Indulgence, Habit, Addiction - What's the Difference and When Should You Be Concerned?
Understanding the difference between indulgence, habit, and addiction can help you take back your power—and protect your wellbeing. It can also help you figure out when you should ignore someone expressing concern about your behaviours or look at them a little closer.
Not every indulgence is something to spiral into concern about - self-awareness holds the key to your well-being and freedom.
Indulgence: The Occasional Treat
Indulgence is occasional, intentional, and usually enjoyable. It's probably not the healthiest thing for you to do, but ultimately, allows you to embrace your humanness and live a little.
It’s the slice of cake on your birthday, the spa day after a long week, the occasional bottle of wine with a friend over dinner, a cheeky spliff, or your Netflix binge on a rainy Sunday.
Indulgence becomes a concern when it turns into an ongoing habit, or a default coping mechanism rather than a conscious choice.
You have control over your ability to say yes and no to your indulgences.
Habit: The Repetition That Shapes Your Life
Habits are behaviors repeated often enough to become automatic. They can be positive (drinking water, fasting in the morning, meditating), neutral (checking your email), or negative (smoking, drinking daily etc).
The key question is: does this behavior serve your long-term well-being? If a habit leaves you feeling depleted, disconnected, has the capacity to harm your long-term health or, pushes you out of alignment, it may need your attention.
Addiction: When It Controls You
Addiction occurs when behavior becomes compulsive and continues despite negative consequences. It often involves a craving, loss of control, and emotional or physical dependence.
Addiction can be to substances (like alcohol, sugar, or nicotine), and you typically feel a loss of control or as though you can't live without it.
What makes it addiction isn’t what you do—it’s why and how you do it. If you notice you feel out of control around a particular substance, or you have tried to stop the habit but simply can't, chances are you have crossed the line into addiction and need to give your behaviour some further thought.
If the answer is yes, it’s time to explore support.
Why This Distinction Matters
What starts as indulgence can become habit.
What becomes habit can spiral into addiction—especially when used to cope with emotional pain, stress, or trauma.
But here's the truth: You are not weak. You are wired to seek comfort, and sometimes that can result in overindulging, the formation of bad habits, and addictions.
The key is learning how to self-soothe without self-sabotage. Here are some simple things you can do if you are concerned your indulgence may have crossed over to a negative habit or into the addiction zone:
- Get curious, not judgmental - shame fuels addiction; awareness heals it.
- Track the behavior - note when, why, and how often it happens; patterns reveal the root.
- Practice nervous system regulation - breathwork, self-hypnosis, grounding, and movement help shift you from compulsion to calm.
- Reach out - whether to a therapist, coach, or trusted friend, healing happens in connection.
In essence, if a behavior feels like it’s running your life instead of serving it — it’s time to take a deeper look. Your well-being deserves your attention. And you deserve freedom, not just relief.
