What's the fastest way to get off of addictions?

[assx95]

I am addicted to, and perpetuating a pattern where I consume Instagram and Youtube for hours. And I get urges which pull me to it, and I don't feel like stopping once I am on it. I keep scrolling on Insta, and I keep watching recommended videos. I want to stop. In theory, I understand that it's killing my potential. I am actively trying to stop, but I keep slipping up. I went from 7-8 hours on it, to 5-6 hours on it. That's a lot. I know. How do I put a stop to it, and minimize it, under an hour? I am trying, but I keep slipping up

[DIDego]

@assx95 How many addictions do you have, how does your top 10 list look like?

[Ora]

find a hobby, a job, a goal, a purpose, go camping for 2 days without your cell phone. you have too much free time so instagram and youtube consume you. theres a scientific reasoning such as the stimulation of dopamine centers in the brain when you browse social media or the internet in general. your bored so you go on the internet, a lot of the stuff is boring also, but you get that 1 video or 1 instagram post that makes you laugh, desire, or arouses passion, this stimulates your dopamine centers, the reward, you feel good for that short while, then you go back to browsing boring/mundane things until you get your next stimulation, the next high. and it repeats. studies have found if people watched something or read something that was consistantly funny, interesting, or engaging, they would grow bored and go do something else. but if you only get that satisfying feeling once in a while, it creates addiction. always looking for the next high. so you cant leave the internet.

if you cant control yourself keep your browsing to a certain amount of time a day, you can forcibly reset this addiction cycle by cutting yourself off for a few days. its probably easier if you take a vacation or go camping without your cell phone. after a few days you will break the cycle, like a breath of fresh air, and itll be easier to control yourself afterwards.

[Matt23]

Psychedelics. 

Suffer until the suffering becomes great enough that you become sick of doing it. 

If you do it, try to not feel guilty about it as this usually backfires and makes you perpetuate the addiction since the negative guilt makes you do the addictive/avoidant behavior (often).  = self-love.

Trauma and shadow work. 

Swapping that addiction for more healthy addictions.  Like maybe reading.  Or even just watching longer videos (and more high consciousness ones) to try to extend your attention span.  Then build from there.  

Cold turkey. 

Try to feel the feeling your trying to avoid when you do the addictive behavior.  Try to heal it by feeling it and letting it go.  If it's too hard to do all at once, try to just feeling it for like a few minutes or even a few seconds (depending on what you think is reasonable), and then do the addictive behavior.  Basically give yourself a pause of consciousness before fully engaging in the behavior.  Then at least you're going in with some consciousness. 

Speak out loud what you're feeling, thinking, and doing. 

Do calming exercises like spinal rotations, feet above the head, breathing slower on exhales, simply moving your eyes (i.e., looking) to your 3 oclock (I know this one sounds weird, but it honestly works for me in bringing about relaxation), meditation, walks (or doing things where you're actively alternating from one side of your body to the other... even just tossing a ball between your hands might work), etc..

Be realistic about what you can improve on, and accentuate the positive victories (even small ones).  Write them down in a journal even.  

Practice shifting your emotional state on command.  == metta/loving-kindness meditations might help, or doing the Brahma Viharas (Danial Ingram has a great section in his free online book telling how -- search MCTB2.org).  Or just plain and simply give yourself love and try to accentuate that feeling in and through your body. 

CBT = start just saying positive things to yourself/about yourself throughout the day.  Also, challenge universal and negative beliefs like "I'm an addict" etc.. 

Contemplate why this is happening.  

Shift your external situation. 

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by Matt23

[assx95]

2 hours ago, DIDego said:

How many addictions do you have, how does your top 10 list look like?

1. Youtube
2. Instagram
3. Actualized forum
4. Eating Junk food

Just these 4. Nothing else. 

[DIDego]

Start with number 4.

[assx95]

34 minutes ago, DIDego said:

Start with number 4.

Just ate instant noodles. But yeah! 

[Carl-Richard]

Your brain requires novelty. Introduce some novelty to your life.

[DIDego]

@assx95 Use number 1 and 3 on the list, to figure out how to solve number 4.
Number 2 on the list, what's that for, can you explain it for someone as me that not used it?

Edited August 13, 2021 by DIDego

[assx95]

2 hours ago, DIDego said:

Number 2 on the list, what's that for, can you explain it for someone as me that not used it?

Instagram? It's more addictive than Youtube. You don't know Instagram? 

[JohnnyAb]

@assx95 read a book 'Tiny habits', the method is great for dealing with addictions like yours

[DIDego]

52 minutes ago, assx95 said:

Instagram? It's more addictive than Youtube. You don't know Instagram? 

No, i dont.

 

Youtube can be seen addictive or also seen as an choice above many less constructive addictions, conscious choice of content can be a way to learn about everything, that can take us further from a behavior as being addicted and find out how to being more balanced.

[Raphael]

When you feel the urge to watch Youtube, stop and do nothing in front of the screen. If this is painful, feel the pain. If you feel angry, let yourself be angry. If you want to cry, cry. Feel the emotion no matter what it is, but don't scroll through Youtube or watch any video. Let the body burn all the impurities. Practice this more and more.

When you finally burned everything, then build new habits.

[Igor82]

What ultimately helped me drop many addictions is the law of "awareness is curative". Leo made a video on it.

• When I scroll on facebook nowadays, I'm very aware of the minutes ticking by. 
• When I watch porn, I'm aware of the sensation in my body, the after effects
• When I eat junk food, i'm aware of the taste, but also how I feel the day after

 

[Kamo]

10 hours ago, assx95 said:

Instagram? It's more addictive than Youtube. You don't know Instagram? 

Instagram and Youtube and Facebook  uses whats called limbic hijack and ESPECIALLY Tik Tok. Stay the fuck away from that one! lol. , so as Ora stated your dopamine is being hotwired, reinforced to the specific stimuli and creating a pattern as with all your addictions. Everyone's post here so far are all great answers. Definitely adhere to their advice, as the most effective methods have been stated so I wont repeat them here. Awareness Alone is Curative and I would add with Intention. You need to Intend to quit. You cant half ass it or you stay stuck. Theres going to be a duel desire present. Quitting vs Continuing. The one you feed more becomes stronger. 

[hyruga]

On 8/14/2021 at 0:09 AM, assx95 said:

Instagram? It's more addictive than Youtube. You don't know Instagram? 

I don't find Instagram more addictive than Youtube. Instagram is mostly some pictures and short videos which you can just spam likes and be done for the day.

But Youtube offers a whole new paradigm of information. You can find and watch almost anything: Movies, podcast, interviews, audios, subliminals, meditations, self help, animals, online help...basically everything.

[williamramirez]

On 13.08.2021 at 7:25 AM, Ora said:

find a hobby, a job, a goal, a purpose, go camping for 2 days without your cell phone. you have too much free time so instagram and youtube consume you. theres a scientific reasoning such as the stimulation of dopamine centers in the brain when you browse social media or the internet in general. your bored so you go on the internet, a lot of the stuff is boring also, but you get that 1 video or 1 instagram post that makes you laugh, desire, or arouses passion, this stimulates your dopamine centers, the reward, you feel good for that short while, then you go back to browsing boring/mundane things until you get your next stimulation, the next high. and it repeats. studies have found if people watched something or read something that was consistantly funny, interesting, or engaging, they would grow bored and go do something else. but if you only get that satisfying feeling once in a while, it creates addiction. always looking for the next high. so you cant leave the internet.

if you cant control yourself keep your browsing to a certain amount of time a day, you can forcibly reset this addiction cycle by cutting yourself off for a few days. its probably easier if you take a vacation or go camping without your cell phone. after a few days you will break the cycle, like a breath of fresh air, and itll be easier to control yourself afterwards.

I completely agree with you. If you watch YouTube and Instagram for 5-6 hours a day. Then you only work 2-3 hours? You have a lot of free time. I can only watch instragram for 10-30 minutes a day when I take the subway to work.

[Waken]

I once heard that if you force yourself to stop an addiction, the addiction just changes shape. The solution offered there was to understand the cause of the addiction IIRC.

[Adamq8]

You need to find your why, ive struggled with addictions like my entire life more or less, and ofcourse it is relative on how strong those addictions were, but in my experience i noticed that in order to change a behaviour and habbit is to find a why to why you want the change and focus on it and it will get start to grow

[universe]

Sounds like you just have way too much time.

What is your Life Purpose?