There are so many kinds of addiction out there. In one sense, it’s possible to be addicted to pretty much anything. That’s something that we are only just starting to really appreciate. But if you think you might be addicted to something, in a way it doesn’t matter what it is – the fact that you feel you are addicted means that you probably want to do something about it. Part of the nature of addiction, however, is that you might also fight against that feeling.
Regardless, the more you know about addiction, the better. In this post, we are going to take a look at some of the main functions and features of addiction, how it works and what you might want to know about it. The more you know, the easier it is to overcome any addiction you may have. Let’s take a look at what you might want to know about in particular.
Defining Addiction
Although it is so common, it is still relatively difficult to actually say with certainty what addiction is. In fact, there are a number of distinct definitions, and it can be helpful to compare them to get a better understanding of what it is precisely. However, it can also prove a little confusing. So what exactly is addiction and what might you need to know about the different ways it is understood?
A common working definition of addiction is when you have enough of a dependency on something that you routinely go back to the experience again and again, even when you know it’s bad for you or you feel you shouldn’t. An addict will often feel that they are powerless in the face of their addiction, or even that they don’t enjoy it any more but can’t help themselves regardless.
If you are addicted to something, you may find yourself putting it above all else, possibly to the detriment of much else in your life. Clearly, this is one of the main ways in which it can cause a problem for you.
The Problem With Addiction
There are so many ways in which addiction causes you to experience difficulties and problems in your life. Perhaps above all is the fact that it usually means you end up putting it above other important things, as we have just mentioned above. This can take a toll on your family life, your education or work, your parenting and pretty much anything else. When addiction is really serious, it can take over everything important to you.
Beyond that, very often addictions cause psychological as well as physical harm to you, and sometimes to those around you. An addict will often feel socially shamed or isolated, and in general life can become very difficult indeed.
What Causes Addiction?
There are competing ideas around what specifically causes addiction. However, what is certain is that they generally begin with something that feels pleasant in some way. The alcohol that calms you, the gambling machine that gives you a rush – whatever it is, there is obviously something that you get out of it, which is what draws you to it. That then creates dependency in the brain, slowly but surely, until you feel that you need to get more of it.
Part of this process is that you become dependent on it, so that you need more and more of the drug or experience to get the same high. So, you start taking more, thus getting more dependent – and here you have the addiction cycle in a nutshell.
A big part of how this works too is that you will experience withdrawal when you are not on the drug or having the experience. That means that you want to relieve that feeling by getting more of it, again. As you can see, it’s a nefarious situation to find yourself in.
Getting Help
If you are addicted and you know that you want to overcome it, you will likely need some help. Very few people can overcome an addiction alone, and it often takes a lot of work and a lot of assistance to get through such a process. So if you are looking for some help, there are a lot of places you might want to look in order to get it, depending on how much assistance you need and a variety of other such factors.
You may want to carry out a search for a recovery center near me as a first step. That should bring up some places that you can attend which can help you out, and you might actually be surprised at just how many of these there are. Or you might want to see your doctor and mention to them that you are trying to overcome an addiction – they should be able to help you and refer you to other places too.
The important thing is to ensure that you are asking for help when you need it. That way, you are much more likely to overcome the addiction in the long run.
The Right Mindset
One thing that you will find helps a lot when it comes to overcoming an addiction is to have the right mindset in place. Of course, that’s much easier said than done, and you will find that you might have to spend quite a bit of time figuring out how to do this. However, with the right mindset it really can be a lot easier to overcome your addiction. So what kind of mindset might that be?
Fundamentally this is about having hope, and believing that real change is possible. If you are able to do that, you’ll find that it makes it a lot more likely that you can overcome your addiction, even if it takes a long time – as it very often does.
Believe it, and you should be able to achieve it.
