While reading Chapter 5, I thought that the section on "Drugs and Consciousness" proved very interesting, especially the portion on confirming if or if not there is such a thing as an addictive personality. While on page 188, the authors said "there's no single addictive personality profile," they also said "researchers have found that certain personality traits predispose to alcohol and drug abuse" (188). I thought I would look deeper into this topic to see what various researchers have come up with.
In an article published by the New York Times called "The Addictive Personality: Common Traits are Found," the author, Bryce Nelson brings up many intriguing points. The first insight that he brought up was the fact that many mental health experts think that is is beneficial to look at all ends of the spectrum when it comes to addictions. All self-destructive behaviors should be examined, including overeating, compulsive television-watching, and the more prominent addictions such as drug and alcohol abuse. The overarching argument of the article, though, is similar to that of the textbook. "There is no single set of psychological characteristics that embrace all addicitons," the National Academy of Sciences concludes, "but the study does see common elements from addiction to addiction."
A few of the common elements attributing to addictive actions are impulsive behavior, an antisocial personality, a weak committment to goals that are considered valuable to society, a general tolerance for deviance, a sense of heightened stress and many more. While this brings up the scientific thinking principle of "correlation versus causation." Are these factors causing addictive behavior, is the addiction itself causing the people to attain these traits or is there another underlying variable? This subject is tricky, but as the article continues on, Alan R. Lang, a psychology professor at Florida State argues that discovering the personality characteristics that take part in developing these addictions is essential to treating them.
The following article is some information about various addictive personality disorders, ranging from diagnosis to treatment. Article 1.pdf
By: Kylie Schermann
This is a very interesting post that caught my attention. I have always wondered if a friend of mine has a better chance of becoming an alcoholic because his father is one. It sounds like they have not exactly figured out if there are a single set of characteristics that create addictions. I am curious to see if scientists ever do find a set of characteristics to look for.
The title of this blog caught my attention. I found the question, "Are these factors causing addictive behavior, is the addiction itself causing the people to attain these traits or is there another underlying variable?" to be intriguing. As you mentioned it brings up the principle of causation versus correlation; is something causing addictive behavior or is the addiction the cause of the behavior or is there a third variable?? I always thought it was a trait that caused the addictive behavior. But as shown there are other possibilities.
I've always heard people say "I have an addictive personality, I better not try cigarettes", but I wondered if that was legit or not. But after reading the list of personality traits that are said to predispose a person to addiction, and thinking about the personality of the addict I'm close to, it seems like there is a third variable at play. This may be anecdotal, but I know this person had anxiety and depression, and I can't help but think that those both played a role in the predisposing personality characteristics here, which means things like anxiety and depression may underlie addiction.
I am curious about the possible addictive personality in the 21th century. 30 years ago,there was no the culture of the Internet, not to mention Blog or Twitters. So we may not be able to figure out whether the guys addicted to the Internet and online computer games are influenced by the gene from their parents. But we can start the research from our generation, and the result may help us to cure those people who are addicted to the Internet.
I believe that it is not in our personality where addiction grows, I believe that it is our choices that start the addiction in the first place. All addictions start because of a chemical release, whether it happens naturally in the brain while watching TV, or through the substance itself. This chemical influence is what causes the addiction. We love the feeling the chemicals create. This is why certain drugs are more addicting than others: some have a more pleasant feeling. After the initial choice to do something that is known to be addictive, is when the addiction latches on and is hard to surpress. I myself have been addicted to cigarettes since age 7, but i kicked it almost a month ago because of will power. Thats what separates addicts: With enough will power any habit can be kicked, as long as you're strong enough to handle withdrawal.