Behavioural addiction support

Overview

Through surveys with our member agencies, NCSS has identified behavioural addiction support as a critical area with increasing needs.

We conducted further research and stakeholder engagements to better understand the issues. Our findings revealed that people often delay in seeking help and emerging technologies are exacerbating the complexity of addictions.

NCSS is taking action to build the social service sector’s capability and capacity to address behavioural addictions. We are working with other government agencies, as well as social service agencies (SSAs), to coordinate and enhance service delivery, so that affected individuals can receive timely and effective support.

Understanding behavioural addictions

Addiction is the continued and compulsive consumption of a substance or behaviour despite harm to self or others. While many people associate addiction with substances like drugs or alcohol, behavioural addictions can also be harmful.

Behavioural addiction is when a person feels a strong urge to keep doing a certain activity or behaviour repeatedly, even if it starts to cause problems in daily life, relationships and finances. Some types of behavioural addiction include screen or device use, gambling, gaming, shopping, sex or pornography consumption.

Recognising the difference between bad habits and behavioural addictions can be challenging.

Key warning signs to look out for include:

• Trying to stop the behaviour but not being able to and spending too much time or money on it.​

• Skipping work, school, or important things, having fights or problems with friends and family, or giving up hobbies.​

• Keeping up the behaviour even when it’s clearly causing problems for yourself or others

Understanding these patterns is the first step towards recovery. With the right support, recovery is possible. No one has to struggle alone.

Support resources

You may explore the resources below if you are seeking help for yourself or a loved one.