Behavioral addictions can occur with any activity that’s capable of stimulating your brain’s reward system. Behavioral scientists continue to study the similarities and differences between substance addictions, behavioral addictions and other compulsive behavior conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and bulimia nervosa.

The DSM-5 currently only recognizes gambling disorder as a diagnosable behavioral addiction in the subsection of “non-substance-related disorders” in the category of “substance-related and addictive disorders.”