Addiction is considered a chronic mental health disorder, a disease where your frontal cortex works against you and makes it harder to say no to drugs or alcohol. An addictive personality is a personality where someone is more likely to become addicted or to overindulge in anything.
What is an Addictive Personality?
An addictive personality refers to a personality where individuals have poor impulse control or are more likely to overindulge in behaviors.
At times, individuals with an addictive personality may not realize the behavioral traits that are contributing to an addiction, and at other times, the addiction itself may not seem severe, especially if it’s to something like video games or food.
But any addiction can be harmful, which is why it’s important to learn how to deal with an addictive personality in a healthy way.
What Causes an Addictive Personality?
There are many potential causes of an addictive personality, but genetics are the prime factor. With certain genetic predispositions, you may be more prone to addictive or impulsive behaviors.
This is not, on its face, inherently bad. Some people find themselves addicted to positive activities, things like being outside in nature, staying active, or eating healthy food.
However, if you have an addictive personality, you are just as likely to find yourself addicted to harmful or negative things like overeating, over-exercising, or abusing drugs and alcohol.
If you are struggling with any addiction, it’s important that you get treatment to overcome the physical side of the addiction and, from there, participate in therapies that help you develop healthy habits for controlling your addictive personality to prevent future addictions.
Learning How to Deal with an Addictive Personality
Learning how to deal with an addictive personality involves things like learning how to say no and creating healthy habits that are more likely to encourage impulse control.
Individual Therapy
If you are struggling with an addictive personality, one of the most important resources is individual therapy. Individual therapy will give you a chance to achieve long-term success by working with a therapist one-on-one to:
- Identify personal triggers
- Develop personalized coping mechanisms
- Boost emotional regulation
- Develop stress management techniques
- Address secondary mental health disorders
All of this can lay the groundwork for developing tools and traits that provide you with increased control over things like stress, triggers, or addictive substances.
Group Therapy
One of the ways that you can learn how to deal with an addictive personality is through group therapy sessions. Group counseling gives a chance for you to build a supportive community around you of people who are going through some of the same trials or struggles.
Support groups can give you access to similar insights and new perspectives from people who also have addictive personalities, perhaps people who have gone through addiction recovery from multiple substances.
Learning to Deal with An Addictive Personality Through The ARTS
At The ARTS, we know how difficult it can be to live with an addictive personality. That is why we provide a well-rounded treatment program with different levels of care.
PHP
One option is our customized partial hospitalization program, where you get individualized care provided by our clinical staff as a way to start your recovery process. Through this program, you can learn how to deal with an addictive personality without risking things like transfer addiction, where you get treatment for one type of addiction but invariably end up with another.
Virtual IOP
One option is our virtual intensive outpatient program. We know how difficult it is to get the type of support you need when transportation or flexible schedules become problematic. That’s why we provide intensive outpatient services to give a little extra care to people who have just started on their path to sobriety, as well as a virtual IOP to give unwavering support from a distance.
Sober Living
A final option is taking advantage of our sober living home, which provides a safe, supportive environment for those who are transitioning from a PHP but need a little extra support and structure before they go back to their regular lives surrounded by triggers. This can be particularly useful for those who want to learn how to deal with an addictive personality and practice the tools they learn in therapy while still residing in a safe and supportive home.
No matter the level of care you need, we are here.
Call our team to get help with your addictive personality today.
