The rehabilitation centers are full with people who are trying to get help for their drug or alcohol addictions. For some the addiction started innocently with a surgery or an accident that required a pain med. For others it the addiction began when they got their first taste and were hooked. Statistics show that two out of every five people will have a drug problem at some point in their lives, and they will need professional intervention. What many people don’t realize is there are addictive personalities and genetic traits that may be the cause of all their problems. When analyzing a person who has a problem with drugs or alcohol, many times there are many addictions plaguing this person.
Have you ever known someone that cannot go gambling without it becoming a problem? What about someone who cannot just play a video game for an hour, they have to play it all night and still want more? It is said that there are more than three million people that have a video game addiction and can’t get enough of gaming. Those numbers are pretty staggering when it is just all fun and games, right? These are people who have addictive personalities. Their genetic make-up is to not be satisfied with the little portions of things that they should have. Whether talking about drugs or alcohol or something more serious, it can also be a spending problem or a problem with eating.
The obese person that everyone likes to poke fun at also has an addiction problem. This problem is just as serious as the drug is to the addict. In fact, more than 68% of American’s are overweight. Of that 68 percent, 38 percent are obese. While it is not cocaine or an opiate, food in unhealthy proportions can be just as deadly. Every year more than 120,000 American’s die from drug addiction, but what you don’t hear about is that more 2.8 million that die from complications of obesity.
The real issue is the addiction. Many people that check into rehab facilities also under a mental health evaluation. The reason for this evaluation is to see if there are underlying factors that contributed to the addictive nature of this person. Many are found to have mood disorders, schizophrenia, bi-polar and a plethora of other mental health diagnoses. The thought patterns associated with many of these illnesses causes the person to be prone to addiction. One can also not rule out genetics as a possible link to the addictive personalities. If the affected person has issues with addiction, often the family members are taking into consideration as well.
Everyone has a vice, or something they use to self-medicate. It can be a cup of coffee, or it can be a cigarette. The idea is to not let these things take over our lives and interrupt or hurt our relationships with others. Drugs and alcohol are a serious addiction that is difficult to overcome, but oftentimes they are not the only addiction that a person is dealing with. From the simplicity of one watching too much television to the complexity of an overeater, there are many addictions in society that need to be examined and treated.
