Addiction is a debilitating disease, with millions of people struggling with drug addiction each year. While recovery offers patients the ability to lead healthier, happier lives, unfortunately many fall into transfer addiction. Transfer addiction occurs when an addict recovers from one addiction, but then develops a new addiction. In this article, you’ll learn more about what is transfer addiction, and why transfer addiction is harmful below.
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What is Transfer Addiction?
There are a wide range of addictions from drug addictions like cocaine or alcohol addiction, to gambling addiction, shopping addiction, and more. Oftentimes, when people abuse certain substances or behaviors, they are looking for a way to cope or find relief from external stressors in life. For example, a shopping addict may shop excessively to try and cope with anxiety or depression, or an alcoholic may have a drinking problem because they struggle to cope with chronic stress from work or past trauma.
Transfer addiction is when an addict recovers from their initial addiction and then develops a new addiction as a means to replace their initial addiction. For example, if an alcoholic got sober, but then started to abuse and become dependent on cocaine, this an example of transfer addiction. While not all recovering addicts who relapse will experience transfer addiction, some addicts may jeopardize their sobriety or replace their initial addiction with a new addiction, thus repeating their struggle with addiction.
Why Transfer Addiction Is Harmful?
Transfer addiction is harmful for a number of reasons. Not only are you not recovering from addiction because you are replacing your initial addiction with a new addiction, but you are also abusing substances or behavior to mask the root cause(s) for why you are struggling with addiction in the first place. Now that you know what is transfer addiction, keep reading to learn more about why it is so harmful.
Replaces an Old Addiction with a New Addiction
As briefly explained above, transfer addiction is essentially replacing an old addiction with a new addiction. This means you will still struggle with the physical, mental, and emotional consequences of addiction, regardless of the type of addiction you are struggling with.
Doesn’t Solve Source/Root Cause of Addiction
By developing another new addiction, you are not only facing the consequences of that new addiction, but you are also not addressing the root cause behind what’s causing you to abuse certain substances or behavior. For example, if you suspect you may be struggling with past trauma, it’s critical to seek professional help to resolve that past trauma, rather than turning to addictive tendencies for relief.
Interferes with Your Overall Quality of Life
Transfer addiction is harmful because it inevitably harms your overall quality of life for the worse. When you continually abuse substances or struggle with certain addictive behaviors, you not only lose control in a sense to what you are addicted to, but you also face the consequences behind your addiction, which impacts not just your own life, but loved ones around you.
Help Is Available
Now you know more about what is transfer addiction, and why transfer addiction is so harmful. While recovery is essential to breaking free from addiction, it’s important to recognize that you should not be replacing your initial addiction with a new addiction. Otherwise, this just repeats the damaging cycle of addiction in your life, and also doesn’t address the source behind why you are struggling with addiction.
Our experienced team of addiction specialists and mental health professionals are here to help you every step of the way along your recovery journey. Whether you are struggling with a substance use disorder or dual diagnosis, we provide personalized addiction treatment and mental health care so you can lead a healthier, happier life. Contact us today to learn more about how we can best support your recovery needs.
