CNBNews

(Gloucestercitynews.net)(August 30, 2019)--Many people would assume that smarter folks stay away from drug abuse. However, research has suggested otherwise. The best leaders in the world, the most dedicated, and driven people, as well as individuals that think outside the box, are wired differently. Some researchers have even suggested that a significant number of the C-Suite group might have more psychopathic and sociopathic tendencies than the rest of the population.

These traits do not fall too far into the pathology realm. And, it’s thought that these traits are the qualifications that lead individuals into stardom. However, high-powered achievers have another common comorbidity. They are likely to abuse substances. Many experts have agreed that this is a logical overlap that can be explained in neurological, molecular, and psychological terms.

What Makes a Good Businessman Makes a Good Addict Too

The traits that make a good businessman or CEO are the same traits that make a good addict. Such traits include a strong success drive, risk-taking, dedication, obsession, and novelty-seeking. So, before you call an addiction hotline seeking help with a substance abuse problem, think about how you can use these traits to develop and grow a business. Calling a drug hotline can help you get information about addiction and the available treatment options. This toll-free number is manned by knowledgeable and friendly representatives. The representatives are professionals that understand addiction and how to address it. What’s more, they are confidential and all the information disclosed during the call is not shared with third parties.

But, before you make a call to a rehab, understand that the traits that make individuals successful businessmen and leaders are also the ones that can lead them to addiction. Researchers suggest that the pleasure that some individuals derive from success in the novel or risky business ventures, is carried by the brain pathways that are also responsible for making substance abuse irresistible.

Researchers say it’s about reward and pleasure-seeking. However, this push-pull system has mechanics that are somehow different. The idea is generally counterintuitive. You may wonder why an individual can use a substance to a point of calling a drug addiction help hotline seeking assistance. However, if using the substance gives the person an above-average pleasure, it’s possible to use it more. This may be reasonable but it’s wrong.

Research has shown that addictions are complex diseases that are tied to genetic to some extent. Variations in genetic predispose some individuals to become addicts. These can be the mutations that are responsible for dampening the dopamine system of an individual. The variations can be of any form including dopamine receptors, dopamine transporters, or dopamine synthesizing enzymes.

What Happens?

Gene variations make people seek different pleasure points. A normal person may get their desired effect from a few drinks. However, a person with a higher predisposition for addiction may need more drinks to get their desired effect. Therefore, individuals at a high risk of becoming addicts get more pleasure from using more of the addictive substance. But, research has unraveled more details about intelligent people or successful businessmen and addiction.

One study involved almost 8,000 individuals whose IQ scores were measured at the ages of 5 to 10 years and followed up to the ages of 16 to 30 years. This study established that individuals that had higher IQ scores were likely to use cocaine, cannabis, amphetamines, ecstasy, or combine these drugs. Women whose IQ scores were in the top third level were twice more likely to have used cocaine or cannabis by the age of 30 than women whose IQ scores were in the third bottom section.

Men that had high IQ scores were almost twice likely to have used amphetamines and 65% more likely to have used ecstasy in comparison to men that had low IQ scores. The study established similar relationships for alcohol consumption. Intelligence was highlighted as the second major alcohol consumption predicator after accounting for parental education, social class, religion, and life satisfaction. Gender is the first drinking predicator.

Some researchers have also suggested that intelligent people tend to get bored faster. As such, they tend to use drugs to alleviate boredom. What’s more, intelligent people get more utilities in drug experiences. They can easily incorporate what they learn from their altered states into their view of the world.

To some extent, this explains why the addiction face has changed almost world-over. Today, the people calling drug and alcohol hotlines are no longer low-income and uneducated individuals. Substance abuse is a problem that is affecting high-powered business executives and upper-middle-class individuals.

Stress and Trauma

Another reason why businessmen may be prone to drugs is stress or trauma. Most top executives achieve at their level because of trauma or stress that may have happened earlier on in their lives. The kind of drive that is exhibited by most successful people is generally fueled by an experience that happened earlier on in their lives.

Some of these people lacked basic needs during their childhood. This drives them to work hard to ensure that their children do not miss the same basic needs. Unfortunately, this leads to overworking and more problems. Eventually, some of them start self-medicating and end up calling drug helpline numbers seeking assistance with addiction.

People that are neglected or abused in their childhood are likely to develop addictions. This can be attributed to stress hormones. When these hormones get into the brain of an individual early in life, they can change their brain circuitry, particularly their reward system. The short-term effect of this change is craving while the long-term effect is the likelihood of becoming an addict.

The Bottom Line

Successful businessmen have the same traits that make good addicts. This explains why renowned businessmen are also abusing drugs to a point of calling rehab numbers for help. Early life trauma or stress and genetic predisposition can jointly or singly increase the risk of developing an addiction. Most businessmen are driven by trauma or stress that happened early in life to excel. However, this drive to excel can lead to overworking and other problems that may necessitate self-medicating and eventual addiction.