How To Break The Cycle Of Addiction

Addiction is a way of life for many people because it temporarily allows them to forget their problems. You may be one of them, but don’t give up even if you feel trapped in the cycle of addiction. 

You can do many things to break the cycle, and many people can help you. To do that, you must first understand what’s behind the cycle of addiction, so you can move on to the ways to break from it.

What Is Addiction?

Before knowing how to break the cycle of addiction, it’s essential to understand what addiction is. Typically, most people think about drugs or alcohol when talking about addiction. By definition, addiction is a psychological or physical need to use, take, or do something. 

And the doing, taking, or using of such could harm or endanger yourself and the people around you. When you’re addicted to something, your life seems to depend on it, making you lose control of how you use that something. 

When this happens, you may end up in the cycle of addiction because the brain no longer works the way it should. You may need more time to break this cycle since developing addictive behavior also takes time. 

However, recovering or breaking from such a cycle is always possible, especially if you work with professionals. You can visit https://jacksonhousecares.com or similar sites to learn more information.

Meanwhile, besides alcohol and drugs, here are other things that could make someone addicted that you should be wary of: 

• Shopping: You may impulsively buy things you don’t want or need to achieve a buzz. After some time, you become in despair, ashamed, or guilty about such activity.
• Solvents: Solvent abuse can be deadly. Some people inhale volatile substances, like lighter fuel, paint, aerosols, or glue, to feel intoxicated.
• Computers: Computer addiction has increased since its use has become the norm for many. You may be playing games or surfing the internet day and night, making you neglect other aspects of your life.
• Work: With this, you may suffer physical exhaustion because you become obsessed with your work. As a result, your social life, family, and relationships are suffering since work addicts never take holidays.

How Does Addiction Work?

During an addictive disorder, the areas of the brain responsible for self-control and stress also undergo long-term changes. These changes can make it difficult for you to avoid addictive actions or substances. 

It becomes an addiction when the urge to achieve the same rewarding effect is heightened. This means your desire to consume or do the behavior increases more and more. This desire could take over the circuits of your brain responsible for the feeling of reward. 

For instance, consuming delicious foods, being with family, or exercising allows you to experience positive feelings. Of course, you’d want to regain that positive feeling, motivating you to repeat such behaviors. And this is how addiction starts in simpler terms.

When you try to abstain from the substance or behavior, you may feel extraordinarily unpleasant and start feeling withdrawal symptoms. To prevent the discomfort of withdrawal symptoms, you end up using the substance or doing the behavior again.

However, the worse comes when your behavior or substance use impairs the brain’s function to alert you of a harmful consequence. The pleasure you get from substances affects the section of the brain that manages executive decision-making. As a result, you develop an addictive disorder. 

Ways To Break The Cycle Of Addiction

Getting out of the cycle can be difficult, but it’s possible. No matter how long it takes you to break the cycle, having a strong will can help you break free from it. Here are some ways to break the cycle of addiction: 

1. Recognize The Warning Signs

Addiction doesn’t just happen because you accidentally discover that doing something gives you pleasure. Addictive and substance-related disorders are complex and usually involve biological processes. These processes in the brain provide feel-good chemicals and positive feelings to ‘reward’ substance use.

The cycle of addiction can be broken if you know how to recognize the warning signs. Knowing whether or not your behaviors contribute to addiction gives you a sense of awareness. In addition, you can determine whether or not your action is impairing your ability to control yourself. 

Here are some changes or symptoms of addiction: 

• Difficulty differentiating the physical sensations and feelings of one’s emotions;
• Trouble identifying feelings;
• More severe reactions or increased sensitivity to stress;
• High levels of sadness, depression, and anxiety;
• Blaming others for your problems;
• Poor or unrealistic assessment of the benefits and disadvantages associated with addictive behavior or using substances.

2. Identify Addiction

You first need to recognize that you have an addiction issue before you can break its cycle. As mentioned, an addiction may take time before it develops, and there’s no fixed timeline. Depending on the behavior or substance, it could develop over years, months, or even a few weeks. 

When you suspect it’s an addiction, it’s best to seek a professional diagnosis before taking the following steps. Moreover, professional confirmation is vital to identify the underlying factors causing you to engage in such addictive behavior. Some of which may be due to the presence of past trauma, depression, and other mental health issues. 

3. Understand The Different Cycles Of Addiction

The cycle of addiction is the recurring mental and behavioral patterns that inhibit the person with addiction from remaining sober or fully recovering. As its name suggests, the stages are recurring, which makes the addicted person trapped in the pattern unless the pattern is interrupted. 

By understanding the cycle of addiction, you can better understand your addictive behavior. In doing so, you can find ways to avoid relapsing by interrupting your cycle of addiction. Here are the stages of addiction that make it a cycle: 

• Internal Struggles: When you’re too stressed in life or have unresolved trauma, you begin to feel internal frustration or pain. This is the phase where you develop emotional triggers, making you feel angry, depressed, or anxious. As a result, your brain tries to solve it by looking for ways to relieve such emotions.
• Urges: After developing emotional triggers, you may unconsciously go into a defensive mood. It means avoiding unpleasant feelings to protect yourself by engaging in addictive behaviors.

When this happens, your brain and mind become accustomed to such behaviors that can make unpleasant feelings or thoughts disappear. As a result, this becomes an overwhelming craving for addictive behavior. 

Cravings or urges become all-consuming because they’ve grown so intense when you’re in the throes of addiction. Worse, you may even get to the point that doing the addictive behavior is more important than life, if not becoming the most important in your life. 

• Relapse Or Substance Abuse: Because of your urges, you may seek out whatever behavior that can curb them. This results in substance abuse.
• Guilt: After getting high, the next stage is feeling ashamed or guilty over your behavior. In this stage, you become aware that such behavior isn’t resolving your problems, but it’s making them worse or adding more problems.
• Stopping: Since you feel guilty, you may stop using substances or doing the behavior. You may even promise not to use or do it again in this phase. And you may also want to stay or get clean by seeking treatment.
• Inactivity: This may seem the last stage of the cycle because you were able to stop using or doing the addictive behavior for a period before relapsing. You may feel like you’re out of the addiction cycle because things may be going well. However, it’s possible to return to your addiction with a quick relapse, repeating the entire cycle.

These stages may differ for every addicted person. Some may go through these stages for several months or weeks, while others may experience such a cycle multiple times during the day. 

4. Create Obstacles

After confirming that you have an addiction, you must place obstacles between yourself and the addictive behavior. There are ways to set limits on your behavior that can prevent you from returning to it. Below are some of them: 

• Categorical Binding: It means cutting out the behavior or things that are taking control over you. For instance, playing mobile games absorbs you beyond your control, but you can play PC games in moderation. Cutting out mobile games is an example of categorical binding.
• Time-Related Or Chronological Binding: Limiting time or controlling your addictive behavior for a period is an example of chronological or time-related binding. For instance, you can create a time limit when using social media apps, or go into fasting when you have a food addiction.
• Physical Self-Binding: It’s putting an actual distance between the addiction and yourself. It may mean throwing away the substances that make you addicted or having a separate laptop for playing and working if you’re addicted to video games.

5. Seek Help From Behavioral Health Professionals

Again, many people can help you break the cycle of addiction. This includes behavioral health professionals since they can teach coping mechanisms to break free from addiction. They can also help stop you from relapsing through emotional and mental support. 

Most behavioral health professionals have completed rigorous academic programs, making them able to understand behavior. They also know what in-depth rehab programs best suit your needs so you can walk away from your addiction. You’ll need them since they’ll guide you throughout the program or until you’re clean. 

Some behavioral health professionals even have clinics or facilities that can help you understand the effect of your past experiences or events on your addictive behavior. Highly-experienced medical staff, doctors, and specialists will work together to discover the root problem of your addiction. 

This will help them provide you with premium rehab treatment since they employ highly-trained staff to help you conquer your addiction. And the best thing about them is that they’ll look at you as a person, not an addict. 

In addition, they’ll help you start a new life after rehab by preparing you throughout the program. Expert counselors will teach you how to eliminate the need for harmful coping mechanisms like alcohol and drugs. Such a treatment may typically last for 90 days, 60 days, or 30 days depending on your personal needs and the gravity of your addiction. 

6. Focus On Things You Can Control

You may also have to reframe your thinking when you think that feeling aggrieved or addicted is due to genetics or past trauma. Instead of wasting your energy on such, focus on other things you can control. 

For instance, address the problems at hand and engage in addiction treatment. Think of how you can effectively prevent your urges instead of becoming controlled by self-defeating thoughts and negative mindsets. 

Think of the steps you can take to improve yourself. Aside from getting into therapies or treatment programs, why not start new hobbies to take your mind off such thoughts? Keeping yourself productive can help you avoid having negative thoughts. 

7. Socialize More With Positive People

You should also take care of your well-being by socially interacting with others. That way, you can reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation that trigger addictive behavior. Building connections with others can surround you with positive reinforcement when you feel like relapsing.

You can do this by forming connections with positive people or rebuilding your social circle through the following ways: 

• Mingle with colleagues and do activities or work together.
• Attend counseling with your loved ones.
• Reconnect with family and friends that you may have lost touch with when you got addicted.
• Join support groups that understand what you’ve been through so you can get inspiration and guidance from them.

 

Key Takeaway

No matter the reason for your addictive behavior, you can break free from it. It may take time, but hold on, and you’ll reap the rewards. 

Start by understanding what addiction is and how its cycle is formed, seek professional help, and focus on the things you can control. Getting used to these ways may take some time, but they can help you reintegrate into society with the new you.