Addictive behavior
An addictive behavior is a behavior, or a stimulus related to a behavior, that is both rewarding and reinforcing, and is associated with the development of an addiction. Addictions involving addictive behaviors are normally referred to as behavioral addictions.Compulsion vs addiction
and addictions are intertwined and reward is one major distinction between an addiction and a compulsion. An addiction is, by definition, a form of compulsion, and both addictions and compulsions involve operant reinforcement. In addiction, dopamine is released in the brain's reward system and is a motive for behavior.
In contrast, someone who experiences a compulsion as part of obsessive-compulsive disorder may not perceive anything rewarding from acting on the compulsion. Often, it is a way of dealing with the obsessive part of the disorder, resulting in a feeling of relief.
Deep brain stimulation to the nucleus accumbens, a region in the brain involved heavily in addiction and reinforcement learning, has proven to be an effective treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder.
