Course Description

Psychobiology of Behavioral Addictions

This advanced course will provide you with neurobehavioral and clinical knowledge of behavioral addictions. Addiction is characterized by a compulsive need for and an inability to quit certain types of behavior. The term “addiction” was originally used to describe the intake of chemical substances, such as alcohol, nicotine, and illicit drugs. However, more recently this term has been expanded to include non-chemical focuses. For example, excessive gambling is now regarded as a mental disorder quite similar to drug addiction. In fact, in the 2013 version of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition(DSM-5), gambling problems have been classified as an addictive disorder.
Other behaviors such as gaming, excessive Internet use, shopping, etc. are also considered as candidates for behavioral addiction. Behavioral addictions are becoming important issues in clinical psychology. However, we are still confronted with a lack of basic knowledge of the factors (such as neurobiological mechanisms, psychological vulnerabilities, and socio-cultural backgrounds) that underlie these disorders. In this lecture, students will be presented with the current status of our understanding of behavioral addictions. They will also be shown prospective outlooks for this field of study.