You don’t have to look far since we are living in a culture that is full of addiction. It manifests in a myriad of behaviors, which have become compulsive and problematic for people such as shopping, eating sugar, drinking alcohol, porn, sex, to opioid or other substance use. Within the last year, 60 minutes TV show featured a segment on a West Coast company leveraging product development based on their understanding of how dopamine affects the reward pathway of the brain.
If you feel out of control in some area of your life, you likely are out of control in that area. It doesn’t necessarily mean every time you engage in the behavior it ends badly, but if you don’t know how it will end as you engage in the behavior than it is out of control behavior. Do you take one bite of chocolate and end up eating a whole box of candy or think you will have one glass of wine and end up drinking a bottle?
Is it a pattern or starting to become a pattern? It could be more subtle like your spouse is complaining about how much time you are engaging in out of control behaviors. Or your out of control behavior is significantly impacting the people you love most in your life.
If you think it’s time to look at your behavior or you think you have a problem, consider these steps:
Ask for direction from a trusted friend or family member. Most of us have someone in our family or friend circle that has also been affected in some way by addiction.
Go to a support group. There are a myriad of 12 step groups around today. Support and accountability are key to making behavior changes. You don’t have to do it alone getting support from others who have experienced the same problem and who have a solution to the problem you are experiencing is a unique type of support.
If going to a support group is too overwhelming, call a counselor who has experience with addiction to help you with an evaluation. Someone to provide one on one counseling and support in locating additional resources that could be helpful to you.
Remember addictive behavior is not about willpower. Plenty of people with the willpower to achieve personal and professional goals have been affected by some type of addiction. It is more about the complexity of a number of factors including but not limited to brain chemistry, genetic predisposition, stressors-physical, mental and emotional, use of a substance, type of substance, route of use and repeated behaviors.
Remember help is available and recovery is possible and the brain has a remarkable capacity to heal!
