When coaching alcoholics and drug addicts, I used to be amazed that people could so easily relapse and fall back into their addictions through sheer boredom – until I came across another addiction that some people have.
Many addicts have chaotic and dramatic lifestyles and spend their lives stumbling from one calamitous incident to the next. After getting sober, life can feel very flat and boring.
Alcoholics and drug addicts can actually be addicted to drama. Drama addicts are obsessed with chasing the highs and lows of unmanageability and chaos.
Beliefs and Drama Addiction
But it’s not just alcoholics and drug addicts who can become addicted to emotions and states – many people find themselves living their lives according to unhelpful patterns because of their beliefs.
Drama addiction can be driven by beliefs such as “Life is not interesting without the highs and lows”, which is a common belief. However, there are healthy ways to experience rollercoaster states if you really want to; entrepreneurship, training for a marathon, or raising teenagers.
Childhood Trauma and Drama Addiction
Some people gravitate to drama because their childhood experiences trained them to accept it as normal. If you had a rocky upbringing, chaos can feel familiar, and humans are pulled to the familiar even when it’s damaging and painful.
Some people may be drawn to toxic people who create drama because they want to “fix” it. This is a misguided subconscious effort to resolve a past where they couldn’t control or fix the chaos.
Creating drama may make people feel important and special if they have low self-esteem. Provoking others may create a false sense of power when you feel powerless. This also comes from childhood trauma.
Self-sabotage can also come into play here; just when things are running smoothly, you do something crazy or blow up your life. Again, childhood trauma can cause this to become a pattern.
What to Do About Drama Addiction
The roots of drama addiction lie in your subconscious mind, which is where all unhelpful beliefs and patterns start.
Recognising that you may be addicted to drama is the first step in resolving it. Therapies which work directly with the subconscious mind are your best bet to resolve the root causes of drama addiction.
