Warning over 'pre-addiction' signs that could show you're on a 'slippery slope'

Warning: This article contains discussion of addiction and alcoholism which some readers may find distressing.

You don't have to be struggling with a full-blown addiction before warning signs start to appear, according to one expert.

A growing body of research suggests there could be a stage known as 'pre-addiction', where the biggest red flag isn't necessarily how much someone is drinking or using substances. Instead, it could be the widening gap between what they know they should do, and what they actually end up doing.

Writing for Psychology Today in an article titled 'The Slippery Slope From Pre-addiction to Addiction', addiction expert Mark S. Gold, M.D., explained that this early stage may offer a crucial opportunity to step in before addiction becomes more deeply established.

He describes pre-addiction as a risk state where changes linked to addiction may already be happening despite someone not meeting the criteria for a substance use disorder.

An expert has issued a warning over 'pre-addiction' signs (Getty Stock Images)

According to Gold, a recent study from Yale University challenges the long-held belief that addiction is mainly driven by people ignoring or denying the consequences of their actions.

Instead, researchers found that individuals with more extensive histories of substance use were still capable of recognising which choices would lead to better outcomes.

The problem, however, came when it was time to put that knowledge into practice.

As Gold explained: "Knowledge remained intact - but its influence on drug use and behaviour became less reliable."

That means someone may fully understand the risks they're taking, while still finding themselves making the same decisions over and over again.

Gold says this disconnect is something clinicians see all the time.

Patients often tell him 'I know this is hurting me', 'I am destroying my family', 'I know I should stop' or 'I know what I need to do'.

The difficult part, he says, is that 'changing their behaviour does not follow these insights'.

The expert describes pre-addiction as a risk state (Getty Stock Images)

Rather than a lack of awareness, Gold believes repeated substance use may weaken the brain's ability to turn knowledge and previous experiences into future actions.

In other words, someone might learn from mistakes, understand the consequences and genuinely want to change, but still struggle to make different choices when the moment arrives.

And that's the exact why he believes pre-addiction deserves more attention.

Gold says people in this stage may still be holding down jobs, maintaining relationships and functioning well in everyday life - but there are subtle signs that things may be heading in the wrong direction.

Potential warning signs include repeatedly giving up strategies that have worked before, finding it harder to stick with healthy choices, slipping back after making positive changes and noticing an increasing mismatch between personal goals and everyday actions.

Potential pre-addiction warning signs include repeatedly giving up strategies that have worked before (Getty Stock Images)

He also suggests that intentions may become less reliable over time, with people genuinely wanting to stop but finding their behaviour no longer reflects those intentions.

Summarising the process, the expert writes: "Substance exposure → reduced reliability of using lived experiences and prior learning → unstable decision-making → repeated self-defeating choices → escalating use → addiction."

While he stresses that this model still needs further research, he believes identifying these early changes could eventually help professionals spot addiction risk before it becomes entrenched.

Gold concludes that future treatment may need to focus less on teaching people about the dangers of addiction and more on helping them consistently act on knowledge they already have.

As he puts it: "So, addiction may not begin when consequences disappear from awareness.

"It may begin earlier - when consequences remain visible but progressively lose their ability to shape future behaviour."

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