{"id":9582,"date":"2023-05-02T09:22:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T09:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/?p=9582"},"modified":"2025-07-30T12:20:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T12:20:14","slug":"lanxiete-induit-elle-laddiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/lanxiete-induit-elle-laddiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Can anxiety lead to addiction?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can anxiety lead to addiction?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Testimony from Maud Tijardovic, clinical psychologist specializing in addiction treatment.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

First, it is important to distinguish between anxiety and addiction:<\/strong><\/p>\n

– Addiction<\/strong> is a substance-related or non-substance-related dependence<\/strong> leading to a compulsive behavior<\/strong> (out of control).<\/p>\n

– Stress is a normal reaction of our body<\/strong> which enables us to cope with an emergency, danger, or change. It is what allowed our ancestors to survive, overcome challenges, and reproduce. However, stress can have a negative impact on us, and when it becomes overwhelming, it leads to anxiety<\/strong> which can manifest itself in various forms (phobia, panic disorder, generalized anxiety, etc.) and impact daily life.<\/p>\n

Anxiety and addiction are related, but can exist independently of each other!<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What is the link between anxiety and addiction?<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Anxious people are more likely to become addicted. They also find it very difficult to overcome their addiction.<\/p>\n

    The anxious patients I see in my practice take medication for various reasons. These reasons will determine the substance they use:<\/p>\n

    – Highly introverted people<\/strong> and those with high levels of social anxiety will tend to turn to \u201cnon-substance\u201d addictions such as video games. Gaming will then act as a \u201cbuffer\u201d between players and the outside world. - People with high levels of stress<\/strong>, or even generalized anxiety, will use more disinhibiting substances such as alcohol or cannabis. - People stressed by<\/strong> work or a particular area of life will be more attracted to substances such as tobacco. Tobacco will have a \u201cplacebo\u201d effect on the brain and make users feel more relaxed.<\/p>\n

    In addition, some people do not consume alcohol for fear of losing control and feeling that something is slipping away from them. In therapy, I tailor my treatment to each patient. Anxiety disorders and generalized anxiety are reduced by working on the emotions and thoughts associated with anxiety. For phobias and panic attacks, I offer patients \u201cexposure\u201d exercises to help them become accustomed to the source of their fear while controlling their emotions without becoming overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. What advice would you give to people who are anxious about quitting smoking?<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      These individuals can reduce their anxiety through breathing exercises or meditation. In addition, there are five very simple emotional regulation strategies that they can use every day.<\/p>\n

      If they have to deal with a stressful situation (e.g., presenting a project), they can \u201cSelect the situation\u201d<\/strong> by creating the right conditions for a successful presentation:<\/p>\n

      \u2013 Get a good night's sleep, eat well, make sure the presentation is the way I want it to be...<\/p>\n

      If they have to go through an interview with their boss and feel stress building up during the discussion, they can:<\/p>\n

      – Change their behavior in response to the situation:<\/strong> If I feel the tone rising and my stress becoming uncontrollable, I can ask my boss for a short break to get some fresh air and take a step back.<\/p>\n

      – Redirect your attention:<\/strong> If you are feeling very stressed, you can ask yourself the following questions: What am I feeling? How much on a scale of 1 to 10? Where in my body? This way, my stress will decrease when I focus on my feelings rather than on the stressful situation. - Change your perspective<\/strong>. For example, if my boss explains everything that is wrong with my work, it is for my own good and so that I can improve.<\/p>\n

      Finally, the last strategy consists of debrief<\/strong> how the person may have felt after a stressful situation. This way, they will be better able to handle the situation differently if it happens again.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      L’anxi\u00e9t\u00e9 m\u00e8ne-t-elle \u00e0 la d\u00e9pendance ? T\u00e9moignage de Maud Tijardovic – psychologue clinicienne en addictologie. Tout d’abord, il est important de faire la distinction entre l’anxi\u00e9t\u00e9 et l’addiction : – L’addiction est une d\u00e9pendance li\u00e9e ou non \u00e0 une substance conduisant \u00e0 un comportement compulsif (hors de contr\u00f4le). – Le stress est une r\u00e9action normale […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[125,135,136],"class_list":["post-9582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychologie","tag-addiction","tag-manque-de-confiance","tag-stress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9582"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10854,"href":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9582\/revisions\/10854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klava-innovation.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}