commonly include, but are not limited to the following;
- Gambling addictions
- Gaming addictions
- Internet addictions
- Sex addictions
- Love addictions
- Porn addictions
- Food addictions
- Shopping addictions
How Are Behavioural Addictions Treated?
As touched on above, a plethora of individuals struggling with behavioural addictions are yet to seek treatment due to being unaware of the available treatment.
Sadly, this gradually sees the repercussions of behavioural addictions soar and control an individual’s every waking moment.
At Ocean Recovery Centre, we regularly provide treatment to those living with behavioural addictions. Individual’s that secure treatment with us all go on to a live a healthier, happier life, free from the shackles of their addiction.
The treatment offered for behavioural addictions will entirely depend on a number of factors. These factors include the physical impact an addiction has had on an individual, the psychological impact an addiction has had on an individual, the severity of the addiction and the type of addiction.
Prior to administering treatment, individuals that decide to attend our private residential rehab in Blackpool will be required to complete a medical assessment. This assessment will enable our team of medical professionals and recovery staff to determine the treatment that is best suited to each individual that enters our centre.
Having conducted a medical assessment, if the individual is deemed fit for treatment, a personalised rehab treatment programme is provided. This treatment programme will outline the treatment that will be administered over a set period.
Typically, the treatment provided for behavioural addictions at Ocean Recovery centre includes rehabilitation and aftercare support.
Throughout rehabilitation, various forms of therapy are administered. While many deem therapy to be somewhat bleak, the therapy provided here at Ocean Recovery Centre is quite the opposite.
In a bid to tackle the causes of behavioural addiction, as touched on above, we employ a range of modern therapy techniques designed to eradicate behavioural addiction once and for all.
These therapies include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), psychotherapy and a range of ancient/modern holistic therapies, all of which occur in group and individual sessions.
The overall aim of these therapies is to assist those struggling with behavioural addictions in identifying the factors that have caused their addiction to arise. In doing so, triggers can also be ascertained.
While many individuals find discussing and reflecting on their addiction to be somewhat daunting, doing so is a vital part of recovery.
Without coming face-to-face with the factors that have caused an addiction to arise, it is almost impossible to devise coping strategies that will prevent relapses from occurring in the future.
In addition, therapy also aims to arm clients with tools and techniques needed to cope with cravings that may see them re-engage with destructive behaviours such as gambling, love addiction and gaming addiction.
At Ocean Recovery Centre, we understand that no one addiction is the same. Considering this, throughout rehab treatment, our staff adopt a humanistic and individualised approach that is designed to tackle our patient’s unique addiction.
Aftercare Support For Behavioural Addictions
Once an individual’s rehab treatment is complete, we continue to support those in recovery by providing a personalised aftercare support plan.
As those in recovery are more likely to relapse within the first year of recovery, we provide 12-months of free aftercare support to those that complete a rehab programme with us.
Our aftercare support typically comprises of weekly group catch-up sessions, and, if needed, we also provide one-to-one therapy. The aftercare sessions we host take place every Saturday throughout the year.
If you chose to take advantage of our rehabilitation treatment, we highly recommend completing a year of aftercare support. Failure to do so could see you more prone to relapse.
Contact Ocean Recovery Centre For Treatment Today
If you would like to find out more about our behavioural addiction treatment options or speak to us about the costs associated with treatment, please do not hesitate to contact us today.
Areas We Cover
See below list of just some of the locations our leading alcohol rehab service covers in the United Kingdom.
- Rehab in Liverpool
- Rehab in Manchester
- Rehab in Birmingham
- Rehab in Nottingham
- Rehab in Glasgow
- Rehab in Cardiff
- Rehab in Bristol
- Rehab in Blackpool
- Rehab in Cumbria
- Rehab in Lancashire
- Rehab in Merseyside
- Rehab in Cheshire
- Rehab in Yorkshire
- Rehab in West Midlands
- Rehab in North East
- Rehab in Surrey
- Rehab in Essex
- Rehab in London
John Gillen
- Author
- Last updated: March 16, 2022
John is one UK’s leading professionals in the addiction recovery industry. Pioneering new treatment techniques such as NAD+ and ongoing research into new therapy techniques such as systematic laser therapy, John is committed to providing the very best treatment for people throughout the UK and Europe. During his extremely busy schedule, John likes to regularly update our blog section with the latest news and trends in the industry to keep visitors to our site as well informed as possible on everything related to addiction treatment.

Dr Alexander Lapa (Psychiatrist)
- Clinical Reviewer
- Last reviewed:
MBBS, PG Dip Clin Ed, OA Dip CBT, OA Dip Psychology, SCOPE Certified
Dr Lapa graduated in Medicine in 2000 and since this time has accrued much experience working in the widest range of psychiatric settings with differing illness presentations and backgrounds in inpatient, community and secure settings. This has been aligned to continuation of professional development at postgraduate level in clinical research which has been very closely related to the everyday clinical practice conducted by this practitioner as a NHS and Private Psychiatrist.
He is fully indemnified by the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland (MDDUS) and MIAB Expert Insurance for Psychiatric and Private Medical practice. He is fully registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) in the UK with a licence to practice.
Dr Lapa is approved under Section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act (1983)
Member of Independent Doctors Federation (IDF), British Association for Psychopharmacology (BMA) and The Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO)
Dr Lapa’s extensive experience has also concentrated on the following areas of clinical practice:
– Assessment, Diagnosis and Pharmacological Treatment for Adults with ADHD.
– Drug and Alcohol Dependency and maintaining abstinence and continued recovery
– Intravenous and Intramuscular Vitamin and Mineral Infusion Therapy
– Dietary and Weight Management and thorough care from assessment to treatment to end goals and maintenance
– Aesthetic Practice and Procedures
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