Effective Strategies to Manage an Addiction

Addiction is an epidemic that affects one in four people that live in America. Yet only about 10% of people who need treatment are receiving it.* Food is the number one addiction in America, with more than 50% of adolescents and adults, struggling with obesity. Nicotine is the second most common addiction in America, with 43 million cigarette smokers. Nearly 17.6 million adults in America are alcoholics, and the use of illicit drugs, specifically marijuana has increased every year since 2008. **   An addiction is formed by continued participation with a substance or behavior that activates the dopamine reward system in the brain. This continued participation can alter brain chemistry, causing cravings long after the substance or habit has been stopped. Despite the negative consequences caused from continued participation, the addict often uses the substance or behavior as a means to seek relief from an intolerable state of being that they feel unable to cope with. The great news is that addiction is treatable and can be managed, if the person who is addicted is committed to managing the substance or behavior.  Here are 5 effective strategies that help manage an addiction:  The first one is the ability to override a craving. Cravings are the number one reason addicts relapse. A strong craving can last from 30 seconds to two-and-a half minutes. If you are addicted to smoking a pack of cigarettes each day, and I ask you, “Can you go 2 minutes without smoking a cigarette?” You may think this is far more achievable than going 24 hours, or the rest of your life with out smoking a cigarette. Knowing that you can override one craving will strengthen your belief that you can do it again. You may get numerous cravings in a day. Manage an addiction by overriding one craving at a time.   The second strategy to manage an addiction is to use a delay tactic. Each time you get a strong craving; delay giving into it by doing something constructive for a few minutes, until the craving decreases. For example; leave the room you are in, focus on a good memory, journal your feelings, doodle, call a friend, listen to a favorite song, or read a helpful article. As you practice going longer periods of time without giving into your craving, your delay tactic becomes your new choice when you get a craving!   The third strategy to manage an addiction is, DO NOT criticize your self if you relapse! Relapse is one of the symptoms of an addiction. Criticizing ourselves for a relapse causes a negative state of being. The more we criticize ourselves, the more intolerable our state of mind becomes. The more intolerable our state of mind, the more we will crave relief. Seeking relief can lead to a relapse with an unhealthy substance or habit that can loop us back into choosing our addiction to cope.   The fourth effective strategy to manage an addiction is to focus on progress. A gentleman who attends my weekly addiction workshop went from smoking one pack of cigarettes a day, down to 3 cigarettes a day. Instead of focusing on his inability to remain abstinent from cigarettes, I had him focus on how he was able to smoke fewer and fewer cigarettes each week. Focusing on progress, rather than perfection, encourages continued positive change.   The fifth effective strategy to manage an addiction is accountability. People who are addicted to a substance or behavior are not holding themselves accountable for their self-destructive behavior. Getting a sponsor, mentor, counselor, spiritual advisor, or sober friend that you can check in with on a consistent basis, is a form of continuing treatment and reinforces recovery goals, in managing addiction.   It is important to know that about 75% of people who have an addiction to an unhealthy substance or behavior have a mental health disorder, trauma, or abuse in their background. Addiction treatment that includes mental health counseling is more effective than addiction treatment alone. Unless you get to the root cause of why you are using substances or unhealthy behaviors to cope, relapse or other unhealthy behaviors are likely to continue.   For more effective strategies to manage an addiction, you can purchase, Good Things Emotional Healing Journal- Addiction; Effective Strategies to Manage Unwanted Habits and Compulsive Behaviors. Elisabeth Davies, MC *The Science of Addiction: Drugs, Brains and Behavior. National Institute of Health. Spring 2007 ** Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Sept 2011