Can you really have an addictive personality?
From alcohol to gambling or chocolate, we’re sold the notion some of us are more likely to become hooked than others, but what’s the truth? Catherine Gray investigates
Iwatched my friend pour a whole packet of sour candy into his open mouth, as one might pour water from a jug into a glass. “I can’t stop, Cath. I’m just an addict,” he despaired. I laughed, but it troubled me. He quit a rollicking addiction to booze and cocaine six years ago, so why does he think he’s incapable of ceasing this habit too? Our belief in an addictive personality is omnipresent. It’s in our psychological tap water. The perception goes like this: if you’ve once been addicted to something, the addict lives within you, lurking, waiting to resurface at any given opportunity. Given I was once fiendishly addicted to booze and quit back in 2013, I find people keen to lob the label ‘addictive personality’ at me. They raise their eyebrows as I pour my sixth herbal tea that day, or wisecrack about my five-times-a-week exercise habit. But I’ve never used my teeth to open a packet of peppermint tea (unlike a bottle of beer), and exercising makes me feel stronger, not weaker. Of course, like any hotly debated topic (is addiction a disease? Once an addict, always an addict?) there is a spectrum of professional opinions. While researching my new book, Sunshine Warm Sober, I asked four luminaries in the field of addiction if they believed in the addictive personality. From three there was a resounding no. “There’s no single personality type,” says no-nonsense neuropsychopharmacologist Dr David Nutt. It’s a fallacy and impossible to formally diagnose, agreed consultant addiction psychiatrist Dr Julia Lewis, using the metaphor of weighing scales instead. “Certain risk factors – genetics, a chronic pain disorder, trauma – will tip those scales towards ‘more likely to be addicted’,” she explains. It seems every person, regardless of personality, has the capacity to become hopelessly devoted to a substance, thing or pursuit, from caffeine to Instagram or clothes shopping. However, there are some traits that can predict addiction. “People who have anxiety or are introverted can be predisposed to addiction,” explains developmental neuroscientist Dr Marc Lewis. “But so can the polar opposite personalities - those who are impulsive or risk-takers. “Also, any of these traits can lead to a whole bunch of potential outcomes. If you have impulsive tendencies, you might become a politician, a mountain climber or a businessperson. “Becoming addicted is just one of the possibilities.”
‘‘ I was addicted to booze, now people raise eyebrows as I pour my sixth herbal tea