Overcoming Addiction

 

What Is Addiction?

Addiction can take many forms. Drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, nicotine, food, and many other stimuli can be the source of addiction. Serious addictions can lead to problems with your health, finances, relationships, and almost every aspect of your life.

True addiction is a disease affecting circuits in the brain. When an addiction takes hold, your behavior control suffers. You lose the ability to consistently avoid the sources of your addiction. You also tend to minimize the extent to which the addiction is harming your quality of life.

However, addictions can be overcome with a variety of strategies and determination. The following is a list of tips you can follow to overcome an addiction, or to help someone close to you become victorious in their own addiction battles.

Decide to Stop

Your genetics, your surroundings, and your own biology all contribute to the likelihood that you may become an addict. However, your choices are also what fuel addictions. Deciding to try a new drug, for example, may be the first unhealthy choice in what becomes a hard-to-kick habit. But deciding to confront and overcome your addiction is the first positive choice in what will need to be a lifetime of healthy decisions.

Only when you recognize that you have an addiction can you truly start to end it. It’s common for people with addictions to deny that they have a problem. They may actually sense that their behavior is unhealthy, but convince themselves that they are in control. If you don’t recognize your addiction for what it is, your friends and family may need to step in and confront you with the truth. These confrontations are often known as “interventions.” They are meant to help convince an addict that their behavior needs to change.

Whatever gets you to see the problem and decide to overcome the addiction is the right start. The next steps, however, are also very important. They can give you the tools to kick your addiction and live a healthier life.

Get Treatment

Some addictions can be overcome through willpower and discipline. Quitting “cold turkey” can work for some people, particularly if the addiction is mild or has not been ongoing for a long time. If your level of addiction is serious, you may be best served by participating in an outpatient or inpatient treatment program. You may even need drugs and other medical attention to help you deal with withdrawal symptoms.

Treatment programs teach you about your addiction and how to avoid returning to the addictive behavior. One key to successful treatment is sticking with the program for a sufficient period of time. You should also make sure the program addresses more than just the addiction. You may have depression or another form of mental illness in addition to your addiction. Make sure your addiction treatment program is comprehensive.Read more

Source: (healthline)