How to Cope With an Addictive Personality

Too much of anything can become bad. There is a difference between spending a weekend with your girlfriends in Las Vegas gambling and going into major debt due to a gambling addiction. There is a difference between having a glass of wine while taking a bubble bath after a long day of work and having 10 glasses of wine to wind down at the end of the night. Someone with an addictive personality is more apt to become addicted to things that can be fine in moderation than someone without an addictive personality.

Things You'll Need

• Support system
• Therapy

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  To cope with an addictive personality you have to surround yourself with a good support system. One of the people in your support system needs to be a licensed mental health professional. If you're still battling addiction to the point where you're abusing alcohol or drugs, having unsafe sex on a regular basis or gambling your life savings away, you may need intense therapy or rehabilitation.

• 2

  Once you have cut back on or stopped the addicting behaviors, you have to do maintenance work. Someone with an addictive personality has to consistently work on choosing healthy behaviors and may need to remain in therapy for years. This might mean meeting with a therapist once a week or every other week.

• 3

  Attend 12-step meetings even if you've stopped your addictive behaviors. Helping others get help can remind you why you choose healthy behaviors instead of turning back to alcohol or gambling.

• 4

  Talk to close friends and family members about your issues and ask them to support you in trying to recover. For example, if you have an alcohol addiction, it's not uncommon to ask your friends and family members to refrain from drinking around you.

• 5

  Seek out family therapy if needed. Often families are torn apart by addiction and need intensive family therapy to repair the relationships.

• 6

  Reward yourself for reaching milestones. Have a nice dinner to celebrate one month clean or have a celebration after one year of not gambling. If you're working toward certain goals you'll have more success.

• 7

  Look for happiness in healthy ways. For example, if you're an artist and love to paint, take an art class and spend your weekends doing what you love. Start meditating or practicing yoga. Spend time with friends and family on a regular basis.

• 8

  Figure out healthy ways you can reduce stress such as exercising, deep breathing and taking a bubble bath. Brainstorm ideas with your therapist. If you have a list of healthy ways to deal with stress you won't turn to unhealthy behaviors such as drugs and gambling.