A process addiction is being addicted to, or dependent on a certain behaviour, a process. It is an emotional behaviour that disrupts your life. It is based on behaviour because it's about the person's involvement (Ferentzy). It has been said that process addiction have no physical limits, as with a substance abuse problem. Nor is it likely that this behaviour pattern would tap into the reward pattern and motivational system as directly, as certain substances can (Ferentzy). However,whether they are speaking about a process or a substance addiction, addictions interfere with a person's ability to truly know themselves, their spirituality, and their world around them (David Capuzzi, 2008, p. 35). .
Process addictions have become violent in our society (David Capuzzi, 2008, p. 36). It wasn't until the 1970's and 1980's that the addiction field began to formally discuss the idea that a behaviour could be diagnosed as an addictive disorder. There are four process addictions researched to date that could be considered the most important. They include sex, working, compulsive shopping and gambling (David Capuzzi, 2008, pp. 35,36). Research suggests that when a person has a process addiction frequently,it is accompanied with or replaced by another addiction, such as a substance or a process. For example, a male recovering from a sexual addiction develops a gambling addiction (David Capuzzi, 2008, pp. 35,36). Nevertheless, the idea of client's losing control over a significant aspect of their behaviour does provide evidence about how this problem works (Ferentzy). .
Gambling has become quite popular all over the world, but it is not free of many problems. According to the "DSM-IV-TR" the lifetime rate of adult pathological gambling ranges from 0.4% to 3.4%. The rate for adolescents and college students is higher, ranging from 2.8% to 8.0% (David Capuzzi, 2008, p. 37). To explain everything and the meaning of pathological gambling is being unable to resist impulses to gamble, which can lead to severe social and personal consequences (Health, 2010).
