Often, when we hear of someone struggling with some type of addiction – be it gambling, pornography, drugs or even codependency on another person – we hear he or she may have an “addictive personality.”
This concept of the addictive personality relies on the idea that either several factors in a person’s life makes him or her more prone to addiction (nurture) or an imbalance in brain chemistry exists that predisposes a person to addiction (nature).
Though the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders doesn’t include addictive personality as a disorder, it classifies 10 personality disorders, including borderline, narcissistic, paranoid and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders. Addiction often falls under obsessive-compulsive disorders; a person who struggles with mental illness such as depression or anxiety may have the compulsion to cope or self-medicate with illegal drugs, or with legal drugs in an unhealthy way.
Not enough evidence exists to say for certain whether addiction is nature or nurture. However, in studies of twins, some raised in the same environment and some raised in differing environments, if one twin becomes addicted, the other twin is likely to become addicted as well. A 2012 study published by the National Institutes of Health showed that the likelihood that both twins get addicted depends on the class of drug, from a 39 percent chance for hallucinogens, the lowest likelihood, to a 72 percent chance for cocaine, the highest likelihood.
In a 2014 study, it was found that substance addiction is diagnosed in approximately half of patients struggling with personality disorders, and personality disorders are often diagnosed before the addiction makes itself known.
More data is needed to classify addictive personality as a diagnosable personality disorder rather than a symptom of an already-present disorder. It’s clear, though, that some people have a higher predisposition to addiction than others. Whether that be from nature, nurture or some combination of both is yet to be confirmed.
Amanda DePerro is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
