Addiction Comes In Many Forms
When people are addicted, they engage in behaviors they can’t stop, or they use substances despite the harm they may cause to their lives.
There are genetic and brain-based reasons for addiction behaviors. One study indicates the predisposition to addiction could be related to a breakdown in cognitive processes, specifically the part of the brain that becomes increasingly fixed or focused on the addiction.
Some research suggests that addiction can fall into behavioral addictions or substance addictions.
How Dopamine Plays A Role In Addiction
Although there isnt any medical test to determine who might develop an addiction, there are personality traits that can make a person more liable to develop an addiction. A common factor beneath every addiction is the feeling of reward. Your brain registers all pleasures in the same way, no matter where they come from. It could be a glass of wine, a casino environment, a shopping spree, or a delicious meal.
When a person receives the feeling of reward, the brain is flooded with the neurotransmitter dopamine. Among other things, dopamine plays a part in controlling a persons emotions. And the right balance of dopamine is important for both physical and mental wellbeing.
The Benefits Of Positive Habits
Addiction doesnt always have to exist as a pejorative. We can become obsessed with wonderful things. Building healthy habits is a great way to ease the burdens that come with kicking unhealthy habits. By practicing healthy habits and building positive addictions, you are not only keeping yourself occupied with something you love, but you are also investing in both your present and future self.
Treat yourself with kindness. The world can be an unforgiving place at times. It helps to forgive yourself and treat yourself with compassion, love, and adoration. When you find yourself shackled with harmful addictions and you want to free yourself from them, building positive addictions is a great way to start.
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Getting Help To Overcome Addiction
Fighting through the hard times of addiction includes getting high-quality substance abuse treatment. Today, evidence proves that addiction is a physiological disease that affects the brains wiring and chemistry. This means that psychological and psychiatric care are just as important.
If you or a loved one struggles with an addiction, contact Ashley Addiction Treatment at to get the help you need today.
What Is Addictive Personality Disorder
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , a person with an addictive personality disorder experiences a strong need to be cared for.
This leads to submissive behavior and fear of separation. It begins during the earlier stages of adulthood and can be seen from different contexts. It is common to see at least five of the following symptoms:
- It is difficult for the person to make daily decisions without asking others.
- He needs others to take responsibility for the most important areas of his life.
- The person has a hard time saying that he does not agree with others.
- He has difficulty starting projects or doing things himself. This is due to a lack of self-confidence and not a lack of motivation or energy.
- The person tries to be accepted and get support from others to the point that he voluntarily does things that go against his will.
- The person often feels uncomfortable and helpless when he is alone. This is because he is afraid of not being able to take care of himself.
- When a relationship ends, the person immediately seeks out someone new in order to be taken care of.
- The person feels afraid of being abandoned and having to take care of themselves.
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Is There Such A Thing As A Positive Addiction
William Glasser was an American Philosopher and Psychiatrist who wrote about the mind and its inner machinations. Glasser wrote heavily on the nature of addictions and addictive personalities. Addictions are chemical habits that, over time, stop being unconscious choices you make and start becoming psychological and physiological needs. There are steps that you can take when working on overcoming your addiction that can allow you to create, as Dr. Glasser describes them, positive addictions.
Positive addictions are more than just things you enjoy doing. Having a hobby that makes you happy and allows you to spend your time in healthy, productive ways is good for the human body and psyche. To turn your addictive personality into something that can benefit you requires some essential steps.
How To Identify An Addictive Personality
Determining whether your teen has an addictive personality can be a difficult task. It will require you to pay attention to their behaviors and consider a family history of addiction or addictive personalities.
In order for a person to become addicted to something, they must have an addictive personality, according to an article written in Psychology Today by Stephen Mason, Ph.D. The 10-15 percent of the population who has an addictive personality find it difficult to know when to stop, so they will continue to drink, use drugs or gamble even when they know they are putting themselves and possibly others in danger. They lose control over the ability to pick between regular activity or a hitthey always pick the hit.
Symptoms of addictive behavior can include:
- Lack of impulse control
- Always seeking stimulation and new experiences
- Lack of patience
- Depression
- Lack of inhibitions
However, just because a person has an addictive personality does not mean that they are a destructive person or will necessarily become addicted to drugs or alcohol specifically. Addictions also include gambling, sex, exercising and eating, among other things. There has also been much discussion in the media about whether teens are addicted to the internet and social media. While the ruling is still out, it is recommended that parents look at this addiction as more of an exception rather than a rule.
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Cognitive Therapy To Treat Addictive Personality Disorder
When using cognitive therapy to treat personality disorders, you first try to analyze the main cognitive disorder in these patients.
Their way of thinking is totally different from the whole idea of being independent.
People with an addictive personality disorder tend to have the following types of perceptions:
- I can not survive if someone does not look after me.
- I cant handle life with the resources I have or the ones I manage to get over.
- Independence means living completely alone.
They also manifest contradictory thinking about their own abilities. When you ask them to do something, they usually answer that they are not able to do it.
They think that the partner can do it much better or they say to themselves that they are not good at something and that they always cling to it.
Buying Things To Feel Better
Overshopping can be caused by a lot of things. But one of the main reasons compulsive shoppers give for running up retail debt is the boost they get when they think the new clothes, the new shoes, and the new gadgets will change who they are and make them better people. But as soon as they are yours, the objects feel worthless.
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Different Treatment Options Available
There are many different options available for substance abuse treatment. Any of the treatments below can lead to recovery:
- Detoxification
- Co-occurring mental health and substance use treatment
- Telemedicine
Detoxification
This type of treatment is more of the first step towards recovery. It is designed to let the body rid itself of substances in a controlled setting. Varying degrees of withdrawal symptoms occur, including sweating, nausea, insomnia, anxiety, vomiting, and shakiness. Professional staff closely monitors the patients condition and may use medication to ease the more severe symptoms.
Interim Care
If acceptance to a detox facility, inpatient service, or any other type of treatment is not immediately available for a user, interim care can help them to manage while they wait. This type of care includes some of the same withdrawal medicines used in detox access to emergency therapy is available as well. This treatment can help to close the gap between initially seeking help and being accepted into an outpatient or residential program.
Outpatient
Outpatient recovery works well for recovering addicts who will voluntarily show up for therapy and meetings. With this treatment, a user lives at home, so there is no overnight supervision. Due to this hands-off approach, it is imperative to have supportive friends and family members, access to a dependable vehicle and a safe and secure living arrangement.
Hospital Inpatient
Telemedicine
How To Deal With An Addictive Personality
If you believe you have an addictive personality, it helps to develop protective factors that lessen your risk of developing an addiction.
Protective factors include:
- Stable economic environment
- Positive community relationships
Not everyone has complete control of all of these factors. However, the more you work on improving these things, the lower your risk of developing an addiction.
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Turning Addictive Personality Into A Source Of Willpower And Resilience
Contrary to popular belief, addictive behavior does not mean the person lacks willpower. Instead, its the opposite a person who does everything in his power to get what he is addicted to is certainly not lacking in dedication.
Patients can put that drive to good use by coming to terms with their addiction. By recognizing their ability to direct their willpower into something beneficial, healthy, and productive, they can discover the benefits of their different mental wiring.
Last but not least, people with addictive personalities are much more resilient than other people give them credit for. They encounter their addiction on a constant basis. In boxing terms, they get knocked down a lot, but they also get up again.
Many healthy people are afraid of failure. They will think about changing their goals, but they are too scared of acting on those plans.
People with addictive behaviors, on the other hand, are very familiar with failure. They have also learned that it is possible to pick themselves up after every failure and try all over again. As a result, they are not afraid of failing, which makes them much more likely to succeed in the end.
The Obsessive Compulsive Trait
Addiction sometimes has to do with a lack of impulse control, but this is not exclusively the inability to resist impulses. In fact, people who are too rigid with managing their impulses may also end up using substances as a manifestation of an obsessive-compulsive behavior pattern. In fact, addiction often becomes a compulsion to use the substance based on a habit that has formed over time rather than a single impulse to try something new.
In this way, people with intense focus and habitual behaviors may be as likely to develop addiction as those who are unable to control impulses. The obsession with using psychoactive drugs is a main symptom of the disorder, and it can exist both separate from and in concert with a lack of impulse control that can also be a hallmark of addiction.
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The Importance Of Treating Borderline Personality Disorder During Addiction Recovery
Based on a study, borderline personality disorder affects 2.7% of adults, and 78% of these adults with BPD also develop a substance-related disorder at some point in their lives. It is crucial that, like other co-occurring disorders, patients struggling with BPD and addiction should be treated with a holistic co-occurring treatment that addresses both conditions simultaneously to ensure a successful recovery.
Here are some of the most compelling reasons why:
- They are more emotionally vulnerable and clinically less stable than BPD patients without substance abuse issues.
- They have shorter abstinence phases and frequent relapses.
- They have a higher risk of quitting from addiction and borderline personality disorder treatments.
- They have a severe susceptibility to self-harm, suicide, and drug overdoses. Research has shown that about 75% of people with BPD will make at least one suicide attempt in their lifetime, and many will make multiple suicide attempts.
- They have a generally poorer prognosis for addiction treatment.
What Are The Treatment Options For Bpd And Addiction
There are various ways to manage borderline personality disorder with addiction.4 Professionals can treat each condition separately or together.
Therapy to treat the addiction as well as address the symptoms of borderline personality is preferable. This is because the symptoms of addiction and an accompanying mental health disorder can worsen the other.
Emotional distress can lead the person to seek comfort in their addiction, and relapse and so leads to a vicious cycle that is hard to break.
There is evidence to suggest that when both conditions are treated, people are more likely to complete their therapy.7,8
There are two main types of treatment: pharmacological and psychological.4 Pharmacological management involves prescribed medications that improve symptoms. Psychological treatment is when professionals help someone recognise and manage their harmful thoughts. It provides tools and mechanisms for managing these thoughts independently.
Psychological therapy is the main treatment for people with BPD and addiction.8 There are many types of psychological therapies available. The commonest type for this kind of diagnosis is dialectical behavioural therapy .
It is a type of cognitive behavioural therapy. DBT can be alone with a therapist or with a group of people who also have a co-occurring disorder. DBT can help develop a sense of community and motivate people to achieve their treatment goals.
- Family therapy
- Holistic therapy, such as acupuncture
- Relapse prevention groups
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How Does Genetics Play A Role In Addictive Personality Disorders
Scientists discovered through research that there is a possibility that an addictive personality disorder is in a persons genes. People diagnosed with addictive personality disorders also had parents with addictions to substances.
Adult children of parents diagnosed with bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, and anxiety are more likely to have an addictive personality.
The only reason that someone has an addictive personality disorder is not just because of his or her genes, but it does have an impact on the childs personality.
Behaviors That Reveal Someone Has An Addictive Personality
Addictive personalities refer to a set of traits that are believed to indicate a higher risk for someone developing an addiction. There is little universal agreement on these exact traits. But in general, they relate to a tendency for someone to rely on unsafe habits to an extreme degree to cope with problems.
Addictive personalities are a touchy subject. And addiction is such a broad term that its hard to pinpoint exact behaviors to attribute to them. Still, here are 5 behaviors that reveal someone has an addictive personality.
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What Causes Addiction
Some people may be more vulnerable to addiction than others no single personality type or trait guarantees a substance use disorder or other addictions. The most important thing to remember is this: Addiction is a disease. It can happen to anyone at any time. With that in mind, there are many outside factors that can contribute to addiction, including genetics, relationships, mental health disorders, and a lack of impulse control.
Dont Wait To Get Help
It is a myth that a person has to hit rock-bottom before you can get help for your addictions. You may have a personality that craves excess but it doesnt have to be unhealthy. A healthy enthusiasm adds to life, while an addiction takes away from it.
Behavioral Health Centers can help you find balance in your life. Our addiction specialists are experienced in treating dual diagnosis situations, the most common cause of addictions. We have inpatient and outpatient programs so you can begin your rehab at the right intensity and step down to lower levels as needed.
Of course, Behavioral Health Centers has an aftercare program, the final step. We are devoted to helping you have a successful outcome from your treatment, and continue to long-term recovery. Waiting wont help you in any way. Contact us now. We are available to answer your questions at any time and you can reach us here: .
Behavioral Health Centers
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Mythical Side Of Addictive Personality
There is no one type of personality most prone to substance abuse. Instead, very different people from very different personality types end up in the same position of substance abuse. Therefore, not every person with this disorder shares traits in common.
Beyond this mythical side of addictive personality types are some common traits of high risk for substance abuse. For example, these traits include:
- Family members who abuse drugs or alcohol
- Co-occurring mental health problems
- Lacking self-control
Why Do People With Borderline Personality Disorder Develop An Addiction
There are many reasons why someone with a borderline personality disorder might develop an addiction.
People with BPD often form addictions as a way to cope with the effects of their illness.2 Addictive substances and behaviours can reduce negative feelings, or heighten positive emotions. For example, drugs such as stimulants can make someone feel much more energised. Drug abuse may also improve their confidence and mood. Likewise, sedatives can soften anxiety and emotional distress. Sedatives are more commonly misused to manage emotions.
Rates of physical illness are much higher in people with BPD than those without. People with BPD may turn to substances to provide them with relief from their physical symptoms. Continuous self-medicating may lead to drug abuse and later, addiction.
Individuals with BPD may have lower levels of important signalling molecules like endorphins. These endorphins give us a euphoric feeling, similar to the one experienced when taking opioids and other sedative drugs. People with low endorphin levels may experience a strong desire to use sedatives.5 There is a particularly high link between BPD and using sedative drugs like opioids.5
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