An analysis of nearly 250 systematic reviews finds gaming disorder nearly indistinguishable from gambling disorder across dozens of addiction-linked factors.

Ask most people to picture addiction and they will reach for a bottle, a syringe or a slot machine. A sweeping new analysis argues that picture is too narrow. Some everyday behaviors, including video gaming, eating and sexual activity, can in their most uncontrolled forms share many of the defining features of recognized addictions.

The study, published in European Psychiatry, pulled together almost 250 systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Using gambling disorder, one of the most thoroughly studied behavioral addictions, as a benchmark, the international team compared it with alcohol use disorder and six commonly discussed behavioral addictions across 75 factors linked to addiction, spanning mental health, personality traits, emotional regulation, cognition and brain function.

Gaming disorder came out closest. According to the researchers, it was 98.9 percent similar to gambling disorder, sharing many of the same risk factors, warning signs and underlying characteristics. Compulsive sexual behavior disorder ranked next, followed by binge eating disorder, both showing a high degree of overlap.

Beyond the substance

Zsolt Demetrovics, Matthew Flinders Professor in Mental Health and Wellbeing at Flinders University in Australia and director of its Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing, says the findings argue for looking past chemicals when thinking about addiction.

“People often associate addiction with alcohol or drugs, but our findings show that certain behaviours can share many of the same underlying characteristics,” Demetrovics said. “Addiction is not defined by a substance alone. In some cases, behaviours can become compulsive, difficult to control and continue despite causing harm.”

That distinction carries practical weight. Gaming, eating, shopping and work are woven into ordinary life, which makes it harder to spot the moment a habit tips into something unmanageable. Nobody raises an eyebrow at someone who games most evenings or occasionally overeats, until the pattern starts costing them sleep, relationships, money or health.

“This is important because many people who experience these problems may not recognise them as potential addictions,” Demetrovics said. “As a result, they may not seek help until the effects on their health, relationships, finances or daily life become severe.”

The shape of a shared pattern

The researchers describe how similar the trajectories can look across very different behaviors: a person losing sleep and damaging relationships because they cannot stop gaming, repeated binge eating despite serious health effects, uncontrollable shopping that pushes spending beyond what someone can afford, or sexual behavior that begins to erode wellbeing. The common thread is a loss of control that persists despite mounting harm, the same hallmark that defines substance addictions.

Andrea Czakó, a senior research fellow in psychology at Flinders, says naming that thread can loosen the shame that keeps people quiet. “Many people struggle with behaviours they feel ashamed of, or simply do not recognise as a potential addiction,” she said. “Understanding that these difficulties may share common underlying mechanisms can help people seek support earlier and help health professionals respond more effectively.”

Reading the numbers carefully

A figure like 98.9 percent invites bold headlines, and some care is warranted. The study is an umbrella analysis: rather than examining patients directly, it synthesizes existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and its similarity figure describes how closely the conditions line up across the factors captured in that body of research. That makes it a powerful map of the literature, but one that also inherits the literature’s gaps. It does not mean that a person who games heavily is, in any clinical sense, almost a problem gambler.

The findings also land in the middle of a long-running debate over classification. The American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-5 places gambling disorder alongside substance addictions but lists internet gaming disorder only as a condition warranting further study. The World Health Organization’s ICD-11 recognizes gaming disorder as a disorder due to addictive behaviors, while classifying compulsive sexual behavior disorder as an impulse control disorder. Evidence of deep overlap between these conditions feeds directly into how they are named, diagnosed and treated.

Earlier conversations

For the authors, the payoff is earlier help. They argue that better recognition of behavioral addictions could reduce stigma, widen access to care and reach people before significant harm sets in.

“When people understand that these behaviours can involve the same loss of control seen in other addictions, it becomes easier to have open conversations and connect people with support,” Demetrovics said. “By better understanding behavioural addictions, families, health professionals and individuals may be more likely to identify problems earlier, start conversations sooner and access appropriate support before significant harm occurs.”

The study’s authors are based at Université Paris Cité and Hôpital Sainte-Anne in France, Flinders University, Semmelweis University in Hungary, the University of Gibraltar and Aga Khan University.

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Notes

1. Vansteene, C., Poupon, D., Czakó, A., Kurimay, T., Mangat, H. S., Ngetich, R. K., Demetrovics, Z., & Gorwood, P. “Concordance between gambling disorder, alcohol use disorder, and other behavioural addictions provides evidence for a comprehensive approach to addictive behaviours: A multiple systematic review analysis.” European Psychiatry, 12 August 2026. DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2026.12249.
2. Flinders University. “From binge eating to gaming: when everyday behaviors become addictions.” EurekAlert!, 29 September 2026. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1146022.

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