Low self-esteem can lead to "Validation of addictions"

“Validation addiction” is not a recognized term in the addiction or mental health community. It is a term that the author has created to represent a phenomenon that seems to be increasingly prevalent in our current society.

Validation addiction is a behavior in which the person is in a constant search for others to help them feel worthy. Low self-esteem is one of the fundamental factors of people who constantly seek validation. Another common factor about those who have become so involved in the search for validation in an addictive way, is that many of these people were totally invalidated when they were young.

It is very important to note that validation addiction is largely unconscious behavior. This means that the person does not consciously know that they are actively seeking to be validated to improve their self-esteem or sense of self-empowerment.

The validation addiction can appear as the husband spending hours online chatting with other women, while his wife is sleeping or busy. It may seem that the person who spends too much on clothes is fashionable. You may seem like the politician who becomes too dramatic to make a terrible point by attacking the opposition. It’s evident in politicians like the former congressman who spent hours texting other women and then denying it.

Validation addiction can appear as people looking to others for compliments on their work, their hair, their new weight, or their beautiful children. It can appear on the Facebook addict, who constantly adds intimate details and images from his life.

It can appear in many forms, and yet there is one caveat. To be an addiction, the person’s behavior must have a negative consequence, or negative consequences, somewhere in their life as a result of this behavior.

Validation is defined as the act of validating; find or prove the truth of something, or prove the solidity of something. Some synonyms for validation are: justification, proof, support, authentication, certification, and documentation.

When it comes to applying the word validation to human behavior, it would mean that someone is looking for or needs foundation, support, or proof to be whatever they are projecting.

For example, a man who has achieved great notoriety as a lawyer may flaunt his success by wearing extremely expensive suits, watches, shoes, and have flashy cars to attract the attention and admiration of the rest of the legal profession in his area. A famous musician or athlete can flaunt their success through public displays, which may or may not seem appropriate, but they definitely attract attention. Looking for a healthy or addictive validation?

There are definitely healthy ways to seek validation, and many of us do them every day. Seeking validation for a scientific project, a breakthrough in medicine, a plan for a house, a design for a dress, a kitchen design, and many other examples are healthy search-validation approaches to certify or authenticate a project.

A child who seeks validation as to whether or not he is following directions is usually a child who seeks support in a healthy way. A worker who consults with his team, coworker, or boss to see if he is on the right track on a particular project, seeks validation in a healthy way. These examples often indicate that the person has good self-esteem.

Many people are unconsciously acting out repetitive behavior that gives them some acceptance, approval, recognition, power, notoriety, or validation that he or she is “special.” When a person has this attention seeking behavior (seeking validation), and the behavior causes a problem in their life somewhere, they are likely acting compulsively or addictively. This almost always indicates low self-esteem.