List of Character Defects Symptoms, Building Awareness & Learning How to Live

The We Level Up FL mental health center is a highly specialized, modern, up-to-date facility providing innovative behavioral recovery therapy programs. Therapies take place in a tranquil manicured setting with outdoor relaxation areas offering renewal spaces.


What Are Character Defects or What are Defects of Character? Character Defects Definition

What are character defects in recovery or what are character defects in recovery? Definition of character defects (defects of character definition): character defects in recovery refer to any challenge in personal characteristics that may affect your life and interactions with others less than ideal. Defects of character can range greatly; if you are experiencing severe signs of character defects, they could be symptoms of mental health issues.

These elements, like greed, can negatively influence how you lead your life, contributing to cycles of poor behavior. For example, acting in anger can result in inadequate responses to challenging life events, like using drugs or abusing addictive substances to overcome feelings of rage toward others. Identifying evidence of defects in your own life can be clarifying, isolating where you’ve gone wrong and what kinds of actions are necessary to see personal improvements.

Character Defects List (List of Defects of Character) & Common Character Defects

What is a character defect? Character defects or defect of character are considered (defects of character examples) to be all the flaws that you have allowed to pile up without taking any responsibility for them. These shortcomings are what give you mental permission to silently suffer or take out your distress on someone else. 

You can also look for a character defects worksheet PDF, character defects examples, a character defects list PDF, a printable character defects worksheet, an AA character defects worksheet, a list of character defects and definitions PDF, a character defects AA big book, a “what are my character defects quiz”, a list of character defects and their opposites AA PDF, and character defects in recovery worksheets PDF on the internet in order to identify your own defects of character vs shortcomings at home.

These defects exist in numerous forms and can vary from one group to another based on what is assessed. In general, character defects examples include:

A character defects list can be symptoms of serious mental health disorders, where these defects affect your life call us for help.
A character defects list can be symptoms of serious mental health disorders, where these defects affect your life call us for help.

At We Level Up FL Treatment Center, individuals with character defects can expect a highly trained and experienced team of professionals dedicated to helping them overcome their challenges.

Get Help. Get Better. Get Your Life Back.

Searching for Accredited Dual Diagnosis Mental Health Centers Near You?

Even if therapy failed previously, or are in the middle of a difficult crisis, we stand ready to support you. Our trusted behavioral health specialists will not give up on you. When you feel ready or just want someone to speak to about counseling alternatives to change your life call us. Even if we cannot assist you, we will lead you to wherever you can get support. There is no obligation. Call our hotline today.

FREE 24/7 Dual Diagnosis Mental Health Services Hotline

Examples of Defects of Character – List Character Defects

  • Abusing Others for enjoyment
  • Aloof
  • Antagonistic
  • Anxiety
  • Apathetic
  • Appearances, preoccupied or obsessed with
  • Argumentative
  • Arrogance
  • Avoiding confrontation
  • Beating yourself up
  • Beauty, obsession or preoccupation with
  • Bigotry
  • Blaming self or others for disease
  • Boastful
  • Boundaries, not setting
  • Cheating
  • Closed-mindedness
  • Codependence
  • Coldheartedness
  • Communication, poor
  • Compassion, lack of
  • Competitive, excessively
  • Conceit
  • Condemning
  • Controlling Others
  • Cowardice
  • Critical
  • Crude
  • Deceptive, deceiving
  • Destructive
  • Devious
  • Dishonesty
  • Disorganized
  • Egotistical
  • Envious
  • Exaggeration
  • Faith, lack of faith in God
  • Fanatical
  • Fearful
  • Filthy-mindedness
  • Financially insecure
  • Frustration
  • Gluttony
  • Gossiping
  • Greed
  • Guilt, feeling guilty for things beyond control
  • Hatred of self or others
  • Health, irresponsibility with or neglect of
  • Help, refusing/not asking for
  • Hopelessness
  • Ill wishes toward others
  • Immodesty
  • Impatience
  • Impulsive purchaser
  • Incompassionate
  • Indecisive
  • Injustice
  • Insecure
  • Insensitivity
  • Irresponsibility, financial
  • Isolating
  • Jealousy
  • Judgmental of others
  • Laziness
  • Love and friendship, refusal to accept
  • Lustful
  • Lying
  • Manipulative
  • Measuring self against others
  • Messy
  • Negative Thinking
  • Negatives, focusing on or magnifying
  • Neglectful
  • Opinionated
  • Overcompensating for projected wrongs
  • Overcompensating for weaknesses
  • Perfectionism
  • Pessimism
  • Physical appearance, obsession or preoccupation with
  • Playing God
  • Possessive
  • Preachy
  • Prejudice
  • Prideful
  • Procrastination
  • Psychoanalysis of others
  • Reckless
  • Remorseful
  • Resentment
  • Revenge, vengefulness
  • Rude
  • Sarcastic
  • Secretive
  • Seeking attention
  • Self Condemnation
  • Self Deprecating humor
  • Self Pity
  • Self Seeking
  • Self-absorbed
  • Self-centeredness Self-centeredness
  • Self-indulgence
  • Selfishness
  • Self-loathing
  • Setting expectations
  • Sex, lack of appreciation for
  • Sloth
  • Stealing
  • Suspicious
  • Thoughtless
  • Uncharitableness
  • Ungrateful
  • Unreliable
  • Untrustworthy
  • Vengeful
  • Vulgar Immoral Thinking
  • Wasteful
  • Worry

Are you or somebody you know at serious risk of an overdose because of drug or alcohol abuse? If so, please call 911 right away. There are addiction rehab center addiction hotlines that can help guide you to proper local therapists & facilities. 

SAMHSA TREATMENT HELPLINE

Struggling with substance use disorder? SAMHSA’s Addiction Treatment Helpline can connect you with proper help. (800) 662-4357

DRUG or ALCOHOL POISON CONTROL

If you’re experiencing or witnessing a drug- or alcohol-related poisoning, the poison control hotline can help.  (800) 222-1222            

Your character defects will keep you circling the drain if you continue to live in them. There is no way for you to make changes if you do not recognize what is keeping you from progressing in your recovery. You can only make changes as your character defects are revealed to you. Some of them will be obvious, but others will be part of the evolution you will experience while looking inside yourself to find freedom. Yes, work must take place to move you in a different direction. You will be better for it if you hang on for the ride and allow the transformation to occur.

List of Character Defects
A character flaw, or character defect, is any type of imperfection in the way a person thinks or behaves. 

Sitting in self-pity because of all the shame and guilt you feel is understandable – for a bit. Feeling remorse for the past is part of accepting responsibility for the harm you’ve done. Eventually, however, you have to stop feeling sorry for yourself and get moving toward the solution offered in your recovery. 

List of Character Defects and Their Opposites – List of Character Defects and Assets

These are some examples of character defects and assets (defects of character list).

  • Selfish Unselfish/Giving/Sharing
  • Dishonest/Honest
  • Resentful/Forgiving
  • Afraid/Fear Faith
  • Arrogant/Humble
  • Egotistical/Egoism Modest
  • Cocky/Mild
  • Envy/Grateful
  • Sloth/Hard Working/Industrious
  • Gluttony/Sharing
  • Impatient/Patient
  • Vengeful/Loving
  • Hurtful/Kind
  • Sarcastic/Complimentary
  • Intolerant/Tolerant
  • Hateful/Forgiving
  • Inconsiderate/Considerate
  • False Pride/Modest
  • Greedy Content/Giving
  • Thieving Honest/Giving
  • Lustful/Content
  • Angry/Happy
  • Jealous Secure/Trusting
  • Procrastination/Timely
  • Self-Seeking Charity/Helpful for others
  • Self-Centered Selfless/Thoughtful
  • Self – Righteous/Gracious
  • Self – Pity Lenient/Positive
  • Self – Justification/Accepting
  • Self – Important Considerate of others
  • Self – Condemnation/criticism Self – Embracing/ approval
  • Self – Harming Smoking, Over-eating Self Esteem – Self Love
  • Low Self – Esteem Self -Acceptance

The supportive and welcoming environment at We Level Up FL Treatment Center encourages individuals with character defects to take the first step towards recovery and improve their overall well-being.

Ryan Zofay forming a circle and hugging friends.

End the Emotional Pain. Get Your Life Back.

Feeling Depressed, Anxious or Struggling with Mental Health Illness? Get Safe Comfortable Mental Health Dual Diagnosis High-Quality Therapy From Counselors That Care. Begin Your Recovery Now.

Hotline (855) 940-6125

Do I Have Defects?

Character defect definition: Identifying flaws in your thoughts and behaviors is often hard to do. It’s easy to justify your actions; for example, you were greedy because you thought you needed goods or services more than other people, but participating in support groups or therapies involves genuine introspection that goes beyond rationalizing individual choices.

In reality, we all have defects. No one is perfect, regardless of a history of — or lack of — substance abuse or mental health issues. However, everyone has areas in which they can improve, from being jealous of a coworker who got a promotion to being angry at a friend who makes more money.

Develop Questions

Taking a concept, like greed, and interpreting it in the context of your own personality isn’t as simple as it sounds. To ensure this exercise is as effective as possible, draw up some questions that make it easier to conceptualize how certain character defects play into your past and current behaviors. Some examples include:

  • How does a certain character defect manifest?
  • How is behavior affected by a certain character defect?
  • What are the consequences of a certain character defect?
  • In what ways can a certain character defect affect the use of drugs or alcohol?
  • How can a certain character defect stand in the way of a healthy recovery?
  • Have I been affected by this character defect?

Once you’ve isolated a list of questions relevant to your summary of character defects, it’s time to put them to use. Go through each shortcoming one by one and give answers to each question. These can be yes or no answers or, for some questions, longer and more involved responses. The important part of this exercise is to evaluate honestly how each character defect can play a role in facilitating poor behavior and whether you’ve displayed any of these challenging traits.

List of Character Defects
Character defects are barriers to recovery but these are the things that we can control.

Create a List of Character Defects

Understanding what constitutes a character defect is essential for taking a personal inventory.

Don’t limit yourself to character defects that may seem personal only to you or that you’re already aware of. Instead, be as inclusive as possible. Without further introspection, you may not even see the other defects that have affected you.

A moral inventory asks you to take stock of yourself, to identify, admit, and ultimately to hand over defects of character. Deep inside we know our failings. 

Sometimes it’s just as hard to identify and name what’s good about yourself as what’s negative. An honest assessment of your strengths is just as important as an admission of your weaknesses. Remember progress, is not perfection. You will not do this perfectly, but just doing it may yield great rewards.

First-class Facilities & Amenities

World-class High-Quality Mental Health Services & Behaviroal Health Substance Abuse Treatment

Rehab Centers Tour

Renowned Mental Health Centers. Serene Private Facilities. Inpatient Rehab Programs Vary.

Mental Health Helpline (855) 940-6125

Proven recovery success experience, backed by a Team w/ History of:

15+

Years of Unified Experience

100s

5-Star Reviews Across Our Centers

10K

Recovery Successes

  • Comprehensive Dual-Diagnosis Treatment
  • Complimentary Family & Alumni Programs
  • Coaching, Recovery & Development Events
  • Comfortable Onsite Medical Detox Center

AA List of Character Defects – AA Character Defects List (AA Character Defect List)

Bill Wilson, the man who founded Alcoholics Anonymous, created the 12-step program in 1935, and many recovery organizations use it today. People are able to take a better way forward by working through the 12 comprehensive steps designed to assist those with substance abuse disorders in finding acceptance, facing the truth, and making amends. The steps are sequential, and once practitioners have achieved adequate progress on one, they move on to the next.

A thorough examination of one’s situation and self is necessary as one progresses through the processes. In particular, step four, which states that we should “Make a deep and fearless moral inventory of ourselves,” is true. To determine the underlying causes of addiction and how to improve, it is crucial to reflect on personal flaws and limitations. This is the character defects list AA (Alcoholics Anonymous).

AA Character Defects – AA Defects of Character List & Narcotics Anonymous Character Defects (NA Character Defects List)

The following are part of the list of character defects and shortcomings or character defects AA:

  • Greed
  • Anger
  • Fear
  • Cowardice
  • Egotism
  • Guilt
  • Dishonesty
  • Impatience
  • Hate
  • Pride
  • Denial
  • Jealousy
  • Laziness
  • Insincerity
  • Negative or immoral thinking
  • Intolerance

AA Character Defects and Assets (Character Assets and Defects) – Alcoholics Anonymous List of Character Defects (Alcoholic Character Defects)

The identification of character defects is also a big part of the 12 steps of alcoholics anonymous (alcoholics anonymous character defects), therefore to its different variations like NA or Al-Anon. This is the Al anon character defects list:

  • Selfish Unselfish/Giving/Sharing
  • Dishonest/Honest
  • Resentful/Forgiving
  • Afraid/Fear Faith
  • Arrogant/Humble
  • Egotistical/Egoism Modest
  • Cocky/Mild
  • Envy/Grateful
  • Sloth/Hard Working/Industrious
  • Gluttony/Sharing
  • Impatient/Patient
  • Vengeful/Loving
  • Hurtful/Kind
  • Sarcastic/Complimentary
  • Intolerant/Tolerant
  • Hateful/Forgiving
  • Inconsiderate/Considerate
  • False Pride/Modest
  • Greedy Content/Giving
  • Thieving Honest/Giving
  • Lustful/Content
  • Angry/Happy
  • Jealous Secure/Trusting
  • Procrastination/Timely
  • Self-Seeking Charity/Helpful for others
  • Self-Centered Selfless/Thoughtful
  • Self – Righteous/Gracious
  • Self – Pity Lenient/Positive
  • Self – Justification/Accepting
  • Self – Important Considerate of others
  • Self – Condemnation/criticism Self – Embracing/ approval
  • Self – Harming Smoking, Over-eating Self Esteem – Self Love
  • Low Self – Esteem Self -Acceptance

World-class, Accredited, 5-Star Reviewed, Effective Mental Health Dual Diagnosis Programs. Complete Integrated Inpatient Rehab with Free Post Discharge Therapy Planning.

CALL (855) 940-6125

End the Emotional Pain Rollercoaster. Gain Stability & Happiness Through Recovery Treatment. Start Mental Health Counseling Today. Get Free No-obligation Guidance by Behaviroal Health Specialists Who Understand Mental Health Recovery.

Building Awareness

There are numerous ways to build awareness surrounding your character’s defects.

Ways to build awareness include:

  • Becoming willing to address your flaws and imperfections head-on can be challenging to take an honest and fearless look at yourself and the areas of your life that need improvement. However, once you become willing to work towards self-betterment, you open up doors you never deemed imaginable, no matter how hard that might be.
  • Congratulating yourself on even the “smallest” of successes – Say one of your main character flaws is laziness. To combat this lack of motivation, you start making your bed every day and cooking yourself breakfast to get the morning started on the right foot. You should be congratulating yourself every morning you get up and get moving – every accomplishment is worth celebrating!
  • Writing a journal– Progress is a process. Keeping a log of your day-to-day is a great way to identify common themes and things you tell yourself, exposing stuff you need to work on. Looking back on your journal can also help you realize the progress you’ve made.
  • Meditation and self-awareness – Building awareness of how the mind directly affects your thoughts and behavior can teach you to identify negative and self-destructive behaviors.
List of Character Defects
Whatever you discover about yourself, the important thing is that you become willing to overcome these defects of character.

Learning How to Live

If we cannot help but feel angry, fearful, sad, and jealous at times, and we are told that feeling angry, fearful, sad, or jealous is a flaw and a failure, then success is essentially rendered impossible.  Rather than turning natural human emotions into defects, more time could easily be spent highlighting and building on strengths.  Many of the so-called defects in the recovery world are actually strengths that are misapplied.

We cannot change our defects overnight. By becoming aware of them we can decide to do something about them and can on many occasions pre-empt them from rearing their ugly heads. We can decide to stop being so self-seeking. 

These character defects are all around us, and they’re the core of a recovering individual. Our job is to find ways to turn these dominant traits into fuel to a better, healthier self. Our mental health treatment programs at We Level Up FL can help you identify and understand these character defects and treat any possible mental health disorder correlated to them. 

The We Level Up FL mental health center is a highly specialized, modern, up-to-date facility providing innovative behavioral recovery therapy programs. Therapies take place in a tranquil manicured setting with outdoor relaxation areas offering renewal spaces. Providing science-based mental health treatments designed for each client & delivered through highly personalized individual care.

If you have questions regarding your diagnosis or want licensed guidance or therapy, please contact us.

At We Level Up FL Treatment Center, individuals battling character defects are met with personalized treatment plans that use medical expertise, counseling, and holistic practices to foster positive change.

Experience Transformative Recovery at the We Level Up Treatment Center.

See our authentic success stories. Get inspired. Get the help you deserve.

We Level Up Treatment Centers for Drug Alcohol Rehab Detox Behavioral Mental Health Dual Diagnosis Therapy We Level Up Treatment Centers for Drug Alcohol Rehab Detox Behavioral Mental Health Dual Diagnosis Therapy We Level Up Treatment Centers for Drug Alcohol Rehab Detox Behavioral Mental Health Dual Diagnosis Therapy
Hotline (855) 940-6125
Voluntarily testimonials from the We Level Up Treatment Center network vary. Not intended as a guaranteed treatment or outcome as each person's journey is unique.

Start a New Life

Begin with a free call to a behavioral health treatment advisor. Learn more about our dual-diagnosis programs. The We Level Up treatment center network delivers recovery programs that vary by each treatment facility. Call to learn more.

  • Personalized Care
  • Caring Accountable Staff
  • World-class Amenities
  • Licensed & Accredited
  • Renowned w/ 5-Star Reviews

We’ll Call You


Sources

[1] AACL org – https://www.aacle.org/defects-of-character/

[2] NIH – https://search.nih.gov/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&affiliate=nih&query=12+Steps+of+AA&commit