Cash, Rae and Winkler, in a paper titled "Internet Addiction: A brief summary of research and practice", describe early interventions used in the treatment of Internet addiction (IAD), and Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD).

Cognitive Behavior Therapy is designed to help individuals learn how to control their thoughts and feelings. This control is to prevent harmful functions that may trigger impulses to escape into the virtual world. The therapy is setup for three stages. The first stage is to instruct the patient to identify there is a problem and how much a problem computers are creating. Identification is done by using a log to document duration, events, day, of online activity. This can be used to show in black and white how much time is spent online and to help create a realistic goal for patients to strive for. Using this log the patients interact with a therapist to make a schedule for online activity to promote new healthier habits. The second aspect of the treatment program is more for the cognitive aspect, as in, digging into what triggers the excessive online activity. The third phase is to confront or resolve the issues in the patient's life that lead to them seeking escape things via the Internet.

One source states that a major reason the Internet is so appealing is the lack of limits and the absence of accountability.

Professionals generally agree that, for Internet overuse, controlled use is a more practical goal than total abstinence.

Families in the People's Republic of China have turned to unlicensed training camps that offer to "wean" their children, often in their teens, from overuse of the Internet. The training camps have been associated with the death of at least one youth. In November 2009, the government of the People's Republic of China banned physical punishment to "wean" teens from the Internet. Electro-shock therapy had already been banned.

In August 2013, researchers at the MIT Media Lab developed a USB-connected keyboard accessory that would "punish" users – with a small electric jolt – who spent too much time on a particular website.

In July 2014, an internet de-addiction center was started in Delhi, the capital city of India by a non profit organization, Uday Foundation. The Foundation provides counseling to the children and teens with internet addiction disorder.

In August 2009, "ReSTART", a United States-based residential treatment center for "problematic digital media use, internet addiction, and video game addiction", opened near Seattle, Washington, United States. It offers a 7- to 12-week intensive program for adolescents and adults intended to help people set device limits, and address digital distractions.

In 2005, Professor Kiesler called Internet addiction a fad illness. In her view, she said, television addiction is worse. She added that she was completing a study of heavy Internet users, which showed the majority had sharply reduced their time on the computer over the course of a year, indicating that even problematic use was self-corrective.

Behavioral programming is considered critical in helping those with addictions achieve abstinence. From the applied behavior analysis literature and the behavioral psychology literature, several evidence based intervention programs have emerged: (1) behavioral marital therapy; (2) community reinforcement approach; (3) cue exposure therapy; and (4) contingency management strategies. In addition, the same author suggest that Social skills training adjunctive to inpatient treatment of alcohol dependence is probably efficacious. Community reinforcement has both efficacy and effectiveness data. In addition, behavioral treatment such as community reinforcement and family training (CRAFT) have helped family members to get their loved ones into treatment. Motivational Intervention has also shown to be an effective treatment for substance dependence.

Alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, are used by some practitioners to alleviate the symptoms of drug addiction. In 1997, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted as policy the following statement after a report on a number of alternative therapies including acupuncture:

There is little evidence to confirm the safety or efficacy of most alternative therapies. Much of the information currently known about these therapies makes it clear that many have not been shown to be efficacious. Well-designed, stringently controlled research should be done to evaluate the efficacy of alternative therapies.

Acupuncture has been shown to be no more effective than control treatments in the treatment of opiate dependence. Acupuncture, acupressure, laser therapy and electrostimulation have no demonstrated efficacy for smoking cessation.

Important phases in treating substance dependence include establishing coping mechanisms to deal with the hardships of withdrawal symptoms. With the correct approaches, the patient can live a healthier life.

Some online resources have served as aids to those working to overcome addictions. These websites allow struggling addicts, family members of addicts, and people who are in the recovery stage to seek or offer advice or support. Such sites provide an alternative, anonymized means for people impacted by addiction to seek help, social support, and information through chat rooms, forums, and blogs.

Therapists often classify patients with chemical dependencies as either interested or not interested in changing.

Treatments usually involve planning for specific ways to avoid the addictive stimulus, and therapeutic interventions intended to help a client learn healthier ways to find satisfaction. Clinical leaders in recent years have attempted to tailor intervention approaches to specific influences that affect addictive behavior, using therapeutic interviews in an effort to discover factors that led a person to embrace unhealthy, addictive sources of pleasure or relief from pain.

From the applied behavior analysis literature and the behavioral psychology literature, several evidenced-based intervention programs have emerged (1) behavioral marital therapy (2) community reinforcement approach (3) cue exposure therapy and (4) contingency management strategies. In addition, the same author suggests that social skills training adjunctive to inpatient treatment of alcohol dependence is probably efficacious.

Early treatment of acute withdrawal often includes medical detoxification, which can include doses of anxiolytics or narcotics to reduce symptoms of withdrawal. An experimental drug, ibogaine, is also proposed to treat withdrawal and craving.

Neurofeedback therapy has shown statistically significant improvements in numerous researches conducted on alcoholic as well as mixed substance abuse population. In chronic opiate addiction, a surrogate drug such as methadone is sometimes offered as a form of opiate replacement therapy. But treatment approaches universal focus on the individual's ultimate choice to pursue an alternate course of action.

Gambling self-exclusion (voluntary exclusion) programs are available in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, France, and other countries. They seem to help some (but not all) problem gamblers to gamble less often.

Some experts maintain that casinos in general arrange for self-exclusion programs as a public relations measure without actually helping many of those with problem gambling issues. A campaign of this type merely "deflects attention away from problematic products and industries," according to Natasha Dow Schull, a cultural anthropologist at New York University and author of the book "Addiction by Design" who was interviewed for The Fifth Estate (TV series) aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

There is also a question as to the effectiveness of such programs, which can be difficult to enforce. In the province of Ontario, Canada, for example, the Self-Exclusion program operated by the government's Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is not effective, according to investigation conducted by the television series, revealed in late 2017. "Gambling addicts ... said that while on the ... self-exclusion list, they entered OLG properties on a regular basis" in spite of the facial recognition technology in place at the casinos, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. As well, a CBC journalist who tested the system found that he was able to enter Ontario casinos and gamble on four distinct occasions, in spite of having been registered and photographed for the self-exclusion program. An OLG spokesman provided this response when questioned by the CBC: "We provide supports to self-excluders by training our staff, by providing disincentives, by providing facial recognition, by providing our security officers to look for players. No one element is going to be foolproof because it is not designed to be foolproof".

According to the Productivity Commission's 2010 final report into gambling, the social cost of problem gambling is close to 4.7 billion dollars a year. Some of the harms resulting from problem gambling include depression, suicide, lower work productivity, job loss, relationship breakdown, crime and bankruptcy. A survey conducted in 2008 found that the most common motivation for fraud was problem gambling, with each incident averaging a loss of $1.1 million. According to Darren R. Christensen. Nicki A. Dowling, Alun C. Jackson and Shane A.Thomas a survey done from 1994-2008 in Tasmania gave results that gambling participation rates have risen rather than fallen over this period.

Columbia University, in collaboration with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), is undertaking a clinical trial that looks at the effects of combined medication on cannabis dependency, to see if lofexidine in combination with dronabinol is superior to placebo in achieving abstinence, reducing cannabis use and reducing withdrawal in cannabis-dependent patients seeking treatment for their marijuana use. Men and women between the ages of 18–60 who met DSM-IV criteria for current marijuana dependence were enrolled in a 12-week trial that started in January 2010.

Georgotas & Zeidenberg (1979) conducted an experiment where they gave an average daily dose of 210 mg of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient in cannabis which is responsible for its psychological effects, to a group of volunteers over a 4-week period. After test ended, the subjects were found to be "irritable, uncooperative, resistant and at times hostile," and many of the patients experienced insomnia. These effects were likely due to withdrawal from the drug and lasted about 3 weeks after the experiment.

A 2014 Cochrane Collaboration review found insufficient data to evaluate the effectiveness of gabapentin and acetylcysteine in the treatment of cannabis dependence and that it warrants further investigation.

Heroin-assisted treatment (HAT, the medical prescription of heroin) has been available in Switzerland since 1994. A 2001 study found a high rate of treatment retention and significant improvement in health, social situation and likelihood to leave the illegal drug scene in enrolled participants. The study found that the most common reason for discharge was the start of abstinence treatment or methadone treatment. The study also found that heroin-assisted treatment is cost-beneficial on a society level due to reduced criminality and improved overall health of participants.

The heroin-assisted treatment program was introduced in Switzerland to combat the increase in heroin use in the 1980s and 1990s and written into law 2010 as one pillar of a four-pillar strategy using repression, prevention, treatment and risk reduction. Usually, only a small percentage of patients receives heroin and have to fulfil a number of criteria. Since then, HAT programs have been adopted in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Canada, and Luxembourg.

Over the past decade, the concept of Internet addiction has grown in terms of acceptance as a legitimate clinical disorder often requiring treatment. Researchers are divided over whether Internet addiction is a disorder on its own or a symptom of another underlying disorder. There is also debate over whether it should be classified as an impulse-control disorder or an obsessive-compulsive disorder rather than an addiction.

While the existence of Internet addiction is debated, self-proclaimed sufferers are resorting to the courts for redress. In one American case ("Pacenza v. IBM Corp."), the plaintiff argued he was illegally dismissed from his employment in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act because of Internet addiction triggered by Vietnam War-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The case was dismissed by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and affirmed on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit in 2010 (case summarized in Glaser & Carroll, 2007).

About 25% of users fulfill Internet addiction criteria within the first six months of using the Internet. Many individuals initially report feeling intimidated by the computer but gradually feel a sense of "competency and exhilaration from mastering the technology and learning to navigate the applications quickly by visual stimulation" (Beard 374). The feeling of exhilaration can be explained by the way IAD sufferers often describe themselves as: bold, outgoing, open-minded, intellectually prideful, and assertive.

According to a study by Kathy Scherer, a psychologist from the University of Texas at Austin, "13% of college internet users fit the criteria for Internet addicts" (Scherer 1997). In her study, Scherer enlisted the help of 531 college students. She discovered that "72% of the Internet addicted students were men" (Scherer 1997).

The China Communist Youth League claimed in 2007 that over 17% of Chinese citizens between 13 and 17 were addicted to the Internet.

Public concern, interest in, and the study of, Internet over use can be attributed to the fact that it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between the online and offline worlds. The Internet has tremendous potential to affect the emotions of humans and in turn, alter our self-perception and anxiety levels.

According to Maressa Orzack, director of the Computer Addiction Study at Harvard University's McLean Hospital, between 5% and 10% of Web surfers suffer some form of Web dependency.

According to the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery (whose director is Kimberly S. Young, a researcher who has lobbied for the recognition of net abuse as a distinct clinical disorder), "Internet addicts suffer from emotional problems such as depression and anxiety-related disorders and often use the fantasy world of the Internet to psychologically escape unpleasant feelings or stressful situations." More than half are also addicted to alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or sex.

Mark Griffiths states that "[t]he way of determining whether nonchemical (i.e., behavioral) addictions are addictive in a nonmetaphorical sense is to compare them against clinical criteria for other established drug-ingested addictions", and although his data is dated, and may no longer represent average Internet use accurately, Griffiths comes to the conclusion that the Internet does meet that criteria for addiction in a small number of users.

Scientists have found that compulsive Internet use can produce morphological changes in the structure of the brain. A study which analyzed Chinese college students who had been classified as computer addicts by the study designers and who used a computer around 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, found reductions in the sizes of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, rostral anterior cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area and parts of the cerebellum compared to students deemed "not addicted" by the designers. It has been theorized that these changes reflect learning-type cognitive optimizations for using computers more efficiently, but also impaired short-term memory and decision-making abilities—including ones in which may contribute to the desire to stay online instead of be in the real world.

Patricia Wallace PhD, Senior Director, Information Technology and CTY Online, at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth argues that based on the case histories that have surfaced, no one denies that excessive involvement with certain psychological spaces on the net can have serious effects on a person's life. She explains that, at a large university in New York, the dropout rate among freshmen newcomers rose dramatically as their investment in computers and Internet access increased, and the administrators learned that 43% of the dropouts were staying up all night on the Internet.

Buprenorphine sublingual preparations are often used to manage opioid dependence (that is, dependence on heroin, oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, oxymorphone, fentanyl or other opioids). Preparations were approved for this indication by the United States Food and Drug Administration in October 2002. Some formulations of buprenorphine incorporate the opiate antagonist naloxone during the production of the pill form to prevent people from crushing the tablets and injecting them, instead of using the sublingual (under the tongue) route of administration.

Some experiences of self-help groups and group therapy have been carried out in a very similar way to those used in other addictions. Preliminary evidence suggests that group for compulsive shoppers colud be effective.>.

The inclusion of this problem in the obsessive-compulsive disorders and its relation with depression has led to some use of antidepressants as a treatment. Within antidepressant drugs, special attention has been paid to those related to serotonin, a brain neurotransmitter. This substance is supposed to be related to deficiencies in stimulus control, so that medicines like fluoxetine and fluvoxamine, which raise the level of serotonin in the brain, would be a pharmacological alternative to treat shopping addiction. Even though results are not conclusive, in the nineties some research was carried out which supported the effectiveness of tese treatments, at least in certain cases.

The term "pre-exposure prophylaxis" (PrEP) is generally used to refer to the use of [[antiviral drugs]] which can help in [[prevention of HIV/AIDS]]. PrEP is an optional treatment which may be taken by people who are HIV-negative, but who have substantial risk of getting an HIV infection.

In the US, most insurance plans cover these drugs.

Psychological intervention includes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational enhancement therapy (MET), contingency management (CM), supportive-expressive psychotherapy (SEP), family and systems interventions, and twelve-step programs.

Evaluations of Marijuana Anonymous programs, modelled on the 12-step lines of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, have shown small beneficial effects for general drug use reduction. In 2006, the Wisconsin Initiative to Promote Healthy Lifestyles implemented a program that helps primary care physicians identify and address marijuana use problems in patients.

There exist some medications which can be useful specifically for treating sexual addiction.

Alternatively, doctors can prescribe general-purpose medications which have been found to be useful for a variety of behavioral addictions.

When treating addictive personalities, the primary or presenting addiction needs to be treated first. Only once the behavior is under control can the person truly begin to do any of the therapeutic work necessary for recovery.

Common forms of treatment for addictive personalities include cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as other behavioral approaches. These treatments help patients by providing healthy coping skills training, relapse prevention, behavior interventions, family and group therapy, facilitated self-change approaches, and aversion therapy. Behavioral approaches include using positive reinforcement and behavioral modeling. Along with these, other options that help with treating those who suffer with addictive personality include social support, help with goal direction, rewards, enhancing self-efficacy and help teaching coping skills.

Another important skill to learn in treatment, which can be overlooked, is self-soothing. People with addictive personalities use their addictions as coping mechanisms when in stressful situations. However, since their addictions do not actually soothe them, so much as they provide momentary relief from anxiety or uncomfortable emotions, these individuals feel the need to use their addiction more often. Thus, self-soothing and other mindfulness-based interventions can be used for treatment because they provide healthier coping mechanisms once the addictive behavior has been removed. These strategies relate to the use of dialectical behavior therapy, another useful technique. DBT provides ways to tolerate distress and regulate emotions, both of which are challenging to someone with an addictive personality. DBT may not be the most effective treatment for all substance abusers, but there is evidence that it is helpful for most alcoholics and addicts, as well as in eating disorders, and those with co-occurring conditions.

Another form of treatment that has been considered for people with addictive personalities who tend towards substance abuse is medication. A medication called Disulfiram was created in 1947. This pill was used for alcoholics and would cause adverse effects if combined with alcohol. This medication is still used today but two others have been made to help treat alcohol dependence (Acamprosate and Naltrexone). Along with alcohol addictions, Naltrexone is also used for opioid addiction.

Although these medications have proven results in decreasing heavy drinking, doctors still have to consider the patients' health and the risky side effects when prescribing these medications.

Treatment involves becoming conscious of the addiction through studying, therapy, group work, etc...

Research done by Michel Lejoyeux and Aviv Weinstein suggests that the best possible treatment for CB is through cognitive behavioral therapy. They suggest that a patient first be "evaluated for psychiatric comorbidity, especially with depression, so that appropriate pharmacological treatment can be instituted." Their research indicates that patients who received cognitive behavioral therapy over 10 weeks had reduced episodes of compulsive buying and spent less time shopping as opposed to patients who did not receive this treatment (251).

Lejoyeux and Weinstein also write about pharmacological treatment and studies that question the use of drugs on CB. They declare "Few controlled studies have assessed the effects of pharmacological treatment on compulsive buying, and none have shown any medication to be effective" (252). The most effective treatment is to attend therapy and group work in order to prevent continuation of this addiction.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluvoxamine and citalopram may be useful in the treatment of CBD, although current evidence is mixed. Opioid antagonists such as naltrexone and nalmefene are promising potential treatments for CBD. A review concluded that evidence is limited and insufficient to support their use at present, however. Naltrexone and nalmefene have also shown effectiveness in the treatment of gambling addiction, an associated disorder.

As with many human diseases and disorders, animal models are sometimes used to study addiction. For example, voluntary wheel running by rodents, viewed as a model of human voluntary exercise, has been used to study withdrawal symptoms, such as changes in blood pressure, when wheel access is removed from mice.

Overuse is often defined as a "dependence syndrome," which is the term used by the World Health Organization (WHO Expert Committee, 1964) to replace "addiction" or "habituation." This is categorised either as substance abuse, such as from psychoactive drugs, alcohol and tobacco under ICD-10, or a behavioral addiction, such as a mobile phone addiction.

Substance use disorders can be defined by 11 factors, according to the DSM-5, including: (1) use in larger quantities or for longer than initially intended, (2) a desire to cut down or control use, (3) spending a great deal of time obtaining, using, or recovering from the substance, (4) craving, (8) use in situations in which it is physically hazardous, (9) continued use of the substance despite adverse physical or psychological consequences associated with use, and (11) withdrawal symptoms.

Smartphone addiction can be compared to substance use disorders in that smartphones provide the drug (entertainment and connection) while acting as the means by which the drug is consumed. A study conducted at Alabama State University on the effects of smartphones on students, defines the issue by stating that we are not addicted to smartphones themselves, but that we "are addicted to the information, entertainment, and personal connections [that a smartphone] delivers." People have an affinity for constant entertainment, and smartphones provide the quickest, most easily accessible route to it.

Behavioral addiction and substance abuse disorders are treated similarly; treatment options include exposure and response prevention. No medications have been approved for the treatment of behavioral addictions. Studies have shown promise in the use of glutamatergic altering drugs to treat addictions other than exercise. Exercise addictions comorbid in patients with an eating disorder may be treated through psychotherapy involving education, behavioral interventions, and a strengthened family support structure. In treating the eating disorder, obsessions and compulsions produced by obscured body image ideals will also be treated, this includes exercise addiction.

The consequences of oniomania, which may persist long after a spree, can be devastating, with marriages, long-term relationships, and jobs all feeling the strain. Further problems can include ruined credit history, theft or defalcation of money, defaulted loans, general financial trouble and in some cases bankruptcy or extreme debt, as well as anxiety and a sense of life spiraling out of control. The resulting stress can lead to physical health problems and ruined relationships, or even suicide.

Kimberly Young indicates that previous research links internet/computer addiction with existing mental health issues, most notably depression. She states that computer addiction has significant effects socially such as low self-esteem, psychologically and occupationally which led many subjects to academic failure.

According to a Korean study on internet/computer addiction, pathological use of the internet results in negative life impacts such as job loss, marriage breakdown, financial debt, and academic failure. 70% of internet users in Korea are reported to play online games, 18% of which are diagnosed as game addicts which relates to internet/computer addiction. The authors of the article conducted a study using Kimberly Young's questionnaire. The study showed that the majority of those who met the requirements of internet/computer addiction suffered from interpersonal difficulties and stress and that those addicted to online games specifically responded that they hoped to avoid reality.

Because few clinical trials and no meta-analyses have been completed, research is still in the preliminary stages for excessive gaming treatment. The most effective treatments seem to be, as with other addictions and dependencies, a combination of psychopharmacology, psychotherapy and twelve-step programs.

Some countries, such as South Korea, China, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States, have responded to the perceived threat of video game addiction by opening treatment centers.

Psychological dependence is a form of dependence that involves emotional–motivational withdrawal symptoms (e.g., a state of unease or dissatisfaction, a reduced capacity to experience pleasure, or anxiety) upon cessation of drug use or engagement in certain behaviors. Physical and psychological dependence are sometimes classified as a facet or component of addiction, such as in the DSM-IV-TR; however, some drugs which produce dependence syndromes do not produce addiction, and vice versa, in humans. Addiction and psychological dependence are both mediated through reinforcement, a form of operant conditioning, but are associated with different forms of reinforcement. Addiction is a compulsion for rewarding stimuli that is mediated through positive reinforcement. Psychological dependence, which is mediated through negative reinforcement, involves a desire to use a drug or perform a behavior to avoid the unpleasant withdrawal syndrome that results from cessation of exposure to it.

Psychological dependence develops through consistent and frequent exposure to a stimulus. Behaviors which can produce observable psychological withdrawal symptoms (i.e., cause psychological dependence) include physical exercise, shopping, sex and self-stimulation using pornography, and eating food with high sugar or fat content, among others. Behavioral therapy is typically employed to help individuals overcome psychological dependence upon drugs or maladaptive behaviors that produce psychological dependence.