Compulsive Action

A Compulsive Action is an gratifaction-seeking personal act that is performed for gratification without necessarily leading to an actual reward.

• Context:
  • It can (often) be performed persistently and repetitively by a Compulsive Person (with a compulsive pattern).
  • It can be attributed to a Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
  • …
• Example(s):
  • Compulsive Overeating.
  • Compulsive Gambling.
  • Compulsive Hand Washing.
  • Compulsive Buying, for Compulsive Buying Disorder.
  • Compulsive Hoarding.
  • Hypersexuality.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Intentional Act, such as: a meditation act.
  • Sleeping Act.
• See: Obsessive Act, Trichotillomania, Dermatillomania, Arithmomania.

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References

2017

• https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/features/video-game-addiction-no-fun
  • QUOTE: ... In a WebMD feature on the definition of addiction, psychiatrist Michael Brody, MD, set forth the following criteria:
    • The person needs more and more of a substance or behavior to keep him going.
    • If the person does not get more of the substance or behavior, he becomes irritable and miserable.
  • Young says compulsive gaming meets these criteria, and she has seen severe withdrawal symptoms in game addicts. …

2016

• (Wikipedia, 2016) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/compulsive_behavior Retrieved:2016-10-17.
  • Compulsive behavior is defined as performing an act persistently and repetitively without it necessarily leading to an actual reward or pleasure. Compulsive behaviors could be an attempt to make obsessions go away. The act is usually a small, restricted and repetitive behavior, yet not disturbing in a pathological way. Compulsive behaviors are a need to reduce apprehension caused by internal feelings a person wants to abstain or control. A major cause of the compulsive behaviors is said to be obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). "The main idea of compulsive behavior is that the likely excessive activity is not connected to the purpose to which it appears directed.".Furthermore, there are many different types of compulsive behaviors including, shopping, hoarding, eating, gambling, trichotillomania and picking skin, checking, counting, washing, sex, and more. Also, there are cultural examples of compulsive behavior.

1997

• (Schwartz & Beyette, 1997) ⇒ Jeffrey M. Schwartz, and Beverly Beyette. (1997). “Brain Lock: Free Yourself from Obsessive-compulsive Behavior." Regan Books,

1989

• (Pitman, 1989) ⇒ Roger K. Pitman. (1989). “Animal Models of Compulsive Behavior." Biological psychiatry 26, no. 2
  • QUOTE: A convergence of clinical and pathological evidence points to the basal ganglia as the site of disturbance in compulsive disorders. However, the limbic system may be implicated as well. This article draws upon various lines of animal research in an attempt to explain how disturbances in one or another of these systems may produce compulsive behavior. Possible models include stimulation of the reinforcement mechanism, manipulation of the striatal “comparator” function, production and blockade of displacement behavior, and interference with the hippocampus' modulation of the stereotypy-inducing effect of reward. The common denominator of these models is a relative excess of dopaminergic activity in the basal ganglia. However, this does not necessarily implicate a primary dopaminergic disturbance in all human compulsive behavior.

1980

• (Rachman & Hodgson, 1980) ⇒ Stanley J. Rachman, and Ray J. Hodgson. (1980). “Obsessions and Compulsions." Prentice Hall.

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