Addictive Personality Disorder​​: Causes, Risk Factors, and How to Seek Help

Psychological and Emotional Factors

There are also psychological and emotional factors that can increase your risk of developing addictive personality disorder symptoms.

For example, sustained stress from physical or sexual abuse, especially in childhood, is correlated to a higher risk of developing addiction later in life. Impulsivity, chronic stress, and low self-esteem can also make individuals much more likely to develop addictive behaviors, leading to an addictive personality disorder.

There are emotional factors particularly related to current mental health status. Individuals with underlying mental health issues, particularly anxiety or depression, are more likely to develop addictive personalities.

Environmental and Social Influences

Environmental and social influences also have a part to play. Exposure to unsupportive relationships, especially early in life, as well as trauma, drugs, and alcohol, can all increase your likelihood of developing an addictive personality and subsequent addictions.

A lack of social interaction, particularly when young, is another social influence that increases the risk of developing addictions.

Risk Factors for Developing Addictive Personality Disorder

Many of the potential causes for developing addictive personality disorder symptoms are also risk factors.

• • Mental Health Conditions: As mentioned, having a mental health disorder can increase your risk of developing addictive behaviors.

• • Childhood Trauma and Stress: Exposure to childhood trauma and chronic stress are also risk factors.

• • Substance Abuse and Dependency: Those who struggle with substance abuse or are regularly exposed to substance abuse are more likely to develop addictive tendencies.

How to Identify Addictive Personality Disorder

So, how do you recognize addictive personality disorder?

Recognizing Behavioral Patterns

Firstly, addictive personality disorder symptoms take the form of Behavioral patterns, things that happen with regularity. These often include obsessive tendencies and excessive pleasure-seeking as well as impulsivity.

This might include a constant desire for immediate gratification with regular risk-taking behaviors and problems with self-regulation.

Emotional and Psychological Symptoms

The emotional and psychological symptoms tend to focus on obsessive tendencies, manipulation, and dishonesty, like problems taking personal responsibility for actions and continually lying or being secretive.

Addictive Personality Disorder Treatment Options

Those who experience addictive personality disorder symptoms can find treatment in talk therapy and medication.

Therapy for Addictive Personality Disorder (CBT, DBT)

Therapy for addictive personality disorder typically involves cognitive behavioral therapy or dialectical behavioral therapy. Both of these teach you to identify the way things, like previous experiences, continue to shape your present thoughts and emotions.

They also provide tools for cognitive restructuring, which means changing your automatic thoughts, particularly negative or unrealistic ones, to things that are more positive so that you can directly change your mood, emotions, and behaviors.

CBT

Cognitive behavioral therapy can help you change unhelpful or irrational perceptions that lead to self-destructive, impulsive, addictive behaviors.

It can also help you identify distorted thoughts and reevaluate them with a more realistic or positive outlook. This type of cognitive restructuring often occurs alongside stress-reducing techniques and mindfulness to help you tackle the causes, risk factors, or triggers of your addictive personality traits and overcome them.

DBT

Dialectical behavioral therapy is an offshoot of cognitive behavioral therapy, and it helps you change your relationship to things like substance abuse or trauma. The core principles behind this type of therapy are to help teach you to control your cognitive and emotional processes by identifying your triggers, using appropriate coping skills to deal with unwanted thoughts or self-destructive behaviors, and learning to accept several aspects of who you really are without turning to addiction.

Medication for Co-Occurring Conditions

Given the high correlation between addictive personality disorder and other mental health conditions like trauma, depression, or anxiety, medication might be part of an addictive personality disorder treatment specifically for the co-occurring conditions.

When co-occurring conditions can be effectively treated, it helps individuals with an addiction or addictive behaviors manage triggers that stem from symptoms of other conditions.