3 Ways to Spot an Addictive Personality

1. Look for Impulsive Behavior

Doctors disagree on whether there is a true addictive personality, and the term is rarely used in formal medicine. However, a number of signs and signals tend to appear in people with addictions. Doctors and psychologists can often spot them, and while they aren't scientifically proven, these signs can serve as useful guides sometimes. At the top of the list is a difficulty with impulse control.

If you know someone with an addictive personality, he may make decisions on the spur of the moment as a means of attaining quick gratification of his desires. Your friend or loved one may lack patience and grow easily frustrated when his needs are not met. There may be a hedonistic quality to his personality, as he constantly seeks out new sensations and new forms of stimulation, a tendency that naturally lends itself to various forms of addiction.

2. Watch for a Focus on Nonconformity

A a sense of social deviancy may accompany impulse-control issues. Your loved one may feel like she doesn't fit in or is alienated from mainstream society. She may focus on nonconformity as an ethical choice, engaging in deviant or even criminal behavior as a means of defying the social order. She may express disdain for certain acceptable social goals, such as a family or success at a job, while painting herself as a colorful outsider in order to compensate. The addictive behavior often stems from this perceived rebelliousness. Your loved one will engage in it precisely because society as a whole has told her not to.

3. Listen for Difficulties Acknowledging the Addiction

A common trait among anyone dealing with addiction is an inability to recognize it for what it is. Your loved one may couch his behavior in terms of a choice or a casual decision, such as "I like to take drugs now and then" or "I enjoy going shopping." On the other side of the equation comes a perceived inability to change, marked by phrases like "can't," "must" or "I have to." He might say things like "I can't give up my credit cards" or "I need that drink to get up in the morning." He may become defensive and angry if confronted about his behavior, and a complex pattern of lies and deceit will be built up as a means to deny it.