habit (redirected from substance abuse)

habit

In psychology, any regularly repeated behaviour that requires little or no thought and is learned rather than innate. Some habits (e.g., tying a shoelace) may conserve higher mental processes for more demanding tasks, but others promote behavioral inflexibility or are unhealthy. Five methods are commonly used to break unwanted habits: replacing the old response with a new one, repeating the behaviour until it becomes unpleasant, separating the individual from the stimulus that prompts the response, habituation, and punishment.