Personal Essay: Addiction And Addictive Personality

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Addiction and Addictive Personality
Addiction to alcohol, drugs, and all other mind-altering substances has gripped society and torn families apart for as long as these substances have been around. As early as the 1700’s, certain doctors realized how alcoholism was affecting people and suggested alcoholism as a disease. This started a centuries long dispute as to whether addiction and alcoholism was a moral issue or a disease. Many people today believe that it is possible to just stop using mind-altering substances without any treatment and support. Many under privileged alcoholics and addicts find it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get proper treatment, and they end up in jails, institutions, or unfortunately, dead.
Thousands …show more content…

The term ‘addictive personality’ has many factors and personality traits contributing to it. It is not that one just has an addictive personality. It is a mixture of heightened stress, antisocial behaviors and personalities, impulsive behavior, and traumas. These can cause a sense of alienation where one may turn to substances to feel something or to shut down the addict’s ability to feel at all. This can be a start to an addiction and the addictive personality will come from the addiction not the other way around. “Addictive personality can be broken down as the persistent denial coupled with impulsive self-destructive behaviors in correlation with past traumas”. The term ‘addictive personality’ can be used as an incorrect justification and explanation to why one may use, but there is a lot more to the evolution of one’s addiction than just an ‘addictive …show more content…

It is a process of buying into false and empty promises such as the promise of relief, a false sense of connection, and a false sense of fulfillment. Addiction changes people in permanent ways. The addictive disease remains deep inside and tries to assert itself whenever possible. This is just the inevitable process of addiction even after one starts recovery. When situations get tough in a recovering addicts life, they may switch to secondary drugs. These include gambling, shopping, pornography etc. This is just a continuation of previous patterns of addiction when difficult emotions and situations

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