Dealing With Addictions
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When you begin to look at statistics dealing with addiction, it becomes even harder to stomach. According to a startling update to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the number of Americans with addictions to drugs and alcohol could be as high as 23 million, but we know it doesn’t end there. With the specification of “drugs and alcohol”, it doesn’t cover other addictions which can be just as harmful to one’s life, such as gambling, or even sex.
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The Ever Growing Addiction Problem
There is also a phenomenon known as addiction replacement. Addicts who go down this road will take one problem and switch it with another. For example, someone who is addicted to alcohol may begin to smoke large amounts of marijuana. A former opiate addict could begin habitually overeating to deal with the stress of losing their former coping mechanism. A gambling addict could begin engaging in dangerous impulse buying that bankrupts them.
Usually, the argument for this replacement is that the new addiction is less harmful than the old one. In some cases this might be true, but that doesn’t make it a good course of action. The point of battling addiction is not to reduce its impact by giving it a new focus. It is to recover from that addiction entirely.
Healthy Habits, Not New AddictionsInstead, one alternative is to begin developing lifelong, healthy habits. It is harder work, but far more effective in both the long term.
In 2011, an interesting book was released on Kindle by a man named Mishka Shubaly. He had been battling alcoholism, and it had badly impacted his overall life and health. His solution? It wasn’t a rehab center, or a special medication. He began to run, starting at five miles, then gradually increasing it all the way to 50 miles.
You can find a similar story from the creator of the comic The Oatmeal, who talks about his constant fight against what he calls the “Blerch”. The Blerch is a character he created to represent his inherent tendency towards unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as drinking and eating.
Of course, it isn’t always that simple, and sometimes professional help is the only thing that is going to allow an addict to get past their problem. But it illustrates how one healthy habit can be a coping mechanism, and help lead away from addictive behaviors.
This is not a theory without its foundation in scientific study. Dr. Kelly McGonigal Ph.D found when working with addicts that something as simple as mindfulness could be the key to breaking beyond temptation. It could, in some cases, be a matter of willpower when it comes to beginning the recovery process. That is quite reassuring to anyone who has been impacted by this horrific disease.
There is also a phenomenon known as addiction replacement. Addicts who go down this road will take one problem and switch it with another. For example, someone who is addicted to alcohol may begin to smoke large amounts of marijuana. A former opiate addict could begin habitually overeating to deal with the stress of losing their former coping mechanism. A gambling addict could begin engaging in dangerous impulse buying that bankrupts them.
Usually, the argument for this replacement is that the new addiction is less harmful than the old one. In some cases this might be true, but that doesn’t make it a good course of action. The point of battling addiction is not to reduce its impact by giving it a new focus. It is to recover from that addiction entirely.
Healthy Habits, Not New AddictionsInstead, one alternative is to begin developing lifelong, healthy habits. It is harder work, but far more effective in both the long term.
In 2011, an interesting book was released on Kindle by a man named Mishka Shubaly. He had been battling alcoholism, and it had badly impacted his overall life and health. His solution? It wasn’t a rehab center, or a special medication. He began to run, starting at five miles, then gradually increasing it all the way to 50 miles.
You can find a similar story from the creator of the comic The Oatmeal, who talks about his constant fight against what he calls the “Blerch”. The Blerch is a character he created to represent his inherent tendency towards unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as drinking and eating.
Of course, it isn’t always that simple, and sometimes professional help is the only thing that is going to allow an addict to get past their problem. But it illustrates how one healthy habit can be a coping mechanism, and help lead away from addictive behaviors.
This is not a theory without its foundation in scientific study. Dr. Kelly McGonigal Ph.D found when working with addicts that something as simple as mindfulness could be the key to breaking beyond temptation. It could, in some cases, be a matter of willpower when it comes to beginning the recovery process. That is quite reassuring to anyone who has been impacted by this horrific disease.