Work out what you’re getting out of the addiction.
Find another way to get that need met.
Addiction no longer needed
Perfect advice.
To add on, sometimes the addiction could be a running from something situation. In those cases some cognitive behavioral therapy can help you learn coping skills to better manage your triggers/stressors.
Learned to hate it with every ounce of my being and decide to live
It’s way easier to “get out of it (addiction)” with help than it is to try on your own. Yes, you could potentially do it on your own, but if all it took was just wanting to stop the addiction was all it took, then we wouldn’t have millions struggling with addiction in this world. It’s not a willpower thing, that’s only part of it. You need trained counselors, doctors, or sponsors depending on the path you choose.
I’m far from an expert. One thing you have up do is replace the down time with something else, hopefully something a little constructive. You can’t just up and quit while spending your time staring at the addiction.
Yeah this is big. Lots of people hit the gym. I painted Warhammer models. Just find something to do.
Get out of whatever situations and or groups you know will enable/provide the addiction.
You’re the only person that can change.
it depends on the addiction if that’s even possible, but the most painless way is to make a plan to reduce dosage until it’s 0 some day.
Look into the cycle of addiction and understand what your brain is going through
Addiction isn’t about discipline. If you can just will your way out of it, it hadn’t gotten as far as addiction yet.
I’m not saying that it doesn’t require great will to break addiction and start recovery, it does.
I’m saying that addiction is not a mental issue. It is very much a physical one, a neurological one.
Now, some addictions are less severe in withdrawal than others, but quitting an addiction isn’t the same as treating it or overcoming it. It’s staying free of it that’s the important part.
When your brain has gotten shifted to rely on an external thing to function normally, you don’t just grunt hard and tough it out, and then one day it’s gone and you never look back. Even the easy stuff to quit isn’t that easy.
You have to address the issues that led to addiction, you have to retrain your brain to a new state, and you have to change your life to avoid the things that lead to chasing the addition.
Most of that isn’t a solo job.
The part that is willpower, discipline, is in sticking to your program. When something comes up that would push you towards the addiction, you have to apply discipline to keep you going until you can access the kind of support that really works to process that event so it happens less.
Nobody is going to have the exact same motivation. It might be your kids, your dog, your dick, a religion, whatever. But finding the stuff that you can hold onto while you’re struggling helps. Find that “golden ticket” that when the addiction is pulling at you, you want that other thing more.
