A comprehensive international review indicates that daily behaviours like gaming, binge eating, and compulsive sexual activities closely resemble recognised addictions, potentially reshaping diagnoses and reducing stigma around these conditions.
A major international review suggests that some everyday behaviours, including gaming, binge eating and compulsive sexual activity, may resemble recognised addictions far more closely than many people realise. The study, published in European Psychiatry and led by researchers including Zsolt Demetrovics of Flinders University, compared gambling disorder with alcohol use disorder and six behavioural addictions, using gambling as a benchmark for how these conditions overlap.
According to Flinders University’s account of the work, gaming disorder showed the closest match to gambling disorder, with the researchers describing a 98.9% similarity across many of the factors they examined. Binge eating disorder and compulsive sexual behaviour disorder also showed substantial overlap. The review drew on nearly 250 systematic reviews and meta-analyses and assessed 75 addiction-related factors, from mental health and personality to emotional regulation, cognition and brain function.
The findings sit alongside earlier research suggesting that gaming and gambling can share similar neurobiological and behavioural features. Studies indexed on PubMed and in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews have pointed to common patterns such as altered sensitivity to loss, stronger responses to cues linked with gaming or gambling, and impulsive decision-making. Separate research has also found meaningful overlap between binge eating disorder and compulsive sexual behaviour disorder, lending support to the idea that some behavioural problems may arise from shared underlying mechanisms.
For families, clinicians and people struggling with these behaviours, the practical significance may be in earlier recognition. Flinders researcher Andrea Czakó said the work could help people understand that shame, secrecy and delayed help-seeking often accompany conditions that are not always seen as addictions. Demetrovics argued that addiction should not be defined only by a substance, because some behaviours can become compulsive, difficult to control and harmful even when they are part of ordinary life. The broader message from the review is that recognising behavioural addictions more clearly could make it easier to start conversations, reduce stigma and direct people towards support before the damage to health, relationships or finances becomes severe.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
