Posts Tagged ‘Addiction’
3 Ways To Free Yourself From Addiction In This New Year
How To Free Yourself From Addiction in the New Year
Guest Post By Constance Ray, founder of www.recoverywell.org
For many, a new year represents the time to make some major life changes. The new year offers a new beginning and a clean slate to march forward into a better version of yourself. Having an addiction can be a crippling force that indeed seems to dissipate life right before your eyes. Making the decision to beat your addiction is a wise choice and there is no better time to start than now. Use these steps as a guide to assist you in leaving your pattern of addiction in the past and embracing all the possibilities your new life will provide. Read the rest of this entry »
Why most addicts do not need expensive treatment plans
Most Addicts Obtain Sobriety Without Expensive Options
-By A. Scott Roberts
M.S. Rehabilitation Counseling, Addiction Specialist
Repeated research tells us that most addicts who achieved long-term abstinence actually do it on their own without common or luxurious treatment facilities.1, 2
One study examined the prevalent heroin use among soldiers in Vietnam. When the soldiers returned home, they gave up their addiction completely and abruptly.3
When individuals are motivated to make the change, not only is it more successful, but also long-term. Evoking this motivation to change is crucial.
A problem with common addiction treatment is the use of confrontation. Many people have the perception that addicts are always in a state of denial. This is not always the case…
Confrontation actually increases an individual’s resistance to change. Problematic behaviors increase during confrontational periods of intervention as well.4
How To Decrease Cravings and Intrusive Thoughts
Here’s another great article from A. Scott Roberts. He is an expert in Addictions and overcoming them for good. Thanks for taking the time to read!
This Unusual Trick Has Been Scientifically Proven to Decrease Cravings and Intrusive Thoughts
-By A. Scott Roberts
How most addictions are the same and how to break them.
It Doesn’t Matter What Your Addiction is. Most Addictions Are The Same.
-By A. Scott Roberts
Scientists call addictions a “common neural currency” because of the involvement of the primary neurotransmitter, dopamine and how addictions stimulate the limbic system of the brain – regardless of your drug of choice. Drugs that are taken into the body such as alcohol, marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin or cocaine over-stimulate dopamine in the limbic reward center in the brain.1
For some, this may seem counter-intuitive because some drugs such as opium and alcohol are classified as depressants while others are stimulants. Some give us energy while some make us sleepy.
The reason for these different “feelings” is the way the particular addictive behavior affects non-dopamine neural networks.2 This explains why particular drugs are more appealing to some than to others.
“But what about other addictions such as pornography, overeating, internet, tanning or sex?”
One study concludes that nearly one in eight individuals engage in internet addiction in which addicts are compulsive about checking email, web pages or chat rooms and are excessively using a computer for nonessential purposes.3
There is evidence that tanning can become addictive. One study found that the exposure to the ultra-violet rays in a tanning bed releases endorphins (natural pain killer compounds) in the brain. Alcohol, heroin and codeine increase endorphins as well.4
Addictions can range from pornography, masturbation, gambling, sex, food, tanning, social networking, video games and internet use, resulting in an over-stimulation of the reward center which disrupts the brain’s normal activity.5
Scientists conclude that addictions have more in common than how they differ.6 Addictive substances are often referred to as the “common neural currency.” An addict feels euphoria because neurons in the limbic system are stimulated with chemicals. Some molecular structures of drugs are similar to natural neurotransmitters, while others use different mechanisms that increase the output of neurotransmitters. The result is the same: a chemical addiction.
Some addictions come in from the eyes, such as pornography, while some are ingested, snorted or smoked. In the end, these things which were once thought of as being vastly different from each other, are actually quite similar.
This can help explain why most all drugs are real “gateway” drugs.
“If the addict doesn’t have his or her choice of drug available, he or she will likely seek a substitute.
This is commonly referred as cross-addiction.”
If you haven’t watched this part of the (video yet where I describe that addictions are part of a survival process) – then you’ll want to check that out. This describes why addictions simply cannot be wished or willed away and you’ll soon realize that the secret to eliminating addiction is to understand the lesser-known techniques that have been shown to restore and rewire the brain that can lead to a chemical change.
Your Friend and Supporter,
-A. Scott Roberts
M.S. studies in Rehabilitation Counseling, B.S. Psychology, A. S. Business
Addiction Specialist
References:
1. Neese R.and Berridge. K. (1997) Psychoactive Drug Use in Evolutionary Perspective. October. Vol. 278 no. 5335 pp. 63-66
2. Neese R.and Berridge. K. (1997) Psychoactive Drug Use in Evolutionary Perspective. October. Vol. 278 no. 5335 pp. 63-66
3. Internet Addiction May Affect One In Eight In USA. medicalnewstoday.com, 18 Oct 2006
4. Frequent Tanners Can Quit Anytime, Or Can They, New York Times, April 11, 2006.
5. Studies Shed Light On Parkinson’s Drugs and Gambling, Las Vegas Press, April 3, 2006.
6. Alcohol Abuse Is Hereditary, medicalnewstoday.com, July 5, 2007.