Addictive Personalities

Addictive personality is a loosely used term to shield behavior, mistakes and actions. But addictive personalities is a serious psychological trait that is developed due to environmental factors and circumstances . If some smokes pot every night to relax, or runs to the refrigerator the minute he/she is back from work or shop lifting, even spending hard-earned money in gambling, then all these can be considered as signs of addictive personalities. These people turn self-destructive and display compulsive behavior.

Addictive personalities are addicted to many things like shop lifting, gambling, playing video games, pornography, alcohol, drugs and even simple things like eating chocolate. Humans are an interesting group of living things with a very complex psychology. Not only does the personality characteristics of people differ, but individual capacity to react in certain situations is also very different. You can never predict, when a person loses self-control and gets addicted to something. However, different addictive personalities tend to share a distinct psychological traits that predisposes people to fall prey to different addictions. Let us look at some types of addictive personality disorders.

Addictive Personalities Types

Anxious Personality: People with stressed or anxious personalities find it very difficult to manage stress. They break down easily under pressure and have poor stress management skills. These people become addicted to alcohol, drugs etc. to overcome their anxiety and forget their problems.

Difficulty Delaying Gratification: Such addictive personalities find it really difficult to plan and achieve their long-term plans. They are so focused on their short-term needs, that they cannot manage to concentrate on the long-term goals. They are on a look out for 'quick fix' solutions and display impulsive behavior and have a tendency towards the thrills and risks in life. These people are often addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Passive-Aggressive: These addictive personalities often appear calm and peaceful externally. But internally, they tend to hide their anger and have poor anger management skills.

Immature: These group of people have a very child like outlook towards life. They brag about minor achievements and love the adulation they receive for it. They cannot control their immature behavior and go over the top with their addictive personalities.

Substituting Vices: These addictive personalities switch over from one addiction to other, when they can no longer continue with their previous addiction. For example, alcoholics who give up drinking alcohol take up smoking. These people may be prone to multiple vices like a workaholic who takes up smoking or drinking alcohol at night, etc.

Insecurity: These people have difficulty to commit to a relationship, or find it difficult to trust someone. They may constantly seek approval of others to overcome their insecurity of failure or lack of self-confidence.

Compulsive Behavior: The compulsive behavior personalities either have a black or white approach or all or no outlook towards life. These people may be perfect in everything they do or the way they look. They may be in complete control of their life and have a dominating personality. On the other hand, some compulsive behavior people maybe total failures in life and be utterly powerless of their life. These people easily fall prey to any kind of addictions.

Anti-Social: These people cannot follow the rules of the society and alienate themselves socially. They suffer from feelings of isolation, lack of intimacy and total failure with personal relationships. They turn to drugs, alcohol and smoking as a substitute to their lack of social support.

Cause of Addictive Personalities

People with addictive personalities may have an obsessive behavior that cannot quantify their actions and results. They tend to repeat their behavior over and over and it gives them an adrenalin rush they love. This obsessive behavior helps them build a feel good factor.

Second addictive personalities cause is stress that makes people turn to alcohol and drugs to cope up. They mask their stress and their inability to overcome the pressure. Many times people cannot handle the responsibilities of their actions. They cannot find any fault with themselves and do not understand the gravity of consequences due to their immature behavior and personality disorder.

Addictive Personalities Tests

Addictive personality is a disease and needs to be treated. You need to run a series of addictive personalities tests to determine the psychological problem, if any.

The doctor may conduct a physical examination to determine the height, weight, heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, etc. He may even conduct a complete blood count, screen you for alcohol or drug addictions and conduct thyroid function test. Next, is the very important psychological evaluation test. Here, the doctor tries to determine the patients behavior pattern, addictive personalities and relationships, etc. He will try to find when it started, how, why, where and the severity of your additive personalities. This is the right time to talk to him about any thoughts of suicide, self-destruction and even feelings of harm towards others. There are many self-evaluation addictive personality tests available on the Internet that may point towards something wrong in your behavior. If you find anything unusual, visit a psychologist and ask him for further help.

Addictive Personalities and Relationship

Addictive personalities and relationships need a lot of understanding and patience. If your partner is suffering from any sort of addictive personality, help him/her seek medical help. If even after medical and psychological help, the addictive behavior does not change or worsens, the best thing to do is walk off. It is not early to break off relationships, but if the other person has no regrets over his behavior and continues his drug or alcohol addiction, it is wise to break off. If the additive personality shows improvement and the person is really trying hard to become normal, show him your full support and care. Together with love and mutual understanding, you may help your partner control his/her addictive personality.

People with addictive personalities develop dependent personality disorders. If you suspect you too are suffering from some kind of addictive personalities, then visit a doctor for further analysis. With therapies, rehabilitation and medications, you may be able to control your addictive personality behavior.