What You Need to Know About Personality Disorders and Addiction
If you have a personality disorder, there’s a good chance you also have a substance abuse disorder. These two diseases often go hand in hand, creating a duplicitous problem for sufferers. Statistics show that 78 percent of adults that have borderline personality disorder will also develop a substance abuse addiction at some point in their lives.
Suffering from both personality disorders and addiction can make your life unbearable, which is why we are here to help. If you’re ready to get treatment for your addiction problems as well as treat your personality disorder, please call our hotline at 888-647-0051 (Who Answers?) .
What Are Some Common Personality Disorders?
There is a wide spectrum of personality disorders that can present a wide range of symptoms. Most personality disorders affect how a person thinks, behaves, and feels. Some of the more common disorders include:
The inability to feel emotions is a common symptom of personality disorders.
- Borderline personality disorder
- Antisocial personality disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
- Schizoid personality disorder
- Avoidant personality disorder
Each of these disorders produces different symptoms, some of which are more mild or severe than others. Some of the most noticeable ones can be:
- Avoiding social situations or standards
- Having problems with relationships
- Inappropriate displays of emotion
- Repetitive thoughts or actions
- Inability to feel emotions or social connections
Sometimes, people drink or take drugs in order to self-medicate and try to feel better on their own. This can lead to addiction over a short period of time.
What Are the Symptoms of Addiction?
Some of the symptoms of personality disorders can overlap with addiction, often making it hard to know if the problem is a symptom of addiction or the disorder. In many cases, the drugs or alcohol might simply bring out an existing condition that was previously too mild to be diagnosed. Some symptoms of addiction to look out for include:
- Problems with social relationships at work, home, or school
- Needing to take more of the substance in order to get the same effect
- Withdrawal symptoms after stopping use
- Health problems, such as liver disease or depression
How Are Personality Disorders and Addiction Connected?
Surveys clearly show that there is a startling relationship between personality disorders and addiction. In one such study, 50 percent of people with borderline personality disorder also had a diagnosis for a substance abuse disorder within the past year.
What’s more, 9.5 percent of people with a substance abuse disorder also had borderline personality disorder, which is much higher than the rate of 1.6 to 5.9 percent for the general population.
Because of the connection between the two, sufferers can benefit from what is known as dialectical behavior therapy, which has been specifically adapted for this purpose. Additionally, it can be very helpful to see a psychiatrist.
Serotonin might be prescribed to relieve the symptoms of a personality disorder, while specific drugs can be used to relieve withdrawal symptoms and cravings.
Whatever method of treatment you decide to go with, remember that you are not alone in your personality disorders and addiction. If you need help along the way, don’t hesitate to call our hotline at 888-647-0051 (Who Answers?) for more information or motivation.
