HABITS AND ADDICTIONS

People can often turn to substances and activities such as food, alcohol, sex, gambling, prescription medication and drugs as a means of coping with feelings of anxiety and low self-worth. It becomes an activity of pleasure used to distract them from the unpleasant and uncomfortable feelings they are experiencing.Over time, prolonged use of these coping mechanisms hard-wire the brain to associate pleasure and reward with these activities. Prolonged use and reliance upon these substances and activities can easily lead to addictions which can compound and complicate the original emotional issue further. Alcohol, sex, drug and gambling addiction can often place enormous amounts of stress on relationships and cause serious health concerns for the individual whom is addicted.

Our feelings and emotions serve as our internal signalling system in response to our external world. If our feelings are painful and negative, they are telling us that something needs to be addressed within us rather than ignored, denied and suppressed. Substances only work to temporarily cover up and mask the deeper underlying emotional issue that needs healing. The longer people use substances to avoid dealing with the real cause, the more entrenched the addiction becomes and the more difficult it can be to face and address the emotional issue that caused the addiction.

Sometimes, people are unaware that there is a deeper underlying issue causing their addiction. They have either avoided, ignored, denied or suppressed their feelings for so long, they have become disconnected from their emotions. Some have been relying on the substances for so long that they are unaware they are actually avoiding a deeper underlying emotional issue.

An addiction can be described as a compulsive need for a substance by the body, which when deprived of, produces physical withdrawal symptoms and emotional upset.Through repetitive consumption of the substance or performance of the act, the neural pathways of the brain become so hardwired for the substance or behaviour, that it becomes a necessity for the body.The pattern of behaviour becomes so deeply ingrained in the brain, that the person has lost conscious control over the act.The compulsive behaviour has been repeated so many times, the brain has been programmed to associate itwith relief and pleasure and now performs it automatically and involuntarily in times of emotional stress.

Often a person only realises they are addicted to a substance when they stop and experience psychological and physical withdrawal symptoms associated with the addiction. At this point, they find it difficult to stop the act or turn away from the substance, even if they wanted to.Addictions are patterns of behaviour that are formed based on rewards. The pattern of behaviour is triggered or initiated by some sort of feeling or underlying belief that the individual is not aware of, which tells the brain to begin the behaviour. It could be an underlying belief that you are not good enough, or that you are a failure so the mind works to fulfil or carry out that thought by performing self-defeating and sabotaging behaviours.What makes it confusing, is that there is some sort of reward or ‘pay off’ that is associated with the behaviour which motivates the brain to perform the behaviour. This is what makes an addiction difficult to break. The brain remembers this reward and becomes confused thinking that because it is pleasurable, it must be a good thing to do.So the brain will continue to repeat the same pattern of behaviour because it feels it gains some sort of pleasure or benefit from performing the act, despite the negative consequences it can bring.The substance or act serves some form of emotional or physical function in the mind and body. Over time a physiological connection is created between the mind and the body where the brain comes to depend upon the substance.

Even an innocent habit such as having a glass of wine after work can very easily turn into an addiction. Over time, simple habits that start of harmless, can ‘rewire’ the brain into thinking that the substance or act is actually beneficial or necessary, to make it through the day or through certain situations.When one glass turns into many and becomes a daily necessity and when emotional stress and anxiety occurs when one is unable to obtain a drink of alcohol, the harmless habit has evolved into an dangerous addiction.

At Harmony Counselling Services, we will help you to uncover the deeper underlying cause of your addiction. We will help you address any deeper emotional issue that has been keeping you in the self-defeating cycle of addiction. We will help you to recognise and understand the connection between your thoughts, feelings and behaviour, so that you can be more in control of your life.