Habits To Avoid If You Have An Addictive Personality

For many years, medical experts were puzzled by the nature of addiction. Fortunately, we now know that whether it is a genetic condition or the manifestation of a deeper issue, some individuals tend to develop what is known as an addictive personality, a condition in which persons with anxiety or depressive disorders will often attempt to fulfill unmet needs with unhealthy behaviors. Thankfully, a lot of research and study has gone towards understanding these illnesses, and we now know keeping a healthy approach to dealing with an addictive personality can make the condition manageable.

Using Food As Comfort

For many individuals, food is often associated with safety, meaning food can easily be used as a source of comfort or a way to overcome boredom. Because eating does not have the stigma associated with drug or alcohol abuse, moreover, many individuals find themselves in the trap of overdoing what is considered to be a socially acceptable activity, making it difficult to break out of a cycle of overeating. A common psychological trap in overeating, for instance, involves consuming too much food and then attempting to crash diet to burn away excess calories, making the body's metabolism drop as the body perceives a shortage of food.

Starving the body also results in even more hunger, often making the diet cycle an endless cause of frustration and even health scares as overeating leads to parallel conditions such as fatigue or even type 2 diabetes. For these reasons, using food as a comfort rather than as a form of nourishment should be a major red flag for those with an addictive personality.

Using Alcohol To Socialize

In the famous words of Homer Simpson, alcohol is "the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems." Humor aside, this line from the hit television series The Simpsons expresses an interesting truth, namely that we often use alcohol to escape problems we created while under the influence of alcohol. Indeed, while it can be tempting to use alcohol as a means to 'loosen up' at a social gathering, the truth is social drinking can quickly escalate into something much more serious and damaging to our social reputation and even our health.

Furthermore, addiction to alcohol can be catastrophic in its effects, as in medical circles it is known as a potentially fatal condition with its withdrawal symptoms, making alcohol withdrawal in some instances even more dangerous than withdrawal from heroin. Using alcohol to socialize may be a socially-accepted activity, but for someone with an addictive personality, the problems social drinking can alleviate are often vastly outnumbered by the problems the activity creates.