In Wake of US TikTok Ban, New Book Teaches Readers How to Identify and Overcome Behavioral Addiction and Find 'Serenity'

written by Sanja Rozman; on sale January 14, 2025

RICHMOND, VA, UNITED STATES, January 24, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On January 19, the popular social media platform TikTok was officially banned in the United States, following the US government's passage of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. And though the ban was lifted mere hours later with the site’s triumphant return, its effects on users were profound.

“I don't know what to do with myself anymore,” one disgruntled TikTok user wrote on Reddit, another popular social media website—this one forum-based. “I don't even feel like waking up and going to school on Monday."

“I can't bring myself to uninstall the app, but I kept trying to open it as well,” admitted another user. “So I just moved it off my home screen and that helped the action. But it hasn't helped the feeling.”

Yet another commiserated, “Same. Struggling to get my mind to shut off so I can sleep.”

In response, Reddit users on another subreddit began to catalog dismayed TikTok users’ reactions, with many responding in disbelief to the aforementioned claims. “People can't possibly be so dependent and emotionally attached to an app like this,” one Redditor, u/LiterallyAna, said.

“This thread has radicalized me against TikTok,” another commented. “It's scary. You just miss the constant dopamine rush.”

And one user noted, “You guys are literally experiencing withdrawals, like an addict who can’t get his fix. Open your eyes people, this should be a red flag.”

This last user is right. The symptoms suddenly bereft TikTok users described are characteristics of withdrawal. And that’s also why Brandylane Publishers, Inc. of Richmond, Virginia, has released a new self-help title, 'Serenity: How to Recognize, Understand, and Recover from Behavioral Addictions' by Sanja Rozman. This book convincingly makes an increasingly scientifically recognized argument—that people can become addicted to activities like scrolling through social media, exercising and even working, just as they can become addicted to alcohol and cigarettes—and that the neural pathways and mechanisms involved in chasing the “hit” these activities provide are remarkably similar, or even identical, to those found in substance addictions.

Most people wouldn’t expect something so apparently benign as work, exercise, or web browsing to become as problematic and disruptive to a person’s life as a drug addiction can be. However, as Rozman notes, it is the very mundanity of these everyday behaviors that can make behavioral addiction so insidious—and potentially as devastating as substance addictions for those who struggle in their grip.

In 'Serenity,' Rozman reveals what makes platforms like TikTok so addictive. In accessible layman's terms, she explains how behavioral addictions of all kinds can develop, and describes how these types of addictions often hide in plain sight. Citing the examples of her clients as well as her own experience, she discusses behavioral addiction from gambling to sex, and shows readers how to recognize when these addictions appear. And she directs them toward methods to combat their addiction, offering readers a path out—to serenity.

To emphasize the similarities of behavioral and substance addiction, Rozman’s book is named after the first of the tenets in the Serenity Prayer used by Alcoholics Anonymous. The author has plans to follow up with two sequels—but for now, the applicability of her work cannot be more evident. As America’s youth finishes reeling from the short-lived but still-looming TikTok ban, Serenity inspires readers of all backgrounds to question their relationships with their behaviors, and to consider: Could I be addicted?

A stunningly timely offering in our fast-paced, globalized and increasingly demanding world, by Slovenia’s leading specialist in treating behavioral addictions, 'Serenity: How to Recognize, Understand, and Recover from Behavioral Addictions' released on January 14, 2025.


'Life can be hard—so why not use whatever avenues you can to make it easier? Overindulging in drugs and alcohol only makes problems worse, but what could be wrong with using video games, gambling, comfort food, social media, romance, or sex to add some comfort to your life? Unfortunately, while engaging in comforting behaviors can initially seem less dangerous and more socially acceptable than smoking or drinking too much alcohol, the chemistry of addiction is not wholly tied to a substance, but rather to the brain’s response. This leads some people to develop diseases called behavioral addictions—which work just like other addictions, but without any substance involved.

'Serenity' is your go-to manual for understanding and overcoming behavioral addictions. It answers many questions you may have about behavioral addiction:

- How can you recognize and understand behavioral addictions?
- How do people develop behavioral addictions?
- When it comes to activities like engaging with social media, gaming, working, or dieting, how much is too much?
- How can someone become addicted to something everybody does?
- How can you know if you’re helping or enabling your addicted loved one?
- Are you an addict yourself—and if so, how can you recover?

In this book, renowned psychotherapist Sanja Rozman will answer these questions and help you create your own personal, state-of-the-art recovery plan . Her program has helped her clients discover the reasoning behind their destructive behaviors, work through them, and establish new, healthier patterns in their lives and relationships. Whether you are suffering yourself or are a family member, teacher, or good friend of an addict, you will learn everything you need to know about how to recognize, understand, and cope with behavioral addictions. You can’t just stop them—but you can work through the problem. It works if you work it!'


'About the Author'

Sanja Rozman is a medical doctor and psychotherapist living in Slovenia, where she is known as a pioneer for her work speaking about behavioral addiction. Her many books about behavioral addictions discuss painful, complicated aspects of life like addiction and trauma in simple language with medical and psychotherapeutic accuracy, while her personal experience as the former wife of an addict allows her to approach the realities of addiction with honesty, compassion and authenticity.

In her forty years of work as a medical doctor and thirty years as a psychotherapist, Rozman has listened to the testimonies of more than three thousand addicts and guided hundreds of her clients through many obstacles on the path to stable, long-term recovery. Their true stories testify to their resilience; and to the power of Rozman’s original therapeutic model, described in this book.


Interviews available upon request.


Brandylane Publishers, Inc. is an independent press located in Richmond, Virginia, that has published books since 1985.

'Serenity: How to Recognize, Understand, and Recover from Behavioral Addictions' (paperback, 434 pages, $26.95) is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other fine booksellers.

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Brandylane Publishers, Inc.
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