Dr. Drew Pinsky likens smartphones to a 'crack pipe' in warning over behavioral addictions

Dr.Drew Pinsky compared the smartphone in your pocket to a "crack pipe" while warning that these devices place gambling and sexual behavior in the palm of your hand on Tuesday's episode of "Hang Out with Sean Hannity.""I want you to think gambling and sex in the same thought," he said.
"It's really on right now, those two behavioral addictions."Dr.Drew Pinksy called smartphones a "crack pipe in your hand" while warning that they provide easy access to addictive actions like gambling and sexual behavior.
(Getty Images)But these addictive behaviors aren't one-size-fits-all.Gamblers, he said, come in "several different flavors."‘ADDICTION ECONOMY’ IS A BAD GAMBLE FOR YOUNG MEN.
HERE’S THEIR WAY OUT"One is the guys that like to win.That's what we think of with gambling addiction.
That's not most of them.Most of them like to lose," said Pinsky."They don't feel alive unless their back is against the wall.
And then there's sociopathic gambling, which is they just like to manipulate the system and find a way to win."Drew Pinsky speaks onstage during the 2019 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards Presented By Capital One at iHeartRadio Theater on January 18, 2019, in Burbank, California.(Getty Images)As for sex addiction, Pinsky called it a "big problem now, growing fast," pointing to pornography as a major part of the issue.
He also defended group-based recovery programs, saying communities of recovering addicts tend to police themselves and treat sexual relationships between participants as a serious threat to recovery.BRYCE HARPER VIDEO TO FANDUEL USER WITH GAMBLING ADDICTION UNDER REVIEW BY PENNSYLVANIA OFFICIALSPinsky added that alcoholism is "mixed in" with the behavioral addictions he described.The doctor's warning comes as recent research points to shifts in drinking habits among Americans.New data shows that drinking in the U.S.
has declined for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.But overall alcohol use still remains above pre-pandemic levels, with one pa...