Everyone has hobbies that bring them joy, but how do you know if your love of something is interfering with the rest of your life? It’s important to know because you could be experiencing signs of an addictive personality.
People can easily lose themselves without realizing it in shopping, food, video games, manipulating people, gambling, drinking, drugs, and sex. It’s not exactly a surprise that this could happen. These activities increase the brain’s feel-good chemicals, which leads to pleasure. Like many things in life, they are fine in moderation. However, if one of these activities starts taking over your life, it may be time to get help from a reputable drug and alcohol addiction treatment center.
Rewarding the Brain
One common factor present in addiction is the feeling of being rewarded, which can be very seductive for some individuals. People with the following traits may be more susceptible to developing addictions:
- Impulsivity: jumping into activities without considering if they’re appropriate at that moment
- Emotional immaturity: this makes it more difficult to process a situation and decide against participating in an activity that may be excessive or potentially harmful
- Undeveloped life skills: these help keep the mind occupied and make people feel more independent and confident
A reward is experienced when the brain releases chemicals like dopamine, the release of which give you a feeling of being satisfied. Of course, feeling satisfied is not the same thing as being satisfied. When people realize they have become addicted to something harmful, it sometimes has already taken a toll on their mental and physical health. As a result, this can cause them to relapse again and again.
Working Backward to Uncover an Addictive Personality
Scientists struggle to understand what causes addiction. Why does one person fall victim after using a drug, but another avoids addiction completely? By studying people who’ve struggled with dependency, they have found some common traits. Of course, having one or more of these traits doesn’t mean that addiction is your destiny.
Common Traits That People with Addictions Share
Someone struggling with addiction often has one or more family members who deal with chemical dependency as well. Frequently, the person may have underlying mental health disorders such as depression or anxiety. A psychiatrist may or may not have diagnosed this condition. However, if there’s no diagnosis, there’s no treatment. This opens the door to self-medication. It also makes addiction recovery difficult if the condition remains undiagnosed.
Impulsivity and Addiction
Impulsive behavior is another common trait among people with an addictive personality. Actions may include opportunistic criminal behavior and acting without thinking of long-term consequences. It’s the perfect example of leaping before looking. Impulsivity often leads to risk-taking that may consist of experimentation with drugs or alcohol. Examples of impulsivity include:
- Acting or speaking before thinking
- Being controlled by emotions
- Lashing out when confronted
- Taking unnecessary actions to undermine people
- Not considering potential consequences
Socially, someone may feel at odds with society’s values. Within a group, this form of behavior looks like nonconformity. In reality, it’s the alienation that points to a lack of coping skills. To make up for the problem with fitting in, a person might use drugs or alcohol.
Recovery Is Possible with or without an Addictive Personality
Some people struggling with drug abuse will recognize one or more of these characteristics. Others may not see similarities to their situations. However, it doesn’t matter where you fit in on this spectrum. If you’re struggling with dependency, there are recovery options for you.
Examples of treatments include:
- Individual and group therapy
- Family therapy
- Dual diagnosis treatment
- Trauma-informed therapy
- Life skills training
- Mindfulness meditation therapy
- Holistic rehabilitation
These methods work together to help you pinpoint dysfunction in your thoughts or behavioral patterns. They can’t fix your impulsive behavior, but they can help you figure out ways to handle situations that trigger it. Moreover, treatment enables you to recognize a dual diagnosis situation and encourages you to continue therapy.
Healing Starts at Crestview Recovery
Therapists work with you to give you the tools you need to function without the craving for chemicals. If you’re struggling with addiction right now, you can overcome the addictive personality traits that trap you. Even if you don’t have any of them, there’s professional help available to treat your dependency. Contact Crestview Recovery today by calling 866.262.0531 to connect with a counselor.
Since 2016, Dr. Merle Williamson, a graduate of Oregon Health Sciences University, has been the Medical Director at Crestview Recovery, bringing a rich background in addiction medicine from his time at Hazelden Treatment Center. He oversees outpatient drug and alcohol treatments, providing medical care, setting policies, detox protocols, and quality assurance measures. Before specializing in addiction medicine, he spent 25 years in anesthesiology, serving as Chair of Hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and Chief of Anesthesia at Kaiser Permanente. This experience gives him a unique perspective on treating prescription drug addiction.
