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Remember the really cool kids from junior high? Even if you didn’t want to hang out with them, you couldn’t help but find their disregard for anyone else’s opinion enviable. They wore what they wanted to, did what they wanted, and had a disregard for authority that was breathlessly exciting, especially if you, yourself, were a student who never liked to get into trouble. They grouped around street corners after school, two or three of them at a time, smoking and ignoring everyone else. Oh, and they made smoking look so attractive, the way they expertly flipped the ashes from the cigarette or held it casually down by their sides. You just knew they’d also tasted alcohol. Knew they had knowledge about life that you didn’t. A lot of those kids grew up physically but kept the addiction to tobacco, alcohol, and other hard drugs they experimented with as youth. If they couldn’t kick the habits, you’d see them twenty years later, a cigarette still caught in their fingers, looking old beyond their years. Not so cool now. What happens inside a person’s body that seems to force him or her to continue destructive addictions? When others have moved on and put those early experiments with smoking, drinking, or drugs behind them and attempted to replace bad habits with good – or at least, less harmful, such as electronic cigarettes and moderation of other vices – why are those kids still caught in that web? Is there such a thing as an addictive personality? Are there specific personality traits that can be pointed to on a general level and found amongst a cross-section of the human population that support the theory of addictive personalities? Although a very popular notion for many years, some doctors and scientists are calling the theory a complete myth. The theory of an addictive personality grew and became popular as a way of explaining why some people become addicted to substances or behaviors and others don’t. It was posited that certain personality traits, such as acting impulsively, indifference to authority or public opinion, being devious and manipulative, and seeking escapism were generally found in people who had the most severe cases of addiction and the hardest time kicking the habit. In fact, it seemed that for every bad habit they ceased, they picked up another habit, whether it was chewing gum, running, working, or attending religious services obsessively. The potential for addiction never decreased, merely the manner in which it exhibited. Doctors and psychologists were also convinced that childhood experiences of parental neglect, inconsistency, or severe abuse also helped form a person’s personality into one of an addict. There has been some debate over whether the personality traits were symptoms of negative childhood experiences and later addictions or if the personality traits were inherent in the child and the traits combined with negative parental experiences worked in synchronicity. In Craig Naken’s 1996 book, “The Addictive Personality,” Naken took the stance that the characteristic traits of addicts were brought about by the actual addiction process itself, not the other way around. Certainly not everyone who smokes cigarettes, takes drugs, drinks alcohol, or tries a new experience becomes unable to quit, although many still claim that those most willing to experiment also tend to universally share a tendency toward anti-social behavior. A majority of the population are perfectly capable of remaining “social” smokers or drinkers, or can take drugs recreationally and occasionally without starting a cycle of abuse. There just seem to be some who can’t quit, and who become more and more dependant on the substance or behavior in order to feel normal. This was brought to light very well during the Vietnam War. Large numbers of soldiers frequently used mind-altering substances as a way to escape the reality of their situation, but upon return to their homes in the United States, most dropped the behaviors and some were unable to stop, presenting a very similar sample to the general United States population. Recently, the theory of an addictive personality has come under fire as more doctors and scientists call it a myth, an explanation for addiction that is too easily packaged to be comprehensive. As Vaillant pointed out in 1995, while the causes of alcohol addiction, for instance, might seem very obvious to the observer, the application of the experimental method would soon disabuse you of the notion that there is a nice, neat set of etiologies all alcoholics share. He said, “Trying to study the etiology of alcoholism is analogous to shooting a fish in the water. Because of the bending of light by water, the fish is never where it appears to be. We can only discover where the fish really is in the water by requiring the fish to remain stationary while we experiment…just as light passing through water confounds our perceptions, the illness of alcoholism profoundly distorts the individual’s personality, his social stability, and his own recollection of relevant childhood variables…most etiological studies of alcoholism have ignored this distorting effect and not recognized the importance of the prospective design.” Treatment of addiction has, overall, remained rigid. Confrontation, accusation, and shame have often been part of the methods in which an addict is brought to a full knowledge of his damaging behavior and coerced into changing his ways. While this has been effective for many who display addictive behaviors, some feel that over generalizing the reasons why a person becomes addicted is dangerous. New models for treatment are being developed that are more open and free of a pre-judgement and bias. For those who face an addiction to nicotine, recovery can be as difficult as giving up other drugs or even alcohol. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance found in the smoke of tobacco. It is a stimulant and a toxin, acting on multiple areas of the brain, including the pleasure center. After the initial coughing and choking that accompanies most peoples’ introduction to cigarette smoking, if smoking is continued, the person’s body becomes dependant on nicotine, and for those who become seriously addicted, the amount of nicotine needed to feel normal increases over time. It can help a person feel focused and mentally alert as well as relaxed, relieving stress during times of worry. Just as those whose bodies have become dangerously dependant on alcohol or drugs, finding an alternative, less harmful, activity can be a great boon to health. For this reason, electronic cigarettes have become very popular with former smokers who do not desire the multitude of toxins and noxious substances found in tobacco smoke. The nicotine is still available in the atomized mixture of propylene glycol, water, nicotine, and flavoring inserted into a cartridge inside the e cigarette, but all the other harmful ingredients are absent. This can’t help but boost overall health in the user, as well as the people around him. Perhaps devices and other methods can be invented to help those addicted to other harmful substances or behaviors overcome their desires in order to increase their health and well-being. Blue World Solutions offers electronic cigarettes, a smoking alternative with an authentic flavor, experience, and price. No tobacco, carcinogens, or lighter. Smoke is replaced with an almost odorless vapor, eliminating second hand smoke. (http://www.blueworldsolutions.com)
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