Rethinking Addiction: Why Digital Technology is Essential to Solving America’s $740 Billion Crisis
July 14, 2025
Addictions of all types affect millions of people across the United States. No demographic is spared, leaving a devastating impact on individuals, families, and communities. Addiction is extremely common, but often poorly understood. Whether substance- or behavior-related, addictions share similarities in how they affect the brain and behavior. To help combat the epidemic of addiction, innovative digital technologies are offering promising pathways for prevention, treatment, and recovery support.
Understanding addiction as a complex health condition that requires evidence-based approaches to treatment and support rather than a moral failing is a critical first step in addressing the public health challenges created by addiction.
The Scope of Addiction
According to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), about 17% of Americans aged 12 or older, or about 48.5 million people, had a substance use disorder (SUD) in the past year. Behavioral addictions comprise a larger category, including gambling, shopping, sex, food, and internet addictions. A review of peer-reviewed papers suggests that about 11% of people worldwide have a behavioral addiction.
It is difficult to assess the exact scope of addictions in the U.S. for several reasons. First, many individuals struggle with both substance and behavioral addictions, which makes it challenging to arrive at total numbers. Stigma is a factor, leading to underreporting of both types of addictions. Finally, the prevalence of various types of addictions changes and evolves over time.
48.5 Million People in the U.S. had a substance use disorder!
One thing that is clear, however, is that addiction has a profound impact on our society. In the U.S., it is estimated that addiction costs more than $740 billion annually in healthcare costs, lost productivity, and criminal justice expenses. It also takes its toll on individuals, families, and communities who feel the burden of relationship stress, financial failures, significant illness, and death.
No individual or sector of society is free from the grip of addiction. This became extremely clear during the stress and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, when problematic substance use and behaviors across many categories increased. Although pandemic restrictions have eased, many of the problems that spiked during that time have not subsided.
The Spectrum of Addiction
Most addictions break down into two types, substance and behavioral, although the lines between the two can be fuzzy as they trigger the same neurological responses and compulsive patterns of behavior.
- Substance addictions: Substance addictions involve dependence on drugs or alcohol. Alcohol use disorder, one of the most common addictions in the U.S., affects an estimated 28.8 million people over the age of 12. Opioid use disorder (OUD) includes prescription and illegal drugs like heroin and fentanyl and affects about 9.4 million Americans. Cannabis use disorder affects 3 in 10 people, and the risk of developing this problem is even greater for people who use it before age 18. Cocaine and methamphetamine are the most common stimulant addictions, impacting 1.5 million and 1 million people in the U.S. annually, and addiction to nicotine remains one of the most deadly, causing over 480,000 deaths in America annually.
- Behavioral addictions: Gambling addiction was the first of these to be recognized in diagnostic manuals. In recent years, online gaming, internet, and smartphone addiction have become common, often causing painful financial and psychological problems. Other types of behavioral addictions include shopping, food, and sex and porn, among others. The impact of behavioral addictions is profound. For example, gambling addiction is estimated to cost the U.S. economy between $32 and $54 billion per year in job losses, unemployment insurance, bankruptcy, arrests, incarceration, and welfare benefits. In addition, all behavioral addictions have an effect on society as a whole, straining marriages and families, causing issues in the workplace, and taxing the justice system.
What All Addictions Have in Common
Both types of addictions cause individuals to suffer a loss of control as they continue to pursue the addictions even when faced with negative consequences and an inability to function well in daily life. Co-occurrence between the types of addictions and multiple addictions of each type is, unfortunately, common. But why?
What all addictions have in common is that they take over the brain’s reward system, especially the dopamine pathway that was designed to motivate behaviors that support survival. When someone is engaged in their addiction, the addiction takes over the brain circuitry so that the individual gains positive feelings, pleasure, and pain relief from the substance or behavior. Over time, this interferes with the brain’s ability to access positive feelings naturally, requiring increasingly larger amounts of the substance or behavior to trigger the same dopamine response and creating a cycle of tolerance and cravings.
Multiple factors contribute to the likelihood that someone will develop an addiction, including mental health conditions like anxiety and depression (35% of adults over the age of 18 with a mental health issue also have SUD), chronic stress, exposure to trauma, isolation, and negative experiences in childhood. Addictions provide a way for people to cope with their pain and struggles, which is why it is so common for individuals to have more than one addiction—the brain is seeking new ways to activate dopamine and manage stress. Because addictions layer on top of each other, treatment is most effective if it addresses the core reasons people are more vulnerable to addiction rather than simply attacking the behaviors.
How Digital Tools Can Help
Digital tools have revolutionized addiction care by providing scalable, accessible solutions that benefit both individuals and organizations. These evidence-based technologies offer 24/7 support through smartphone apps and online platforms, enabling people to anonymously self-assess their substance use, participate in virtual support meetings, track progress, and connect with peer communities. For individuals, this means overcoming barriers like stigma, geographic isolation, and limited access to care, while maintaining crucial support during vulnerable moments between appointments. The anonymity and convenience of digital tools encourage honest self-assessment and proactive engagement in recovery journeys.
Health plans, healthcare providers, employers, and public sector organizations are leveraging these digital solutions to reduce costs while improving outcomes. Digital SBIRT tools like ePrevention enable consistent, always-on screening and intervention capabilities that can reach at-risk populations at scale. Organizations report significant cost savings through reduced staff turnover, lower recruitment expenses, and decreased healthcare utilization. For providers, digital tools like eRecovery enhance treatment retention and engagement while extending their reach to underserved populations.
The measurable impact of these solutions demonstrates their value across sectors. Research shows that individuals using digital recovery support tools experience higher rates of treatment completion, improved abstinence outcomes, and significant reductions in relapse risk factors. Organizations implementing these technologies can achieve substantial return on investment through reduced turnover costs, improved health outcomes, and enhanced ability to identify and support at-risk individuals before problems escalate. By combining the accessibility and anonymity that individuals need with the scalability and cost-effectiveness that organizations require, digital addiction care tools represent a powerful solution for addressing the ongoing addiction crisis.
The Path Forward: Integrating Digital and Traditional Care
The addiction crisis requires an all-hands-on-deck approach that combines the best of traditional treatment with proven digital innovations. While face-to-face therapy, medical interventions, and community support remain foundational, digital tools are no longer optional—they’re essential for reaching people where they are, when they need help most. By integrating evidence-based digital solutions with established care models, we can finally bridge the gaps in accessibility, affordability, and anonymity that have long prevented people from getting the support they need. Addionally this integrated approach offers a powerful opportunity to extend the reach of health plans, providers, and public health beyond traditional boundaries while reducing costs and improving outcomes. Digital tools enable these organizations to identify at-risk individuals earlier, provide continuous support between appointments, and deliver scalable interventions that would be impossible through traditional methods alone. The path forward isn’t about choosing between traditional and digital approaches; it’s about strategically combining both to create a comprehensive, cost-effective response that finally matches the scale of this $740 billion crisis.
