Hypnotherapy Information Exchange

Sub­stance abuse and dependence (alco­holism, drug addiction) is only one form of recurrent and self-​​defeating pattern of mis­conduct. People are addicted to all kinds of things: gambling, shopping, the Internet, reckless and life-​​endangering pursuits. Adrenaline junkies abound

The con­nection between chronic anxiety, patho­logical nar­cissism, depression, obsessive-​​compulsive traits and alco­holism and drug abuse is well estab­lished and common in clinical practice. But not all nar­cissists, com­pulsives, depressives, and anxious people turn to the bottle or the needle.

Frequent claims of finding a gene complex responsible for alco­holism have been con­sistently cast in doubt. In 1993, Berman and Noble sug­gested that addictive and reckless behaviors are mere emergent phe­nomena and may be linked to other, more fun­da­mental traits, such as novelty seeking or risk taking. Psy­chopaths (patients with Anti­social Per­sonality Disorder) have both qualities in ample quantities. We would expect them, therefore, to heavily abuse alcohol and drugs. Indeed, as Lewis and Bucholz con­vin­cingly demon­strated in 1991, they do. Still, only a neg­ligible minority of alco­holics and drug addicts are psychopaths.

What has been determined is that most addicts are nar­cisstic in per­sonality. Addictions serve his purpose. They place him above the laws and pressures of the mundane and away from the humi­liating and sobering demands of reality. They render him the center of attention — but also place him in “splendid isolation” from the mad­dening and inferior crowd.

Such com­pulsory and wild pursuits provide a psy­cho­logical exo­skeleton. They are a sub­stitute to quo­tidian existence. They afford the nar­cissist with an agenda, with timetables, goals, and faux achievements. The nar­cissist — the adrenaline junkie — feels that he is in control, alert, excited, and vital. He does not regard his con­dition as dependence. The nar­cissist firmly believes that he is in charge of his addiction that he can quit at will and on short notice.

This article was ori­ginally pub­lished on www.HypnotherapyClinic.info by Con­sultant Clinical Hyp­no­therapist & Pys­cho­therapist Noel Bradford –

As a pro­fes­sional therapist Noel help people with everything that you would expect including giving up smoking, con­trolling their weight, dealing with fears and phobias. However his services go far beyond this and encompass things that affect everyone at some time in their life, such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks, stress, and low self esteem.

He  also has detailed spe­cialist training in several areas including but not limitted to Irrittable Bowel Syndrome and Pyscho­sexual matters that affect men such as Errectile Dys­function and Pre­mature Ejac­u­lation as well as those affecting women such as Hyper Desire Disorder, Vaginisums, and Dys­pareunia.

Ori­ginally posted 2010-​​01-​​25 18:41:00.