Addiction by the numbers

- So addiction has been a lot in the news recently. Things like opioid addiction have really been front and center of a lot of people's attention. So it makes sense that people were asking me do I think that the topic of addiction is over-hyped or is it actually more common than we all understand? Well I believe that addiction is far more common than people think, and in many instances it's increasing. When we talk about addiction it's important to remember that it could refer to a number of things. Tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs, eating, gambling, the internet, love, sex, exercise, work, and even shopping. And what's really remarkable is that when we include all of these addictions, 47%, that's close to half of the US adult population, suffers from addictions over a 12 month period. Now that's a big number. I mean, think about it. Half of all people suffer from some kind of addiction? I think that no group of people are actually immune to addictions. From moms to millennials to managers, people from any group could be at risk. And what's really interesting is that there's some really important statistics put out by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2018 that's worth noting. The first is that 60.2% of Americans aged 12 or older had used tobacco, alcohol, or an illicit drug in the prior month. Just take that in for a minute. 60.2% of people. And 15.9% of people aged 12 or older had used marijuana in the prior month. This was actually higher than the number from 2002 to 2017. Also 3.6% of the population misused pain relievers and prescription drugs include pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives. But in looking at addiction we also need to consider the other areas outside of substance abuse. Things like work, technology, social media, food, exercise. These are really complex issues and they all differ by culture or country too. So let's take work addiction for example. It's also called workaholism. This actually differs from country to country. For example in European countries it ranges from 7.6 to 22.2%, whereas in the US and Canada figures from eight to 25% have been reported. When it comes to internet addiction 6% of the world's population is addicted with the highest prevalence being in the Middle East and the lowest in Northern and Western Europe. That said, figures going up to 18.3% have been reported for British college students. I just want to emphasize here that these are figures that come from actual studies, but there are also other studies that give a different opinion or a different slant on these figures. So I'm just really using these as examples so that you get a sense of how common these are. In fact food addiction also varies across cultures and countries with figures from 10.1 to 17.9% being reported. Exercise addiction is closer to 3%, though one study demonstrated that 42% of the members at a Parisian fitness club met criteria for exercise addiction. So you can see it really is context specific. Gambling addictions come in at somewhere between 0.7 and 18.3%, and sexual addictions range between three and 6%. Shopping addictions, also called compulsive buying, affect between 1.8 to 16% of the U S population. Now as you can see, the reported figures are wide ranging and dependent on a large number of factors like gender, race, culture, and country. But what they do tell us is that all over the world and across these different categories people are suffering from addictions. So what, I'm imagining you're thinking, do all these numbers mean? So you know all these fancy percentages. Does it actually mean anything? Well the first thing to reflect on is that it's important to recognize that if you or someone you know is addicted to any substance or behavior, you're not alone. These large numbers mean that many other people are also struggling with addictions. Because once addiction sets in it's hard to stop. In fact it can gradually take over one's life by disrupting the brain circuitry. When it does it reduces insight, it temps with its rewards, it takes away way motivation, and it disrupts social interactions. So if you or someone in your life is starting to misuse substances or if you feel like there may be an imbalance within one of the addiction areas, then the earlier it's recognized and the earlier you seek help the better. Also when the addictive behavior itself is a response to stress, uncertainty or unpredictability, you really must ensure that you identify and seek help from your doctor or caregiver for the psychological and social factors you're experiencing. Regardless of the addiction you're experiencing, there is help out there for you.