How to overcome addiction.

The word “addiction” comes from a Latin term for “enslaved by” or “bound to.” Anyone who has ever struggled to overcome an addiction—or has tried to help someone else to —understands why. Addiction has a powerful influence on a person’s brain that manifests in three ways: craving for the object of addiction, loss of control over its use, and continuing involvement with it despite adverse consequences.

Often, when we think of addictions, it is the use of substances such as alcohol and drugs that usually spring to mind. It’s no surprise. According the World Health Organisation; the harmful use of alcohol results in 3.3 million deaths each year. It is also believed that 31 million people around the world have drug use disorders.

There is disagreement as to what can be officially classified as an ‘addiction’, there is no doubt that many activities can cause addictive behaviour. This addictive behaviour can take many forms.

For example, addictive behaviour is commonly linked to activities such as Gambling, Shopping, Food, Sex, Work, Exercise and Video Games.

Addictive behaviour can be extremely disruptive and destructive to the life of the person as well as their family and friends. In many cases, Anxiety can be the underlying cause of addictive behaviour. People may use a particular behaviour as a coping mechanism which can temporarily reduce feelings of anxiety. They may also experience a “high” from the behaviour which will increase the desire to engage in the activity. In many cases people experience withdrawal symptoms and associated negative emotions when they are unable to engage in the activity.

Determining whether you have addiction isn’t completely straightforward. And admitting it isn’t easy, largely because of the stigma and shame associated with addiction. But as the cliche goes, acknowledging the problem is the first step toward recovery.

Do you feel like you may be struggling with an addiction? Is there an activity that you wish you could reduce or remove from your life that is causing to to feel negative emotions?

Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can effectively help with Addictive Behaviour. As Addictive Behaviour can be a result of a build-up of Stress and Anxiety, we can help to reduce the need for whichever coping mechanism has developed by addressing the underlying causes of Stress and Anxiety.