Cross addictions is Just as Bad.

[acroman08]

Well I told him that this is basically cross addiction and what that mutual friend is trying to do is like running away from the truth. Not wanting to face the core issue. So he is justify spending $20 and not on slots when both are unhealthy addictions that can have far reaching consequences. He just has to sit and face his addiction head on without looking for a replacement addiction which is just as bad.

Ever heard of cross addiction or suffered from it?
What do you think?

to his credit, his new addiction is far more financially friendly than his previous one, while I agree it would be much better to face his addiction head-on, I still think this is far better than his previous one(at least for me), unless he starts recklessly spending money on the game he is playing, what I meant about this is that there are "mystery box" features on games where you have a chance of getting rare to legendary items in the game, it is basically gambling but instead of winning money, you get in-game items.

anyway, in the end, your friend still needs some kind of professional help, his addiction may have changed to what I think a better one, but it is still an addiction that needs to be addressed.

[lionheart78]

From the context of the word i think it is basically when people exchange one habit for another. If the new habit is positive, it’s a win-win. But if it is something negative, like trading gambling for excessive online shopping, it's a problem.

It should be like  upgrading your habits. If the replacement habit is healthy or productive, it can help break the cycle of gambling addiction harmful, if not, it is just trading one issue for another. I hope those who go through this choose well.

Any kind of addiction can have a negative effect.  For example if one diverts his addiction to work, then being a work addict will divert all his attention and effort to working.  Instead of having an uncontrollable urge to gamble, the scenario will be an uncontroallbe urge to work and this will have a negative effect to human body. 

This article[1] shows how overworking has negative effect on the human body and more on getting addicted to working.
To list what is stated:

• You’re not getting enough sleep
• You’re not eating during the day
• You’re not exercising
• You’re neglecting relationships
• You’re turning to drugs or alcohol

Here is another article[2] on how overworking affect the health and mental issue of a person.

In short, anything that is excessive is bad.


[1] https://health.clevelandclinic.org/effects-of-working-too-much/
[2] https://www.passporthealthusa.com/employer-solutions/blog/2019-2-overworking-affect-physical-and-mental-health/

[Tuturtinular]

Well I told him that this is basically cross addiction and what that mutual friend is trying to do is like running away from the truth. Not wanting to face the core issue. So he is justify spending $20 and not on slots when both are unhealthy addictions that can have far reaching consequences. He just has to sit and face his addiction head on without looking for a replacement addiction which is just as bad.

Ever heard of cross addiction or suffered from it?
What do you think?

to his credit, his new addiction is far more financially friendly than his previous one, while I agree it would be much better to face his addiction head-on, I still think this is far better than his previous one(at least for me), unless he starts recklessly spending money on the game he is playing, what I meant about this is that there are "mystery box" features on games where you have a chance of getting rare to legendary items in the game, it is basically gambling but instead of winning money, you get in-game items.

anyway, in the end, your friend still needs some kind of professional help, his addiction may have changed to what I think a better one, but it is still an addiction that needs to be addressed.

In my opinion, the most dangerous thing in gambling is losing money because of gambling, so when we can look for a new hobby that is cheaper, of course that is a good choice. However, switching gambling habits to another hobby is usually not easy because gamblers enjoy the sensation of risking money on gambling, not gambling games.

However, this method may work and there is no harm in trying it. There are many losses if we become a gambling addict, maybe we will go bankrupt, damage family relationships, and maybe end up committing suicide. We need to be aware of this possibility and start gambling responsibly

[Saisher]

Ever heard of cross addiction or suffered from it?
What do you think?

It's still addiction done in a different way and games if you're still spending money and time and you don't have control over these then it's addiction, addiction is addiction the mindset to get that dopamine effect is still there and the mind cannot cope up with it.

Cross-addiction will not work to cure gambling addiction because the player has no control over his actions, the only way to cure addiction is to regain control of spending a lot of money and time on gambling.

[btc_angela]

Well I told him that this is basically cross addiction and what that mutual friend is trying to do is like running away from the truth. Not wanting to face the core issue. So he is justify spending $20 and not on slots when both are unhealthy addictions that can have far reaching consequences. He just has to sit and face his addiction head on without looking for a replacement addiction which is just as bad.

Ever heard of cross addiction or suffered from it?
What do you think?

to his credit, his new addiction is far more financially friendly than his previous one, while I agree it would be much better to face his addiction head-on, I still think this is far better than his previous one(at least for me), unless he starts recklessly spending money on the game he is playing, what I meant about this is that there are "mystery box" features on games where you have a chance of getting rare to legendary items in the game, it is basically gambling but instead of winning money, you get in-game items.

It could be in the beginning, but we all know what is the definition of addiction, so maybe at the start you can say it's financially friendly. But later on you will spend a lot of money that you didn't notice as you slowly goes on another binge and then you began addicted, it could be worst that gambling.

anyway, in the end, your friend still needs some kind of professional help, his addiction may have changed to what I think a better one, but it is still an addiction that needs to be addressed.

Any of us will have to seek professional help as it is already an addiction. However, his friend or anyone of us should first acknowledge that we have addiction already before that intervention can help us. Otherwise it will be just a cycle, repeating itself for the addicts to fell again.

[wxa7115]

Cross addiction is as worst as the main addiction you are trying to quit and it is a terrible idea. But what is cross addiction?

What Are Cross Addictions?
Cross addiction, also known as addiction transfer or addiction interaction disorder, occurs in various ways. First, an individual may simultaneously engage in substance abuse and maladapative behavioral patterns (medically referred to as behavioral or process addictions). Second, a person may replace one addiction with another (i.e., substituting opioids with cannabis). Third, an addictive behavior may precede a chemical addiction or vice versa.
https://www.choosingtherapy.com/cross-addiction/

So a friend told me that a mutual friend tried to replace his gambling addiction with another another one because he has tried all everything else. The new addiction is PS4. He pays for extra on the game and he is getting more and more into it. According to my friend, this mutual friend feels that paying $20 per month its subscription is better than $100- $500 on slots where he ends up losing.

Well I told him that this is basically cross addiction and what that mutual friend is trying to do is like running away from the truth. Not wanting to face the core issue. So he is justify spending $20 and not on slots when both are unhealthy addictions that can have far reaching consequences. He just has to sit and face his addiction head on without looking for a replacement addiction which is just as bad.

Ever heard of cross addiction or suffered from it?
What do you think?

This is very common but at the same time it is a very dangerous development, and this is because once a person moves from one addiction to another there is nothing stopping them from suffering several addictions at the same time.

And while the argument of your friend makes some sense since he is spending less money now than what he spent on gambling, this is not going to last long, because as we know video games can be very expensive too and they have all kind of in-game purchases in which you can waste your money away.

[ethereumhunter]

This is very common but at the same time it is a very dangerous development, and this is because once a person moves from one addiction to another there is nothing stopping them from suffering several addictions at the same time.

And while the argument of your friend makes some sense since he is spending less money now than what he spent on gambling, this is not going to last long, because as we know video games can be very expensive too and they have all kind of in-game purchases in which you can waste your money away.

It's possible that he may even be suffering from multiple gambling addictions at the same time because he finds enjoyment in other things that he also spends his time doing. He moves between one activity that makes him addicted but makes no effort to stop his addiction. Maybe it's better if he does other activities that can provide more benefits than spending his time staying at home and playing games so that he can see the outside world which is more interesting.

And in fact, he has reduced or shifted his activities from gambling to playing games, but he still spends more time playing games. If you look at your expenses, he doesn't spend a lot of money, but if you look at his time, he still plays games more often than doing other things.

[Onyeeze]

Ever heard of cross addiction or suffered from it?
What do you think?

It's still addiction done in a different way and games if you're still spending money and time and you don't have control over these then it's addiction, addiction is addiction the mindset to get that dopamine effect is still there and the mind cannot cope up with it.

Cross-addiction will not work to cure gambling addiction because the player has no control over his actions, the only way to cure addiction is to regain control of spending a lot of money and time on gambling.

When someone is addicted on  gambling something else' that will come to our minds right away is to control the money it use in playing gambling as well, but it's not done that way, when you engaged in a gambling addicted, the person might forget about gambling when you look for something that is payable and will also consumed the person's times  and also pre informed the person concerning  gambling not to participate in gambling, its not that person will stop gambling totally but it will adjust in gambling because of the way people talk about gambling and anothing is understanding, their is some people who will not gamble again after your advice and some people will still continue

[SeriouslyGiveaway]

Ever heard of cross addiction or suffered from it?
What do you think?

- I think it's not unusual in this day and age because there are so many forms of entertainment that can lead to addiction. When we try to break a habit or addiction, we often seek out something else to occupy the time we used to spend on our previous addiction, thinking it will help us forget about it. But it's a bit like a cycle - we move from one habit to another. Unfortunately, these new habits often have some connection to the old addiction.
- This could be termed as a cross-addiction, as you mentioned, or a cycle of addiction. Only a few people have the courage to adopt a new, healthy habit or addiction, like getting addicted to sports, for instance. However, that group is quite small because, like sports, it isn't always easy to start with.

[acroman08]

Well I told him that this is basically cross addiction and what that mutual friend is trying to do is like running away from the truth. Not wanting to face the core issue. So he is justify spending $20 and not on slots when both are unhealthy addictions that can have far reaching consequences. He just has to sit and face his addiction head on without looking for a replacement addiction which is just as bad.

Ever heard of cross addiction or suffered from it?
What do you think?

to his credit, his new addiction is far more financially friendly than his previous one, while I agree it would be much better to face his addiction head-on, I still think this is far better than his previous one(at least for me), unless he starts recklessly spending money on the game he is playing, what I meant about this is that there are "mystery box" features on games where you have a chance of getting rare to legendary items in the game, it is basically gambling but instead of winning money, you get in-game items.

It could be in the beginning, but we all know what is the definition of addiction, so maybe at the start you can say it's financially friendly. But later on you will spend a lot of money that you didn't notice as you slowly goes on another binge and then you began addicted, it could be worst that gambling.

and I completely agree that it can become worse than gambling(especially with all the events on a game that require money in order to fully enjoy the event, not to mention the "mystery boxes" that are basically gambling) if it is left untreated.

anyway, in the end, your friend still needs some kind of professional help, his addiction may have changed to what I think a better one, but it is still an addiction that needs to be addressed.

Any of us will have to seek professional help as it is already an addiction. However, his friend or anyone of us should first acknowledge that we have addiction already before that intervention can help us. Otherwise it will be just a cycle, repeating itself for the addicts to fell again.

yeah, and that is what mental health professional help is for, they can help gambling addicts realize and acknowledge that they have an issue that needs to be addressed and treated.

[swogerino]

Cross addictions can be bad, but they can also be good. You just need to find the negative things in your life and remove them while replacing them with positive things. People do this all the time in order to better themselves while ridding themselves of nasty habits. I think it can be a very healthy way to do things.

Yeah that most likely should work.For example you want to change career at some point because you are bored to death from your actual job and you quit gambling and buy quite some new courses on Udemy for the profession you want to change your career into it,this would be beneficial.

Cross addiction though is mostly related when you go from bad to worse,for example you go from gambling to alcohol and from alcohol to whores your life never seem to get on track again and as such it is a bad one,the above example is a good one which should be beneficial for the person.

[bittraffic]

Cross addictions can be bad, but they can also be good. You just need to find the negative things in your life and remove them while replacing them with positive things. People do this all the time in order to better themselves while ridding themselves of nasty habits. I think it can be a very healthy way to do things.

Yeah that most likely should work.For example you want to change career at some point because you are bored to death from your actual job and you quit gambling and buy quite some new courses on Udemy for the profession you want to change your career into it,this would be beneficial.

Cross addiction though is mostly related when you go from bad to worse,for example you go from gambling to alcohol and from alcohol to whores your life never seem to get on track again and as such it is a bad one,the above example is a good one which should be beneficial for the person.

You're just making it in the wrong direction though. What if the heroin addict turns to helm and then just gradually turns to cigarettes and then eventually just chewing gum? From bad to worse is also a cross-addiction. It's possible.

Say you have been into gambling for years then a cross addiction moving to chess tournaments. I've seen people addicted to chess. Maybe even gambling addiction to BTC trading which seems to be common here.

[livingfree]

Cross addiction though is mostly related when you go from bad to worse,for example you go from gambling to alcohol and from alcohol to whores your life never seem to get on track again and as such it is a bad one,the above example is a good one which should be beneficial for the person.

That can happen but not all cross addictions will be on this result.

But yes, most likely that it's gonna be like when the gambler that have cross addiction won't check himself out. Because it is important to check if you're still on the goal of removing the gambling addiction.

And when you happen to see yourself winning from it, don't lose yourself from the other activities that you're doing and as much as you can make yourself not to have a cross addiction, avoid that to happen.

[0t3p0t]

I was once addicted to alcoholic drinks then I gamble with lottery and now I am into gaming. 😅 When I was addicted to alcoholic drinks some years ago, I spent more than the amount I spent with gaming. Same with gambling though I am not addicted to it because it was just a short period of time betting on it but I refrain from it due to the high probability of losing in short I was not lucky. With gaming I can now control myself from addiction as I need to do it due to the signature campaign I am taking part right now to reach minimum quota that is why I need to manage my time and I am thankful the addiction was diverted to a much better one.

[DabsPoorVersion]

Cross addiction though is mostly related when you go from bad to worse,for example you go from gambling to alcohol and from alcohol to whores your life never seem to get on track again and as such it is a bad one,the above example is a good one which should be beneficial for the person.

That can happen but not all cross addictions will be on this result.

But yes, most likely that it's gonna be like when the gambler that have cross addiction won't check himself out. Because it is important to check if you're still on the goal of removing the gambling addiction.

And when you happen to see yourself winning from it, don't lose yourself from the other activities that you're doing and as much as you can make yourself not to have a cross addiction, avoid that to happen.

I don't know what you mean by checking the goal of removing gambling addiction, what would be the thing that needs to be checked?
Anyways, this may be considered cross-addiction; however, his friend has a point. By making a decision to replace his gambling addiction with a cheaper one. Instead of spending up to $500, a monthly subscription of $20 is better, and completely enjoys himself playing.

OP's friend probably knows what he is doing, the moment he decides to get his gambling addiction to another thing, the intention is clear, and he wants to be in a better condition.

[CODE200]

Ever heard of cross addiction or suffered from it?
What do you think?

- I think it's not unusual in this day and age because there are so many forms of entertainment that can lead to addiction. When we try to break a habit or addiction, we often seek out something else to occupy the time we used to spend on our previous addiction, thinking it will help us forget about it. But it's a bit like a cycle - we move from one habit to another. Unfortunately, these new habits often have some connection to the old addiction.
- This could be termed as a cross-addiction, as you mentioned, or a cycle of addiction. Only a few people have the courage to adopt a new, healthy habit or addiction, like getting addicted to sports, for instance. However, that group is quite small because, like sports, it isn't always easy to start with.

Agree with this.
We often tell a person who is an addict that the best way to combat addiction is to to find other activities that he/she is interested into as a form of distraction. 
In my opinion, cross addiction will be a bad thing if the habit we replace to our previous habit is just as equivalent as what we have replaced. For example, if someone is addicted to gambling, then his replacement would be drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. Then we can say that this is a complete cycle of addiction because this is just as harmful as being a gambling addict because it's still harmful for him especially for his health. But is it possible that cross addiction can be a good thing? For instance, a gambling addict seeks out an alternative way of coping with his addiction by playing computer or mobile games. Yes, we can say that there is still an addiction but it is less harmful for him because it does not involve any amount of money.

[Crypt0Gore]

You are the one that doesn't understand that friend OP, he is literally trying to beat gambling addiction and the only way to go about it is finding something he was once used to, I don't believe that someone who doesn't like gaming will go out and buy a PlayStation to keep himself busy, he was a gamer already and he used the console to fight his addiction, this is how I view all this issue.

I think he is smart, and I will never see gaming as an addiction, not until he decide to only do gaming around the clock all day long, no job or business to run, because I believe that too much of anything is bad and could turn into a form of addiction.

I also believe that he is spending way more on gambling than the subscription of $20 on his new shinny console, he is enjoying himself so let him, and if you think that gaming will destroy him just like gambling then you don't know the difference, the urge to play video games is different from the urge to make a fortune with gambling, one is less addictive than the other.

[Mauser]

Well I told him that this is basically cross addiction and what that mutual friend is trying to do is like running away from the truth. Not wanting to face the core issue. So he is justify spending $20 and not on slots when both are unhealthy addictions that can have far reaching consequences. He just has to sit and face his addiction head on without looking for a replacement addiction which is just as bad.

Ever heard of cross addiction or suffered from it?
What do you think?

Yes, I have heard about it and even saw it with my own eyes. My cousin was addicted to drugs in the past and part of the recovery he starts to play a lot of video games, ending up spending the whole weekend in his room only gaming. This was a very terrible time and it took a long time for him to beat both of his addictions. I think that many people who struggle with an addiction are having similar problem. It’s like when you realise that you have problems to control your own actions in one regard that you are also very likely to struggle with other things too. It’s important to help a friend who is struggling with multiple addictions, we need to show him that his behaviour is similar across different addictions and that he needs to fight it. In the end that comes down to if a person is at risk to become addicted or not. Some people gamble all their life and never become addicted, and there are people who start small in gambling and become addicted fairly quickly. Once you struggle with one addiction there is a high risk to become addicted to something else. It’s important to seek professional help and learn coping techniques to turn our life around.

[michellee]

I also believe that he is spending way more on gambling than the subscription of $20 on his new shinny console, he is enjoying himself so let him, and if you think that gaming will destroy him just like gambling then you don't know the difference, the urge to play video games is different from the urge to make a fortune with gambling, one is less addictive than the other.

However, he will still become addicted to video games and can spend the whole day without doing other activities. But at least he had saved much money instead of using it for gambling. And maybe later, he can find a way to make money from playing video games.

If he could make money, that would be a great way. He could even benefit from playing video games but he has to find a way. That's like what I saw in some young people playing video games on smartphones.

They enthusiastically played the video game and answered that it could make money when I asked about it. But I don't know how because I didn't ask further.

[Oilacris]

Ever heard of cross addiction or suffered from it?
What do you think?

- I think it's not unusual in this day and age because there are so many forms of entertainment that can lead to addiction. When we try to break a habit or addiction, we often seek out something else to occupy the time we used to spend on our previous addiction, thinking it will help us forget about it. But it's a bit like a cycle - we move from one habit to another. Unfortunately, these new habits often have some connection to the old addiction.
- This could be termed as a cross-addiction, as you mentioned, or a cycle of addiction. Only a few people have the courage to adopt a new, healthy habit or addiction, like getting addicted to sports, for instance. However, that group is quite small because, like sports, it isn't always easy to start with.

Agree with this.
We often tell a person who is an addict that the best way to combat addiction is to to find other activities that he/she is interested into as a form of distraction. 
In my opinion, cross addiction will be a bad thing if the habit we replace to our previous habit is just as equivalent as what we have replaced. For example, if someone is addicted to gambling, then his replacement would be drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes. Then we can say that this is a complete cycle of addiction because this is just as harmful as being a gambling addict because it's still harmful for him especially for his health. But is it possible that cross addiction can be a good thing? For instance, a gambling addict seeks out an alternative way of coping with his addiction by playing computer or mobile games. Yes, we can say that there is still an addiction but it is less harmful for him because it does not involve any amount of money.

Doesnt matter if its some another addiction came from another addiction, the importance on here is that you do make out such step or action just to make things more lesser when it comes to finance
expenses and at the same time you are really that lessening the risks on messing up with your entire financial condition which we know that gambling could possibly give.
So i would say that it wont really be that much a wrong thing about doing those side addiction or whatever been called as cross addiction as long you do see that it is really just that a better
choice or alternative then do it.Basing up on the situation on having that video game addiction which causes for you to spend $20 for a month which is way far more better than on
spending hundreds in a month. You wont really be that so dumb on not to see the main differences.

It is really just that there are really people who are really that always not like the word addiction but if you do see this as your choice then go with it.
But honestly we could really be able to resolve things without needing to touch for some another problem but if you do see this as your option and temporal
then its not a bad consideration of things.