Do you think John Lennon had an addictive personality? | Fab Forum | The Beatles Bible

Welcome, @merrymunky.

An interesting thought which has some validity, but not something I feel quite captures the nature of John’s personality.

John’s personality, to my mind, was more rolling obsessive than addictive. He spent much of his life searching for the missing piece of his jigsaw puzzle, for something to fill the hole the losses and absences of his youth had left him with.

With addiction, that is often a hole people get stuck in that they would escape if they could, while the rolling obsessive is always looking over the horizon for the next thing to believe in. Something that is often said about John, including by him himself at times, was that he was always looking for the next guru.

He would find a guru, a new belief, dive into it two hundred percent, and then desert it when, either, he found it didn’t offer what he sought, or he found something new that diverted his attention.

That is an obsessive personality, not addictive; though each obsession can look like an addiction because of the individuals total immersion in at the time.

It was an aspect of John’s character long before he met Yoko, and had he lived – whether his relationship with Yoko survived or not – it would likely have continued to be so.

Myself, I don’t see anything strange about him saying he wanted to grow old with Yoko. Most people in relationships would hope their partner had a similar view of a future together.

You may find this thread interesting as it also discusses the nature of John’s personality and his drives.