While an addict is typically considered someone hooked on a particular drug, many people have trouble living in moderation. Those who feel the pull of addiction whether they experiment with drugs or not can relate to the idea of an addictive personality. Such a quality involves an inability to be temperate; they have difficulty controlling any enjoyable activity, whether it’s eating, watching television, gambling or sex. When they finally conquer one addiction, they often shift to another.
Signs of An Addictive Personality
Here are five signs you have an addictive personality.
You Use Pleasure to Cope
There are those who face stress head-on, and those who crumble under too much pressure. Someone with an addictive personality uses pleasurable activities to drown out stress from work, relationships, and other ups and downs of life. You’ve heard of “comfort eating”? While a carton of ice cream may be very necessary after a hard day’s work, it is when food becomes the be-all and end-all that it is a problem.
You Don’t Understand the Term “Everything in Moderation”
Someone with an addictive personality spends excessive time on an activity or with an item in a way that is out of his control. Whether it is gambling, pornography, eating, work, shopping, surfing the Internet or watching TV, one feels like he can’t cope without such activity. Just like drugs, addiction is something that controls you and robs you of your own power of choice. It often ruins relationships, as such people typically alienate themselves from society and immerse themselves in their addiction in all their spare moments.
You Replace One Addiction For Another
Perhaps you struggled with a food addiction as a teenager, but after strict dieting you took the upper hand. Instead of leaving it at that, someone with an addictive personality will seek other addictions. He may begin over-exercising, becoming dependent on that to the point that it has a negative effect on his life and he feels a desperate anxiety if he is not able to exercise. Or he may turn to a sex addiction, constantly and desperately seeking arousal to the degree that he distances himself from his partner.
Someone with an addictive personality will pursue addictions to a degree that is unhealthy and has a negative impact on his life. For example, he may begin drinking caffeine to such an excessive extent that he is exhausted from adrenal stress. Even if he knows what is happening to his body, he will be unable to stop and will continue to drink coffee or even increase his intake. If he does not, he will inevitably find a different addiction.
You Can’t Handle Stress
Stress is a typical part of life, and people deal with it in various ways. A telltale sign of an addictive personality, however, is that the person is unable to manage his stress levels. Instead of confronting and handling non-optimum situations, he fights hard to get out of them. His addiction becomes a perfect escape from life.
You Have Low Self-Esteem
If one has low self-esteem, it is easy to give in to peer pressure and turn to drug addiction. However, maybe peer pressure is not the entire reason for addiction–it may be that the addiction itself causes a boost in pride, excitement and pleasure. Many shopaholics, for example, say that their reason for running up debts is the rush they feel when they imagine the new clothes, shoes and gadgets will change who they are. Gamblers admit that the thrill of the big win and all that goes with it is the fantasy they seek.
Addiction is an issue that everyone seems to have some attention on whether it’s gambling, sex, food, technology or drug and alcohol addiction. For more information on what addiction is contact us today.