Causes and Consequences of Behavioral Addiction: A Systematic Review

In this era of advancement and innovation, people have to match the speed of the fast pace world. People are held hostage of substance which is commonly known as addiction. The addiction that is still unknown in our society is non- substance addiction or behavioral addiction. Behavioral addiction works on short term reward, happiness or threshold of excitement in our disturbed or stressful life or spiking up neurotransmitter dopamine in the human body. This study works to discover the major causes and consequences of non- substance addiction. The present study includes a comprehensive analysis of the causes and consequences of Internet Addiction, Gambling, Pornography/ Sexual Addiction and Video Game Addiction. The study delves into the intricate dynamics of behavioral addiction by using 31 researches from Sage Publication, Shodhganga, PubMed and Researchgate. According to the systematic analyses the study found that the etiological factor that explains behavior addiction includes Biological Factors/Genetics and Pathological Family. In addition to it stress, gender differences and comorbidity with conditions like anxiety and depression were also concluded as the possible causal factors. The common causes of behavioral addiction are Psychological Distress, Physical Injury and Social Withdrawal. The paper has further suggested its future implications paving way for further research.