{"id":118249,"date":"2020-03-03T11:00:27","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T11:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?p=118249"},"modified":"2023-03-11T12:58:22","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T12:58:22","slug":"bad-habits-or-addictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm","title":{"rendered":"When Do Bad Habits Become Addictions?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_118251\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4686425435_b27db7ee1a.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-118251\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-118251\" src=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4686425435_b27db7ee1a-400x266.jpg\" alt=\"bad habits\" width=\"400\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4686425435_b27db7ee1a-400x266.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4686425435_b27db7ee1a.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/4686425435_b27db7ee1a-180x120.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-118251\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ajtiner\/4686425435\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\" \">Adam Tiner<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333399;\">by Andrea M. Darcy<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Have a sneaky feeling that<\/strong> one of your bad habits might be getting out of control? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><em>It\u2019s worth learning the difference between habit and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/alcohol-use.htm\">addiction<\/a>.<\/em> <\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">But it\u2019s not addictive <\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Isn\u2019t it?<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #333399;\">Just because your behaviour is not a typical addiction like<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/alcohol-and-depression.htm\"> alcohol,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/party-drugs-depression.htm\">drugs<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/online-gambling-addiction.htm\">gambling<\/a>, or because everyone else around you uses the same behaviour without problem? Does not mean it doesn\u2019t have the capacity to be an addiction for you personally.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/live-well\/healthy-body\/addiction-what-is-it\/\">NHS defines addiction<\/a> as<\/strong> \u201cnot having control over doing, taking or using something to the point where it could be harmful to you.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Things like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/7-myths-about-sex-addiction.htm\">sex<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/workaholic-symptoms.htm\">work<\/a>, shopping, reading romance novels, and playing video games are things many of us do. For some, they are harmless distractions. For others, serious addictions. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Questions to ask about your bad habits<\/h2>\n<p>What questions can help you know if you have a habit or addiction?<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #993366;\">1.When do you do the behaviour? <\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Bad habits can be things we do when<\/strong> bored to pass the time, or when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/worry-and-anxiety-difference.htm\">worried or anxious<\/a>. We nibble our nails as we watch TV, surf the internet when we should be working.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>But if you tend to always use a certain behaviour when you are really upset<\/strong> &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/anger-issues-signs.htm\">angry<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/depression-vs-sadness.htm\">sad<\/a>, feeling useless? Then it\u2019s more likely to be an addiction. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #333333;\">Addiction is connected to escaping difficult thoughts, memories, and emotions, called &#8217;emotion focused coping&#8217; in psychology (more on that below).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5485234\/\">2017 study on internet addiction<\/a><\/span> explains that<strong>,<\/strong> &#8220;When internet activities are used excessively to cope with negative affective states (e.g., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/anxiety-vs-depression.htm\">depression or anxiety<\/a>), and alternate means of coping responses are diminished (e.g., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/authentic-relationships.htm\">social support<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/self-care-and-depression.htm\">health promoting behaviour<\/a>), individuals may find themselves relying on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/negative-effects-of-facebook.htm\"> online activities<\/a> to avoid negative feelings, possibly leading to internet addiction.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #993366;\">2. How do you feel when you do the behaviour?<\/span><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_118252\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/3820712392_4ed6c7d594.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-118252\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-118252\" src=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/3820712392_4ed6c7d594-400x266.jpg\" alt=\"bad habits\" width=\"400\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/3820712392_4ed6c7d594-400x266.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/3820712392_4ed6c7d594.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/3820712392_4ed6c7d594-180x120.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-118252\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/zi1217\/3820712392\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\" \">Marco<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Do you like to say you are &#8216;addicted to shopping&#8217; because you love the<\/strong> buzz of a good find, and just clothes and shoes in general? It\u2019s likely more of a habit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>But if you feel numbed out when you go on a shopping binge, <\/strong>as if<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/dissociation.htm\"> your thoughts are all turned off<\/a> and you are on a strange sort of automatic? You might be addicted. You are using the activity like a drug.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #993366;\">3. How do you feel after the behaviour? <\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Do you even notice when you stop your behaviour and<\/strong> move on to something else? If not, likely just a habit. Or if you are a little annoyed you&#8217;ve &#8216;gone and done it again&#8217;, then likely a habit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Do you feel oddly<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/why-do-i-feel-guilty-all-the-time.htm\"> guilty<\/a>? Hide evidence of your habit?<\/strong> Cram the junk food wrappers to the bottom of the bin, hide your credit card statements from your partner? <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #333399;\">At the root of addiction is a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/shame-definition.htm\"> feeling of shame<\/a>. An i<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3792617\/\">nteresting take on addiction by philosopher Owen Flanagan<\/a> published in the journal <em>Frontiers in Psychiatry<\/em>\u00a0is that this shame is not necessarily a bad thing. &#8220;Feeling shame for addiction is not a mistake,&#8221; he claims.&#8221;It is part of the shape of addiction, part of the normal phenomenology of addiction, and often a source of motivation for the addict to heal.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #993366;\">4. Do your friends and family know about this habit?<\/span><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_118255\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2611293086_0af324abee.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-118255\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-118255\" src=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2611293086_0af324abee-400x294.jpg\" alt=\"bad habits\" width=\"400\" height=\"294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2611293086_0af324abee-400x294.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/2611293086_0af324abee.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-118255\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">By: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/pinkmoose\/2611293086\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\" \">Anthony Easton<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Because addiction breeds so much shame, we do our best to<\/strong> hide it from ourselves with excuses\u00a0 (&#8220;it&#8217;s not a big deal, everyone does it, I am way too smart to have an addiction&#8221;). <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">And we especially hide the behaviour from others, like friends and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/dysfunctional-family-help.htm\"> family<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #993366;\">5. Do you find you constantly reassure yourself that it&#8217;s \u2018under control\u2019?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Habits are annoying, and we can wish we&#8217;d stop. But<\/strong> we don&#8217;t have a battle of &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/controlling-behaviours-actually-guilty.htm\">control<\/a>&#8216; with them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Control is the domain of addiction. We are in a battle with<\/strong> the behaviour because deep down we know we are out of control.<\/p>\n<p><em>For example, a few times a month we have a cheeky cigarette after a drink and then really wish we didn&#8217;t &#8212; habit. But if we smoke every night (despite telling our friends and family we&#8217;ve quit) and then tell ourselves we will stop really soon and &#8216;get it under control&#8217;? Addiction.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #993366;\">6. Do you put things at risk to do this behaviour?<\/span><\/h3>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\" style=\"color: #666699;\">Do you <span style=\"color: #333399;\"><a style=\"color: #333399;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/money-stress.htm\">blow your budget<\/a><\/span> to indulge in the behaviour? Risk your health? Risk your capacity to show up at work the next day? And<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/being-honest-does-it-matter.htm\"> lie to those you love<\/a>, or take out your feelings of shame on guilt on them?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Addictions affect our daily lives negatively. If your behaviour is becoming harder to hide and<\/strong> is putting important things like your finances,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/my-job-is-killing-me-losing-the-will-to-live.htm\"> job<\/a>, or<a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/healthy-relationships-is-it-one.htm\"> relationships<\/a> at risk, it\u2019s likely an addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #993366;\">7. How often do you think about this behaviour?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>When you are not doing the behaviour, is it on your mind?<\/strong> Are you planning the next time you will do the behaviour? Do thoughts of the behaviour engage you so much that you can&#8217;t focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/present-moment-secret-better-mood.htm\">the present moment<\/a>?\u00a0 To the extent you even make mistakes? You are dealing with addiction.<\/p>\n<p><strong>We don&#8217;t think about habits too much when we are not doing them.<\/strong> We might spend some time after we do them berating ourselves, but then we get on with our lives.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Trauma, difficult childhoods, and addiction<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If you experienced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/how-can-i-remember-childhood-trauma-abuse.htm\">childhood trauma<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/what-are-adverse-childhood-experiences-aces.htm\">adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)<\/a>, and have not sought support to process such experiences? You are far more likely to develop addictions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #333399;\">In America, the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ojp.gov\/pdffiles1\/nij\/194972.pdf\">National Survey of Adolescents<\/a> <\/span>reports teens with physical or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/sexual-assault-long-term-psychological-effects-survivors-need-know.htm\">sexual assault<\/a> or trauma in their past are are three times more likely to also have past or current substance abuse issues than those without a traumatic past.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Trauma and difficult experiences cause psychological stress. <\/strong>And this brings us again to &#8217;emotion focused coping&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S1877042815051174\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Research published in Procedia<\/span><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">,<\/span> the Journal of Social and Behavioural Sciences, looked at stress coping strategies of drug and alcohol addicted patients.\u00a0 It points out that, &#8220;It is possible, when faced with stressors, individuals with deficit of adaptive coping methods or problem-focused strategies are more likely to engage in alcohol use, to cope with negative emotion&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">This seemed the case in a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><a style=\"color: #333399; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/BF02903158\">study on coping and psychological stress in men with substance disorders<\/a><\/span><\/span> , which <strong>showed that recovered addicts who used &#8217;emotion orientated coping&#8217; over &#8216;task orientated coping&#8217; were more likely to suffer anxiety and depression and have a relapse.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Emotion-orientated coping involves trying to<\/strong> distract yourself from the way you feel. Task orientated coping is action-orientated. This can include things like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/finding-the-right-therapist.htm\">reaching out for support<\/a> when you feel upset.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Time to talk to a professional about your behaviours? We connect you to top addiction counsellors and therapists in central London. Or find a <a href=\"https:\/\/harleytherapy.com\/?utm_source=Harley%20Therapy%20Blog&amp;utm_content=Mid%20Pos\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\">UK-wide registered therapist<\/span><\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/harleytherapy.com\/?utm_source=Harley%20Therapy%20Blog&amp;utm_content=Mid%20Pos\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\">our booking site<\/span><\/a>, along with<a href=\"https:\/\/harleytherapy.com\/?utm_source=Harley%20Therapy%20Blog&amp;utm_content=Mid%20Pos\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"> video counsellors<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Comments are closed on this piece. See what others said below.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-117271 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/headshot-yellow-397x400.png\" alt=\"Andrea Blundell\" width=\"128\" height=\"129\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"color: #333399;\"><b>Andrea M. Darcy <\/b>is a mental health and wellbeing expert and personal development teacher with training in person-centred counselling and coaching, as well as a popular psychology writer. Follow her on Instagram for useful life tips @am_darcy<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Andrea M. Darcy Have a sneaky feeling that one of your bad habits might be getting out of control? It\u2019s worth learning the difference between habit and addiction. But it\u2019s not addictive Isn\u2019t it? Just because your behaviour is not a typical addiction like alcohol, drugs, or gambling, or because everyone else around you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":126679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[92,95],"class_list":["post-118249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-addiction","tag-addiction-2","tag-addiction-counselling","has_thumb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>When Do Bad Habits Become Addictions? - Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Always telling yourself its just a bad habit? But then have a niggly feeling it&#039;s out of control? When do bad habits become addictions?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Do Bad Habits Become Addictions?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Always telling yourself its just a bad habit? But then have a niggly feeling it&#039;s out of control? When do bad habits become addictions?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/harleytherapy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-03T11:00:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-11T12:58:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"308\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrea M. Darcy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndreaMDarcy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@HarleyTherapy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrea M. Darcy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm\",\"name\":\"When Do Bad Habits Become Addictions? - Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-03T11:00:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-11T12:58:22+00:00\",\"description\":\"Always telling yourself its just a bad habit? But then have a niggly feeling it's out of control? When do bad habits become addictions?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp\",\"width\":440,\"height\":308,\"caption\":\"When Do Bad Habits Become Addictions_\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When Do Bad Habits Become Addictions?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog\",\"description\":\"Self-Help for Better Emotional Health\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Harley Therapy - Psychotherapy & Counselling\",\"alternateName\":\"Harley Therapy\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/images\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/cropped-harleytherapypsychotherapycounsellinglogo.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Harley Therapy - Psychotherapy & Counselling\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/harleytherapy\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/HarleyTherapy\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/harley-therapy\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/HarleyTherapyCoUk\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/harleytherapy\/\",\"https:\/\/uk.trustpilot.com\/review.harleytherapy.co.uk\",\"https:\/\/www.reviews.co.uk\/company-reviews\/store\/harleytherapy-co-uk\",\"https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/harley-therapy-psychotherapy-counselling\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When Do Bad Habits Become Addictions? - Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog","description":"Always telling yourself its just a bad habit? But then have a niggly feeling it's out of control? When do bad habits become addictions?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"When Do Bad Habits Become Addictions?","og_description":"Always telling yourself its just a bad habit? But then have a niggly feeling it's out of control? When do bad habits become addictions?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm","og_site_name":"Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/harleytherapy","article_published_time":"2020-03-03T11:00:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-11T12:58:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":440,"height":308,"url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Andrea M. Darcy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndreaMDarcy","twitter_site":"@HarleyTherapy","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrea M. Darcy","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm","url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm","name":"When Do Bad Habits Become Addictions? - Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp","datePublished":"2020-03-03T11:00:27+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-11T12:58:22+00:00","description":"Always telling yourself its just a bad habit? But then have a niggly feeling it's out of control? When do bad habits become addictions?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp","width":440,"height":308,"caption":"When Do Bad Habits Become Addictions_"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/bad-habits-or-addictions.htm#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When Do Bad Habits Become Addictions?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/","name":"Harley Therapy\u2122 Blog","description":"Self-Help for Better Emotional Health","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#organization","name":"Harley Therapy - Psychotherapy & Counselling","alternateName":"Harley Therapy","url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/images\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/cropped-harleytherapypsychotherapycounsellinglogo.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Harley Therapy - Psychotherapy & Counselling"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/harleytherapy","https:\/\/x.com\/HarleyTherapy","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/harley-therapy","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/HarleyTherapyCoUk","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/harleytherapy\/","https:\/\/uk.trustpilot.com\/review.harleytherapy.co.uk","https:\/\/www.reviews.co.uk\/company-reviews\/store\/harleytherapy-co-uk","https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/harley-therapy-psychotherapy-counselling"]}]}},"modified_by":"Marvee Franco","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp",440,308,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_-150x150.webp",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_-400x280.webp",400,280,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp",440,308,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp",440,308,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp",440,308,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_.webp",440,308,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_-200x200.webp",200,200,true],"featured":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_-200x200.webp",200,200,true],"related":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_-180x120.webp",180,120,true],"widgetthumb":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_-50x50.webp",50,50,true],"slider":["https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-content\/uploads\/When-Do-Bad-Habits-Become-Addictions_-440x200.webp",440,200,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Andrea M. Darcy","author_link":"#"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"by Andrea M. Darcy Have a sneaky feeling that one of your bad habits might be getting out of control? It\u2019s worth learning the difference between habit and addiction. But it\u2019s not addictive Isn\u2019t it? Just because your behaviour is not a typical addiction like alcohol, drugs, or gambling, or because everyone else around you&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118249"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137996,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118249\/revisions\/137996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.harleytherapy.co.uk\/counselling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}