What is Cross Addiction?
This refers to the tendency of Addiction and compulsion to express itself in multiple ways or differently at different times in a person’s life. A person with alcohol and gambling addiction is said to be Cross Addicted.

Similarly, an opiate addicted person who is abstinent from opiates may develop a dependency on sleeping pills or alcohol. This is another example of how a tendency towards Addiction my persist over time and does not disappear with abstinence from one drug.

Others in recovery from alcoholism or drug addiction may engage in compulsive behaviors that are not as commonly thought of as addiction. Examples include ‘workaholism,’ sexual compulsion or compulsive care-taking of others. These may also be examples of Cross Addiction.