Making Healthy Choices

According to Dr. Lee Jampolsky, author of Healing the Addictive Personality, we all have the propensity to engage in behaviors that help us avoid pain and suffering, and most of us have, at some point, looked outside of ourselves to find happiness. We all fall somewhere on the continuum of addictive personality and are prone to addiction, some more than others, so we must constantly assess our thought processes and work to adopt a better way of life.

Lawrence J. Hatterer, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the Cornell University Medical College wrote in his book The Pleasure Addicts that "Addictive behavior has invaded every aspect of American life today. We all feel the cloud of concern about becoming addictive - preoccupation with weight, smoking, drinking too much, or being caught in an excess of spending, acquiring, gambling, sex or work."

Now that we know what the addictive personality looks like, what do we know about the "non-addict" profile? According to Dr. Robert B. Millman, director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Service at the Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic at the New York Hospital, non-addicts are "those people who have strong families, often with religious backgrounds and who have good social relations." With these healthy traits in mind, one area in which those with addictive personalities can improve is in cultivating strong bonds with family and friends.

Addiction is a product of the complex interplay between social, psychological, and physiological factors that scientists are constantly striving to better understand. If we can identify the personality factors, we can devise better treatment and interventions to break the patterns of addiction.

If you recognize the signs of an addictive personality in yourself, you are not alone. But an addictive personality doesn't mean you're destined to develop a problem with addiction. By becoming aware of your personal tendencies and the dangers of addiction, people with these personality traits can take affirmative steps to make healthier life choices.

 

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