Overcoming Addiction: What has helped you the most?

[SaltyMeatballs]

Specific techniques, environmental changes, books etc...

[Elysian]

From someone who tackled several addictions: drugs/alcohol, cigarettes, unhealthy food, video games, TV, social media, porn.

1. Recognizing all of my addictions, and recognizing they are negatively impacting my life. This can be more difficult on socially accepted addictions. IE. Porn, TV, social media, video games, sweets/unhealthy foods.

2. Removing anyone from my life reinforcing those addictions, including things that bring you down like the news.

3. Having my own place that is designed around activities that are beneficial instead of detrimental. Like a bookshelf where a TV stand would be, a desk with art supplies on it instead of a gaming console, only healthy foods in the pantry/fridge, etc. This is huge.

4. Have something to replace the time spent on addictions with. Books on topics I need to understand better, a hobby/passion, a job, exercise, etc. For me spirituality and wanting reach my potential as a human being is probably my biggest driving factor. Sadhguru said that all longing in the world is longing originally designed to know one's true nature.

5. Being careful about even putting yourself temporarily into positions/situations that typically lead to relapse. Like if when you normally lay down at a certain time of day you revert to porn.

6. Figure out what kind of stopping technique works for you. Some people slowly wean themselves off (and you have to in a few cases, like heroin or extreme alcoholsm), but in my case I had to cold turkey pretty much every addiction. If you are on a streak and revert back to it, just get back on the horse and don't beat yourself up about it. As long as you are making progress long term that's what matters, being too harsh will just make things worse.

7. Most importantly, all addiction is just a way of avoiding something. Unprocessed emotions, depression, a rough family life. Figuring out what's really going on and sorting it out is the dissolution of most addiction. In my case my addictions were all causing extreme stress in my life, and I didn't have the time or the emotional capability then to deal with the causes of addiction first. So I sorted those out for my and everyone's sake, and now I'm tackling the deeper problem.

You have to truly want to change though, with every fibre of your being. If you are very addicted like I was to most of mine, it takes a will power of steel to fight the urges. But you get better at it over time.

If you are dealing with a lot of addiction, you might be what they call a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) like me. I didn't think I was until I saw this documentary and really contemplated my life: Sensitive: An Untold Story. You can find it for free if you have a Gaia subscription or from other sources. The subscription is probably the best $10 I spend a month though, access to more spiritual/Turquoise content than you can know what to do with.

[Nahm]

@SaltyMeatballs

Exercise, tons of water, reassuring  this is temporary and will pass, stay away from those who are still under the same spell of addiction for a while, come back when you’re stronger - and above all else; the love & intelligence is infinite - addictions are filters, imposing a selfish desire - without em - the flood gates are opened. If not now, when? So now. Pm me all day everyday if it will help you even the tiniest bit man. 

[okulele]

@SaltyMeatballs

Maybe not all addictions are like that, but mine are there mostly because of negative emotions that I can not handle and want to suppress.

Channeling these emotions into devotion, instead of stuffing them down with the unwanted activity, works for me.

[SaltyMeatballs]

@Elysian Thanks for taking the time to write that. Inspiring and informative. Personally struggling with porn and unhealthy food. I think the environment plays a huge role in my circumstance and I need to move out as soon as I can. Also I think the root cause maybe the depression or lack of direction or purpose. Yesterday I stumbled upon "The Work" by Byron Katie and began to seriously inquire about my misery and I already feel the burden lifting, perhaps this could be the start of ending the addiction. I've also tried strong determination sittings and "do nothing technique" when the craving arises but I still fall back into the habit. Meditation isn't always the answer albeit certainly helps. From today I'm going cold turkey, the best I can do is to keep trying.

@Nahm Thank you mate.

 

@okulele Curious as to how you deal with the emotions, how are you channelling them?  

[Nahm]

@SaltyMeatballs Godspeed man ??❤️

@Elysian Great post btw. I thought the same thing on the HSP movie. Like, doesn’t everyone totally feel like this? My wife: No, just you.  Lol.  Oh, ok, alright. 

[Elysian]

9 hours ago, SaltyMeatballs said:

@Elysian Thanks for taking the time to write that. Inspiring and informative. Personally struggling with porn and unhealthy food. I think the environment plays a huge role in my circumstance and I need to move out as soon as I can. Also I think the root cause maybe the depression or lack of direction or purpose. Yesterday I stumbled upon "The Work" by Byron Katie and began to seriously inquire about my misery and I already feel the burden lifting, perhaps this could be the start of ending the addiction. I've also tried strong determination sittings and "do nothing technique" when the craving arises but I still fall back into the habit. Meditation isn't always the answer albeit certainly helps. From today I'm going cold turkey, the best I can do is to keep trying.

Yea environment is a big deal when you're dealing with compulsive behavior. Food can be especially since people often eat communally, so whatever they are eating you are likely to also eat. Even after getting my own place and switching to healthy food, it took me a bit to sort out what to do when visiting family. Sometimes they eat unhealthy and are big meat eaters. Coming out to my mom about switching to a Vegan diet so I could put my foot down with what I eat was more difficult than you might think! Lol

For the meditation if you're talking about porn, I wasn't able to just sit with the feeling at first. Even though some might say it isn't right to be suppressing the feeling, anytime it came up the only chance I had was to immediately remove myself from whatever it was that was bringing the urge on, sometimes physically leaving the area, and then doing something else to get my mind off of it until it passed.

Once I got to the point to where the urges were less common and less intense, then I was able to start introducing the feeling into sittings/allowing it to just be there. Now I notice the feeling come up and remain mindful, but it doesn't have control anymore. I make sure not to feed into it and get it too rowdy and I think that's just something you learn with time.

7 hours ago, Nahm said:

 

@Elysian Great post btw. I thought the same thing on the HSP movie. Like, doesn’t everyone totally feel like this? My wife: No, just you.  Lol.  Oh, ok, alright. 

Thanks. Yes! Without the proper framework which most people don't have to understand a HSP, it's like the paradox of me saying something is blue while you do too, except we're actually seeing two different colors.

I think this is why my mom never picked up on it, she either didn't have the ability to see it, or she might also be a HSP but never learned how to properly deal with it. 

[okulele]

@SaltyMeatballs

Basically I would say I just throw them out there.

I started it as a prayer, imagining a God and telling him about all my problems, crying my heart out. Soon the words became useless, the concept of God was not needed and just pouring out the heart was available.