Some common addictive personality traits are: Anxiety. Depression. Impulsivity. Risk taking.
Studies have shown that both introverted judging and perceiving types are prone to negative feelings about themselves and more likely to suffer from addiction.
No single personality type sets someone up for addiction, but there are a few personality traits common among people who have a substance use disorder: an inability to handle stress, impulsivity, unaccountability and a lack of empathy.
Addiction And Borderline Personality Disorder
Because individuals with BPD have feelings of emptiness and disconnect, they may begin using substances to cope. While substances, like alcohol or Cocaine, can provide a high and escape from the symptoms of BPD, the relief is only temporary.
Drug Use and Personality
Generally, those who use drugs or alcohol are characterized by having high Neuroticism, high Openness to Experience, low Agreeableness, and low Conscientiousness.
Authors Sussman and Sussman (2011) conduct a literature search to determine the definition of addiction, landing on and further defining five common elements: (1) feeling different; (2) preoccupation with the behavior; (3) temporary satiation; (4) loss of control; and, (5) negative consequences.
The addiction components model operationally defines addictive activity as any behavior that features what I believe are the six core components of addiction (i.e., salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, conflict, and relapse) (Griffiths, 2005).
Why do some people become addicted while others don't? Family studies that include identical twins, fraternal twins, adoptees, and siblings suggest that as much as half of a person's risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, alcohol, or other drugs depends on his or her genetic makeup.
While the feeling of reward is healthy, some signs of it moving towards addiction include always wanting more, constantly needing more, continuing despite negative outcomes, an inability to follow rules you have set for yourself, not being able to stop, obsessing, replacing relationships and secrecy.
For this reason, it can be much harder for NPD individuals to break the addiction cycle than it can be for those without it. Also worth noting is that many, if not most, addicts display narcissistic traits and they frequently act in ways that could be construed as such.
However, in terms of substance addictions, some of the more common types of addiction include: Alcohol addiction. Prescription drug addiction. Drug addiction.
Or, individuals with INFJ and INTJ personality are said to believe that everything in the universe is interconnected. With such outlooks, they are more likely to develop an addiction to magic mushrooms.
Turbulent Mediators (INFP-T) and Turbulent Adventurers (ISFP-T) are the most likely types to give up on challenging tasks, with 53% and 54% agreeing respectively. Besides their Prospecting trait, Mediators and Adventurers are also Introverted and Feeling types.
Explorers are curious and energetic. They're driven by dopamine—the pleasure neurotransmitter. It gives us a sense of elation, accomplishment, and reward.
Generally, alcoholics seem to have the same kinds of personalities as everybody else, except more so. The first is a low frustration tolerance. Alcoholics seem to experience more distress when enduring long-term dysphoria or when tiresome things do not work out quickly. Alcoholics are more impulsive than most.
The personality profile of high neuroticism, low agreeableness, and low conscientiousness was associated with all four addictive disorders.
Research has discovered a link between genetics and someone's ability to have an addictive personality. Those born to parents who have been addicted to a substance or exhibited a behavioral addiction are more likely to exhibit addictive personalities themselves.
Specific genetic testing may one day help better identify individual susceptibility for addiction. Health care providers see the benefit of genetic testing to potentially help determine a person's unique addiction risks, but it's an area that requires more research.
There is no direct genetic link between addictive behaviors and ADHD. Addictive disorders are complex and often caused by behavioral, emotional, and life factors. Thrill-seeking behavior, the need for immediate gratification, and a search for novel pleasure-seeking experiences are more common for many people with ADHD.
There are several theories as to why ADHD increases the risk for substance use: Impulsivity, poor judgment and school troubles that can go along with ADHD may increase the risk for initiating substance use. There could be a genetic link between ADHD and the vulnerability for developing a substance use disorder.
It's possible a person with OCD will feel disturbed by their own thoughts and by their need to carry out their compulsive behavior, but they need to do it anyway as a way to relieve their distress. Someone with an addiction is often detached from the logic of their actions.
To separate addiction from other neurological disorders, experts say that four factors must be present. These four factors, compulsion, craving, consequences and control, are unique to addiction alone and are classified as the 4 C's.
The three major elements of addictive thinking: denial, rationalization, and projection must be dealt with at every stage of addiction.