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Originally Posted by pan6467
Hate to sound argumentative.... but as a professional addictions counselor and having had a mental addiction (gambling) and not a physical (drugs, alcohol).... there are many differences some subtle some very obvious. And mental addictions are far far harder to recover from, have fewer success rates and have more suicides attached to them.
For the most part they can be treated the same ways, however with mental addictions there is a need to delve far deeper into the escape from reality aspect and the need for the person to face their inner turmoil more.
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Say what you will, but in my experience, ALL addictions are mental addictions. I'm not saying that people CHOOSE to be addicted. However, in every single case I've seen that someone has overcome either a "mental" or a "physical" addiction, the key factor is that the person DECIDED to get better. Until the addict makes the conscious effort to get beyond it, nothing else will help. That is why I consider all addictions "mental," and hence, they are all the same.
Of course there are subtle differences. But that doesn't make a lick of difference as to how you treat it.