You may have been told that you, or your drug or alcohol abusing loved one, has an "addictive personality". You possibly have other family members who have fallen into the trap of addiction and, to some, this "genetic" explanation brings relief.

What is an addictive personality? And more importantly, will this classification assist you in saving the addict's life? After all, that is what you are after. An intellectual understanding of the problem, which yet leaves you unable to help, is useless.

The dictionary defines "addictive personality" as one which is "characterized by or susceptible to addiction". Once a person is an addict, their personality is definitely "characterized by addiction". So that does us no good. Regarding susceptibility: What makes one "susceptible to addiction"?

To understand that, we must realize what all drugs (including alcohol, which is a drug) have in common. Drugs are basically pain killers. They kill physical and emotional pain. A person may start using drugs or alcohol to numb pain, leading to addiction. People addicted to prescription pain medication were simply trying to numb pain. To a young person, boredom may be mentally and emotionally painful, and the drugs provide relief and escape from that pain. Being unable to communicate well so as to solve relationship problems can be painful. Stress can be painful. Not to mention losing a loved one.

So pain can make anyone "susceptible to addiction".

Another contributing factor is false information. Nowadays, the idea that everything can be fixed with a pill is widely promoted. A child who is "too active" gets "cured" with a pill (a generation ago parents ensured kids got enough exercise, and waited for them to grow up); headaches get treated with a pill; being in a bad mood has a pill; being shy is "cured" with a drink. And all those substances are touted as safe and non-habit forming!

So false information about drugs can lead a person into drug use. By the time they discover that they have been lied to, it may be too late.

Once the person starts using drugs, there is one more factor that makes them an addictive personality or susceptible to addiction: drug cravings.

Such cravings stem from drug residues accumulated and stored in the user's fatty tissue due to earlier drug use.

A common falsehood being promoted to youth is that marijuana, for instance, leaves the body in 30 days. Marijuana may not show in a urine analysis several days after use, but its active ingredient, THC, stores in fat tissue. The same is true for other drugs, including prescription drugs. Those drug residues can get mobilize due to stress, physical activity, weight loss, etc. and get back into the blood stream, triggering physical cravings.

That's when the addict, who has just promised you that they were going to quit, runs out and gets more drugs.

The Narconon Program dispels the myth of the "addictive personality". The Narconon New Life Detoxification program eliminates physical cravings by flushing out the accumulated drug residues. Then the Narconon Life Skill courses give the addict the ability to face life, with its joys and pain, without escaping to drugs. Thus the former addict is made able to lead a drug-free life.