3 Steps To Fighting Addiction

By Megan Lau, TheSoko.com
[Let's Get Personal]
We all have our vices: smoking, drinking, gambling, or maybe even junk food! Megan Lau explores how to break the habit.
An addiction is, at best, an unpleasant habit. Addictions affect people to different degrees but unfortunately, most everyone has one and it shapes their life negatively.

Addictions are often ways for us to avoid other problems, like anxiety or even depression. Our vices are substitutes for confronting the hardest issues, but smoking or drinking can provoke the same issues all over again. Even less recognized addictions, like compulsive Internet use or a constant need to spend, come from the same desire to ignore what’s really going on.

As we approach another new year, it’s time to start thinking about resolutions. Begin early this year and read these tips to find out how you can stop the cycle.

Distinguish your Dependence

To be addicted to something means you are physically or mentally dependent on the use of it. Withdrawal or tolerance symptoms appear when you try to stop or decrease it. This could range from depression to serious physical symptoms. An addiction often forces people to neglect important activities like work or school and leads to increased social isolation.

As an addiction manifests, you’re more likely to need higher quantities or bouts of your vice, meaning more cigarettes or more time spent online gambling. When you can’t control when you need it, that’s when it’s a serious addiction. We all have something we are psychologically dependent on and these are habits we could all do without. Addictions hinder our healthier, more confident selves.

Recognize the Reasons

Having acknowledged the addiction, it’s important to understand why you developed it in the first place. Ask yourself why you do it.

For example, a 20-something I know that recently moved to a new city has become a serious couch potato. It’s come to regulate his life and he plans his days around the next episode of Lost or CSI. It’s not that taking in 20-plus hours a week of television is part of his conquest to be a television scholar; instead watching television has become a way to add structure to his life and even gives him a sense of purpose. Meanwhile, the time spent in front of the screen has been a way to avoid confronting his anxiety about meeting more people in his new city.

From the outside, this can be easy to see but as the one whose dealing with the addiction, it can be harder. If you have suspicions, talk to someone you trust to help figure out why you’re using this crutch. Also, write down the reasons why you want to quit and how breaking the habit can get you there.

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