While discussing game addiction in another forum, it left me wondering if anybody that has the ability to focus exclusively on one activity might have generally have an addictive personality. Anybody who can spend many hours to create an artistic work certainly has the ability to focus on a task in a single-minded fashion. This isn't to say that creative people are substance addicts. It might mean that they are more prone to substance abuse if they start taking them.

I'm mostly basing this observation on myself and the few other creative people I know personally. With the small sample I've look at, I see the ability to have a focus, sometimes bordering obsession, on a variety of areas ranging from their ability to create to hobbies. I'm wondering if others here see a similar ability to focus highly on the things that they do--creative and otherwise.

None of this is meant in a negative sense. There is probably a better phrase than "addictive personality" because it carries so many undesirable connotations. Medically, only physical substances, such as illegal drugs, are recognized as addictive. The media is quick to label far too many activities as addictive (videogames, porn, etc.) and blame the object of obsession as causing the addiction. The only addiction is inherent in the person. Unlike addictive substances that can hook anybody, psychological addictions only affect a small fraction of the populace. The vast majority of supposed psychological addictions are just a difference of behaviors. A person playing videogames three hours a week will be called a videogame addict. A person recreationally reading three hours a day will be congratulated. Anybody not glued to their TV three hours a day watching sports is a sissy. In all three instances, the individual is essentially isolated from the world for an extended period of time. One can quibble which activity is better for the individual. Trying to classify one as a dangerous addiction is ridiculous.

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