An addiction can be anything you feel you cannot physically stop. To be addicted means completely allowing your urges to take over without any consideration of the consequences.
This can sound as if addiction is something you choose to give into, but having an addiction is something to be taken seriously, and it takes time to rework and learn new habits for the better.
Some of the most common addictions include
- Drinking
- Smoking
- Gambling
- Recreational, over-the-counter, or prescription drugs
- Pornography
- Gaming
- Shopping
Even internet dating, work, food, sex, exercise and diets, mobile phones and social media – the list is endless. Addiction isn’t defined by what the addiction is for, it is defined by how it makes you feel and what it is trying to suppress or find an escape from.
What is addiction?
Many people do these things mentioned but are not addicted. So how do you know when you are?
Addiction is a feeling of not being able to stop, or stopping doesn’t even feel like an option. An addiction can develop if you need to find an escape from negative feelings or situations.
For instance, drugs offer you a short-term escape by blocking out your anxiety, depression, trauma, or anger – but just temporarily.
Once you have had that experience, you will crave that feeling of brief euphoria and bliss again and again. For example, food might be your go-to for relief when you feel out of control of the things around you. You may turn to food as it is one of the few things you feel in control of.
What causes addiction?
The roots of everyone’s addictions are unique. Your past experiences will all lead to either a life with or without addiction. However, how you process those past experiences has a significant effect on your future surrounding addiction.
Once your addictive activities become normalised within your life, they start becoming a part of the way you relate to yourself and how others relate to you.
Trauma plays a large role at the root of many people’s addictions. A traumatic experience is something that you are unable to prepare for. Trauma gives you a feeling of a complete lack of control.
This then takes a long time to process, but if you choose to attempt to bury it, your brain will seek out methods of quick relief. You will then quickly learn that quick relief is just that – quick. And you will want to go back to that relief, again and again.
Trauma is one of many other experiences or events that may lead to addiction. Others include:
- Loss/Bereavement
- Anxiety leading to Depression
- Work Issues
- Bullying
- Relationship Issues
Addiction has also been proven to be hereditary, but that does not mean that every child of an addict will then become an addict. It means instead that you are at increased risk of adopting addictive tendencies, and it is something you can learn to manage and deter. This is why therapy is a highly beneficial process for someone not just going through addiction, but also with addictive tendencies.
How therapy can help with addiction.
It is not just about the relationship to these actions or substances, but the psychological and physical effect of these actions.
In gambling, the gambler gets hooked not on winning, but more the rush of betting. It is the action and effect of making the bet rather than the monetary gain of gambling. Consider how excited you feel watching that roulette wheel spin or holding your lottery ticket when the first number hasn’t even been called yet. A gambling addict craves that rush and will not be able to find it anywhere else.
This is why an addict can never ‘win’ enough. It is the action, effect and reward from the addiction.
How can Therapy in London help?
It is never too early or too late to confront an addiction, and there are many forms of counselling that can cater to every single unique individual. Counselling needs to offer a space for any addict to feel like they are making progress right from the beginning. This is why Therapy in London offers a free telephone consultation to tailor your therapy sessions to you.