Worse. The mechanism through which "substance addictions" and "behavioral addictions" happen (and are maintained) pretty much involves the same neurotransmitter paths:
"Preclinical evidence has demonstrated that marked increases in the expression of ΔFosB through repetitive and excessive exposure to a natural reward induces the same behavioral effects and neuroplasticity as occurs in a drug addiction."
The way I see it, it is literally harmful to try to make it seem like "behavioral addictions" are any less dangerous than (or significantly different from) "substance addictions", because they are not.
"Preclinical evidence has demonstrated that marked increases in the expression of ΔFosB through repetitive and excessive exposure to a natural reward induces the same behavioral effects and neuroplasticity as occurs in a drug addiction."
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addiction#Behavioral_addiction)
The way I see it, it is literally harmful to try to make it seem like "behavioral addictions" are any less dangerous than (or significantly different from) "substance addictions", because they are not.