[17] The present analysis shows that subjects dependent on alcohol lack empathic abilities as compared to healthy controls. This translates to both cognitive and affective components of empathy.
Individuals with alcohol use disorder appear to show deficits in empathy compared with healthy controls. Deficits are particularly pronounced for older individuals and for cognitive (versus affective) empathy.
There is a strong association between antisocial personality disorder and alcoholism. Antisocial personality disorder is characterized by a lack of regard for laws and authority. People who have antisocial personality disorder engage in dangerous behaviors, lack guilt and display low impulse control.
Other Common Alcoholic Personality Traits
Others will be irritable, anxious, and aggressive both when they drink and when they go through alcohol withdrawal. Alcohol dependence can also make a person impatient and easily aggravated. Additionally, you might notice impulsiveness or other erratic traits.
Alcohol Abuse and Social Interaction
Alcoholism can also lead to emotional outbursts and anger issues. This is likely due to the fact that alcohol impairs a person's judgment and reasoning skills.
Popular wisdom holds that our true desires and feelings tend to come to light while we're drunk. Although drinking alcohol can definitely lower your inhibitions, there's no evidence to suggest that alcohol necessarily unlocks any deep-seated feelings or desires. Still, alcohol can change who we are, in some ways.
Alcohol abuse can cause signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety, psychosis, and antisocial behavior, both during intoxication and during withdrawal. At times, these symptoms and signs cluster, last for weeks, and mimic frank psychiatric disorders (i.e., are alcohol–induced syndromes).
Alcoholic narcissists tend to refuse help because they are entirely convinced that they are in the right and entitled to do what they want. For this reason, to effectively help your loved one, you may need to consult an interventionist to have a better chance of convincing them to get treatment.
Additional Alcoholic Personality Traits
Often someone who is abusing alcohol will also display the following signs and become: Insecure. Sensitive. Impulsive.
Increased reactivity and anger.
Because alcohol causes the prefrontal cortex to shrink, it decreases self-control and increases anger. As a result, people who drink are more likely to display aggressive behavior when under stress or angry than those who don't drink as much or at all.
The chemical changes in your brain can soon lead to more negative feelings, such as anger, depression or anxiety, regardless of your mood. Alcohol also slows down how your brain processes information, making it harder to work out what you're really feeling and the possible consequences of your actions.
Wives of alcoholics show signs of anxiety, depression, aggression and cognitive impairments as indicative of high levels of psychological distress (19).
It affects how we manage behaviour, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions to achieve positive results. However, if we are living in a sea of alcohol, we sabotage our emotions and they remain static. We could be 40 years old with the emotions of a teenager.
Generally, people drink to either increase positive emotions or decrease negative ones. This results in all drinking motives falling into one of four categories: enhancement (because it's exciting), coping (to forget about my worries), social (to celebrate), and conformity (to fit in).
While some alcoholics apologize for their behavior and promise to turn over a new leaf, if they only talk the talk but don't walk the walk, their repeated apologies and broken promises eventually carry little weight with those around them.
Narcissism is a personality disorder that may cause individuals to display grandiose and self-involved behaviors. Alcoholism is an addiction where people cannot control their alcohol use. Narcissism and alcoholism may both share similar characteristics and can occur at the same time.
Narcissists often use alcohol to cover their deficits. They lose their inhibitions, making them feel confident and powerful. And forget their troubles. Narcissists hate self reflecting.
Alcohol can make some people more emotional than usual, causing them to cry more easily. However, for some, alcohol can cause anger and aggression, which can become a real problem.
Borderline personality disorder is one of the most painful mental illnesses since individuals struggling with this disorder are constantly trying to cope with volatile and overwhelming emotions.
Alcoholics frequently experience episodes of intense depression and/or severe anxiety. Depressed or anxious alcohol-dependent people often believe that they drink to relieve symptoms of sadness or nervousness.