Can You Be Addicted to Risky Behavior or Crime?

Like alcohol and other drugs, gambling, video games, and sex can also lead to addiction. Some people may only be addicted to one or two of these things, but you could be addicted to any and all risky behaviors. If anything that seems dangerous, risky, or hazardous appeals to you, you could be addicted to risk.

Continue reading to learn more about risk addiction, other behavioral addictions, and available treatments to help keep you and the people you care about safe.

What are some types of risky behavior?

A risky behavior is anything that increases the chance of danger, harm, or unwanted outcomes in the near or distant future. You could be the only one affected by the harm, or your behaviors could put friends, coworkers, or even complete strangers at risk. So even if the harm is far in the future, and it could only hurt other people, it is still a risky behavior.

Some of the most common risky behaviors include:

• Drinking alcohol and using drugs

• Gambling

• Risky and unprotected sex

• Excessive eating

• Overspending money 

• Fighting

• Using weapons

• Drunk driving

• Stealing

• Starting fires

The above risky behaviors are generally negative. But you could also be addicted to risky behaviors that society approves of. These include thrill-seeking risks, like:

• Skydiving

• Rock climbing

• Bungee jumping

The list of risky behaviors is nearly endless depending on your situation, status, and support system. For example, having many sexual partners is not necessarily risky. But if you have a sexually transmitted disease, you could increase the danger of infection to your sexual partners.

Similarly, someone gambling $10 may not seem like a big deal. But if you need that money for diapers, formula, or gas, that wager carries more risk.

Can risky behaviors lead to addiction?

You already know that alcohol and other drugs can lead to addiction. And there is good evidence to believe that risky, criminal, and thrill-seeking behaviors can result in addiction too. These types of addictions are sometimes called “adrenaline addictions,” because these activities release large amounts of adrenaline in the brain. These addictions may not always look like substance use disorders, but they will share many similarities.

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With this type of addiction, you could be addicted to the:

• Rush of the activity 

• Thrill of danger

• Risk of the crime

Like other addictions, risky behavior addiction can result in you:

• Feeling like the risk is the most important part of your life

• Feeling a high when doing the behavior

• Wanting more and more of the risk

• Still repeating the behavior, even when you try to stop

How does addiction to risky behavior compare to other behavioral addictions?

An addiction to risky behaviors is not so different from other, established behavioral addictions. This is because most of the actions that cause behavioral addictions have a degree of risk. You could be addicted to gambling, sex, and overspending money. All of these carry some natural risk. 

Behavioral addictions to work, video games, or exercise may not have the risk built into the activity. Instead, those behaviors become addictive based on the chemical impact they have in your brain.

What factors make people become addicted to high-risk behavior?

Researchers believe that there are two main traits of people who become addicted to risky behaviors: high novelty seeking and low harm avoidance. 

People with high levels of “novelty seeking” need a lot of stimulation. They need new experiences, new places, and new people to feel happy, fulfilled, and interested in the world. These people become bored very easily, and a tendency to feel bored is linked to addiction. 

People with low harm avoidance do not appear very scared of danger or fearful of new situations. They are willing to jump off a cliff or try a new drug without thinking much about the risk or possible harms that could develop.

What happens psychologically or physically during risky behavior that is addictive?

Risky behaviors, like other addictive behaviors or substances, impact the way your brain functions. Whether you skydive, steal from a store, or use drugs, your brain will release larger amounts of chemicals like dopamine. 

Dopamine is related to pleasure, but it is also involved with learning, motivation, and feeling rewarded. Because the release of dopamine feels good, you will repeat whatever you were doing to feel that way again.

Certain risky behaviors, like skydiving and bungee jumping, could release another brain chemical, adrenaline. Adrenaline paired with dopamine could increase the risk of addiction.

How to know if you are addicted to risky or dangerous behavior?

A person with an addiction to risky behaviors will display many signs and symptoms of behavioral addictions like:

• Repeating the behavior more than intended and for longer periods of time than desired

• Spending all of your time thinking about the behavior, doing the behavior, or planning the next time to do it

• Trying to stop, but not being able to do it on your own

• The behavior getting in the way of your work, homelife, or schooling

• Frequent conflicts and disagreements coming from the behavior

• Repeating the behavior even when it could lead to legal, financial, or health-related problems

• Having an odd, uncomfortable, or irritable feeling when you are not doing the behavior

• The behavior increasing in intensity or frequency

Risky behavior addiction is not a formal mental health condition. Even still, having one or more of these symptoms could seriously impact your life.

What are some of the consequences of being addicted to risky or dangerous behavior?

Often, the negative consequences of an addiction to risky behaviors is the direct result of the action. Having unprotected sex with many people could directly result in sexually transmitted diseases or unplanned pregnancies. 

 Other possible outcomes of being addicted to dangerous behaviors include:

• Jail and legal issues

• Financial issues

• Job loss

• Injury

• Relationship conflict

• Higher rates of infectious disease

• Death

Unfortunately, due to the addiction, these unwanted outcomes may not be enough to get you to stop repeating the behaviors. The consequences will only grow.

What resources are available for help?

If you have a risky behavior addiction, the best thing to do is acknowledge your problem. Once you can accept your condition, it’s time to seek out professional mental health services like therapy and medication.

Therapy can help by looking at your coping skills and offering different ways to handle stress and manage any depression, anxiety, or substance use connected to your addiction. No medications are available for non-substance addictions, but they could help with other disorders that you may be experiencing.

Like with addictions to alcohol or other drugs, support groups can help you understand your behaviors and find new ways to cope. Support groups are widely available in person and online.

Why trust our experts?

Written by:

Eric Patterson, LPC

Eric Patterson, LPC, has been a professional counselor in school and outpatient settings for over 15 years. Patterson has been cited as a mental health expert in publications such as Today.com, Good Housekeeping, and InStyle.

Reviewed by:

Emily Guarnotta, PsyD

Emily Guarnotta, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and certified perinatal mental health professional with over 10 years of clinical experience.

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