Addiction: What is it and what can you do about it?

If you are addiction-prone this does not mean you are going to become an addict, but it does mean it is helpful if you are aware of the dangers of addictive things.

Unfortunately, you can become addicted to all sorts of things in life. Not just drugs, but also certain behaviors. Think, for example, of gambling, shopping, or exercising.

This is one of the reasons why there are programs designed to educate children about issues such as smoking and alcohol even before they start high school. In this program, children learn about the dangers of smoking and alcohol in a playful way. This helps shape their opinions on the subject, teaches them about social influence (such as peer pressure to smoke), and gives them tools to resist it (self-efficacy)[1].

But what if you're a little older? How do you handle it then?

Addictive people

Addiction-sensitive people often come from an environment where addiction has played a role in family members, for example. Higher impulsivity and neurotic behavior is often something that people with addiction sensitivity suffer from.

But you can't lump everyone who is addiction-prone together.

Research shows that people with a gambling addiction share the same characteristics as healthy people without an addiction. So it can happen to anyone.

People with alcohol addiction tend to be less extroverted, less accommodating, but open to new experiences.

People with a drug addiction or a sex addiction also share similar characteristics with alcoholics, but are even less accommodating and less careful[2].

A survey of students on characteristics of addiction-sensitive people also found that people who are sensitive are more likely to suffer from:

1. Fears
2. Opinions of others about you matter.
3. Being very dependent on another person (parent, partner other significant other)
4. Poor self-control.
5. Not coping well with difficulties.
6. Unpredictable behavior.
7. Mood changes.
8. Reduced motivation to do anything.
9. Disrupted norms and values (deviates from "the norm")[3].

These insights provide inputs to help people be less addicted.

Addiction hereditary

You've probably heard that if one of your parents is an addict there is a greater chance that you will become one too. The question then often is whether this is because of the "example" or because of your genes. In reality, it is a combination of factors.

Twin research has found that your genes can indeed play a factor in addictions, but your environment can influence those factors so much that it need not be a problem[4].

It is also genes that influence signals for the reward system that make you more susceptible to alcohol or addictions to opioids[5].

Am I addicted?

To check if you are addiction prone, you can check if addictions run in your family and if you suffer from any of the characteristics of addiction prone people.

On the other hand, do you come from an environment where you experience a lot of support from your parents or friends? If so, this can be protective against addiction.

For example, you can take a moment to reflect on yourself on the following questions:

1. Am I often impulsive in my behavior or purchases?
2. Do I care about experiencing new (exciting) things?
3. Can I regulate my emotions through my behavior, or do I use sports/shopping or nutrition for that? (For example, are you hangry?)
4. Do I find it difficult to change unhealthy behaviors?
5. Am I coming from an unstable home situation?

If you answered "yes" to these questions there is a chance you are addiction prone, but this is not an official test for addiction proneness.

You can also go to your local psychologist for a test that reveals whether you have the personality of someone who is addiction prone[6].

ADHD and addiction sensitivity

Sometimes, mental health disorders can also influence susceptibility to addiction. For example, many people believe that having ADHD automatically makes you more susceptible to addiction.

Indeed, it is more likely in young people with ADHD and relatively more adults with ADHD abuse drugs or drink compared to those without ADHD[7].

In a way, this makes sense, because in elementary school, some children with ADHD are already given medication to solve the ADHD “problem.” This also instills the belief that external factors, such as a pill, can be the solution to internal issues, such as mental distraction caused by ADHD.

So why shouldn't another external thing then be the solution to other problems you face in life?

Highly gifted and addiction-sensitive

There is no research indicating that people who are gifted are also addiction prone because of this. However, people with giftedness may experience additional stimuli that create more emotions.

In fact, sometimes there is a correlation between giftedness and high sensitivity[8].

But that doesn't mean you are more addicted than people who are not gifted.

Autism and addiction sensitivity

It is unclear whether autism makes someone more susceptible to addiction. However, research does show that autism can make it difficult to form friendships and that, for some people with autism, the use of alcohol and drugs makes this “easier”[9].

So the question of whether you are addiction-prone if you have autism is mainly answered by whether you would like more social contacts AND whether you mind if this goes a little weird, or whether that doesn't bother you.

After all, if you can do it just as well in your own unique way, you won’t feel the need for alcohol or drugs to help you. But if someone with autism wants to fit in—without being seen as strange—this can lead to alcohol and drug use playing a bigger role in that person’s life.

Hypnosis to be less addictive

Hypnotherapy can already be used to treat addictions, such as alcohol addiction[10]. In such cases, the focus is on identifying what the alcohol was a solution for—that is, which problem it was meant to address—and then tackling that original problem rather than simply focusing on changing the behavior.

But that this can be done for addictions also shows that hypnotherapy can be important to prevent addictions in the first place.

The characteristics of people who are addiction prone also provide tools you can use to reduce your addiction, namely:

1. Overcoming fears.
2. Become less dependent on the opinions of others.
3. Improved self-control.
4. Enhanced motivation.
5. Improved coping with negative emotions.

Overcoming fears is a very important one, as many social fears can contribute to the development of addictions. For example, consider the fear that you don't belong somewhere or that people have judgments about you.

A pilot study found that hypnotherapy helps alleviate the symptoms of agoraphobia (a type of social anxiety)[11].

What is interesting about the fear of others' opinions is that this is not necessarily about the fear of others having a negative opinion of you. This can just as easily be about the fear of people having a positive opinion of you[12].

With a negative opinion, you may feel you have to prove them wrong, but with a positive opinion, you may again experience pressure to live up to that positive opinion. For example, if people say you are "smart," then in trivia you also want to know all the trivia facts so that people don't still think you are "not so smart after all."

Fortunately, then, hypnosis also helps you overcome these kinds of social anxieties and focus primarily on your own opinion of yourself, and possibly a few important people in your life. But at least no longer the neighbor, cashier, classmates or colleagues you see from time to time.

Improve self-control and emotion processing

Improving self-control is also about “desirable” behavior. For example, you may feel that you’re not handling certain problems effectively. You might bottle things up, turn to food instead of taking action to solve the problem, or avoid having a conversation with someone when that’s necessary to find a solution.

If there’s one moment in life when you can easily fall into addictive behavior, it’s when you find out you have cancer. Your self-confidence takes a hit, because you feel like your body is letting you down and that perhaps you haven’t taken good enough care of yourself.

You get the realization that you really are mortal and, as a result, you can also feel like it all doesn't matter anymore. As a result, you can get awkward coping mechanisms, like reaching for the bottle or drugs again anyway to deal with all those scary emotions.

Even if you've gotten better again.

A study of this group of people using self-hypnosis and mindfulness found that it helped improve self-control, self-confidence and coping with negative emotions[13].

Improve Motivation

Life is beautiful, and everyone has something beautiful to offer the world, but finding that and doing something with it requires motivation.

Taking good care of yourself is also something that sometimes needs motivation. After all, it's much easier to order a pizza from Home Delivery and plop on the couch than to make something healthy and take a walk after work.

The good news is that hypnosis combined with cognitive behavioral therapy helps improve that motivation, which in turn is also good for tackling obesity, for example[14].

Learn Hypnosis

Hypnosis is therefore incredibly valuable if you’re helping people who are prone to addiction or if you struggle with it yourself. In that regard, being addicted to personal growth is actually a good thing (take it from me 😉).

Would you like to learn hypnosis? Come to a free masterclass.

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