Genetics can be responsible for a significant portion of the addictive personality. People who have a parent who was addicted to drugs or alcohol have a higher probability of also developing an addiction. This is also true of individuals who have a parent that suffered from depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or bipolar disorder. This does not mean the individual will develop a drug or alcohol usage problem. They may avoid those substances because of the bad memories, but the addictive personality may show up Alcoholics Anonymous in ways such as constantly changing sexual partners, excessive shopping, or gambling. In addition to genetics, certain personality traits are often observed in the addictive personality.
The Addictive Personality: Understanding the Addictive Process and Compulsive…
Impulsive action refers to a diminished ability to withhold a proponent response and is often referred to as “motor impulsivity” (for review see 2). In some ways similar to the Stop-Signal Task is the Go/Nogo, in which participants are given two cues. The first is a cue to “go” and exert an action, and the second a “nogo” cue in which they must inhibit the action 19. Individuals who have difficulty successfully inhibiting their response after the stop signal is presented are said to display greater impulsive action.
What is an Addictive Personality Disorder?
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- Ever wondered why some people seem more prone to addictive behaviors than others?
- But alcohol, for example, is a depressant, and therefore makes the symptoms of your depression worse, not better.
- There’s no established list of traits or signs that indicate someone may have an addictive personality or may be more prone to developing one.
- Despite the lack of scientific evidence to support it, the term “addictive personality” continues to be widely used.
People who struggle to manage their emotions may turn to addictive behaviors as a coping mechanism, leading to co-occurring mental what is an addictive personality health issues like anxiety or depression. Some people naturally struggle with processing, expressing, and controlling emotions and/or behaviors healthily. This may manifest itself in intense, unpredictable mood swings and inappropriate reactions to mundane experiences and challenges. An individual who is challenged with self-regulation and impulse control may struggle with curbing addictive behavioral patterns as well.
Personality traits linked to addictive behaviors
You’ve probably seen this term pop up on online forums or through magazine quizzes that helped you put a name to this feeling you have about yourself. It’s also often used as a label to mean that you’re predisposed to becoming addicted or “hooked” to a substance or activity after just one use. Many factors can increase your risk for addiction, but there’s no evidence that a specific personality type causes people to develop an addiction to something. Dialectical behavioral therapy is an offshoot of cognitive behavioral therapy, and it helps you change your relationship to things like substance abuse or trauma.

Individualized Treatment

The average person can go to a restaurant or party and have one drink, and then not touch alcohol for a month or more. Someone with an addictive personality will return for another 5 glasses because they so enjoy the feeling the first one gave them, which can lead to an alcohol addiction. Dr. Janesz says that abrupt mood swings that cause impulsive behaviors like, say, lashing out at someone, is a problem with mood regulation. If you have trouble balancing out strong emotions like anger or sadness, you may also be more likely to turn to certain things like drugs or alcohol to smooth out those difficult feelings. One critical aspect of addiction, in fact, is an alteration in the balance between brain networks that drive habitual behavior and those that determine whether or not to execute those routines.

Biological factors
- Substance abuse can also make mental health disorders worse, creating a cyclical effect.
- Houben and colleagues have conducted several studies investigating whether improving working memory and inhibitory control can reduce alcohol intake.
- As a behavior moves from being a conscious choice to a habit, brain activity changes, moving up toward the top or “dorsal” portion of the striatum and away from the bottom or “ventral” area.
- These experiences may shape coping patterns that continue into adulthood.
On a broader scale, inequity can also affect the likelihood of addiction. The addictive personality is something that has often been mentioned, especially with regard to alcohol and drug use issues. You can struggle with addiction to many things, not all of them necessarily harmful. Despite the way it sounds, there is no one definitive addictive personality. Having these traits does not sentence a person to a life of substance abuse. It gives you the foresight to avoid things that may become a problem and recognize a problem should one arise.
Ethics vs Morals: How Personal Values and Social Rules Shape Our Choices
- If you have trouble balancing out strong emotions like anger or sadness, you may also be more likely to turn to certain things like drugs or alcohol to smooth out those difficult feelings.
- Several evidence-based therapeutic approaches support people living with co-occurring conditions.
- People may experience emotions that feel extreme and hard to regulate throughout the day.
Someone with a laid-back, easygoing personality has as great a risk of developing an addiction as someone with a high-strung personality. Both engage reward circuits, especially involving dopamine, the chemical that reinforces behaviors. A 2022 meta-analysis found that individuals with high impulsivity were three times more likely to engage in problematic substance use compared to non-impulsive counterparts. Studies https://ecosoberhouse.com/ show that genetics may account for up to 40–60% of a person’s vulnerability to addiction. Rather, traits that contribute to addiction—like impulsivity, anxiety, or poor emotional regulation—can be influenced by genetic coding.
What are the Signs of an Addictive Personality (Common Traits)?
This article explores addictive personality disorder, its causes, risk factors, symptoms, and how to seek help for treatment and recovery. Each person\’s personality develops through a combination of genetics, parenting and environment. While people can share personality traits, such as being an introvert, everyone has a unique personality that\’s shaped by their individual life events. Despite no scientific evidence or support for the theory of an addictive personality, understanding the various things that increase a person’s risk of addiction can make it easier to avoid a substance use disorder. It’s just as possible for someone with a so-called addictive personality to avoid addiction as it is for someone without the addictive personality traits to become addicted to a substance.
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