ABOUT
ADDICTION


People are not addicted to alcohol or drugs, they are addicted to escaping reality.

Anon

I am passionate about de-stigmatising addictive, distressing, and destructive behaviours.

Nobody wants to be abusing alcohol or drugs, be anorexic, bulimic or self harming. Nobody does these things for fun, even though it may have started out that way.

We can honour that survival strategies are adaptive, whilst acknowledging that they take a toll and come at a cost.

Addiction can manifest in a number of different ways. It might be an activity addiction like gambling, a substance addiction like alcohol, a thought addiction like thinking obsessively or being co-dependent on people, love or sex.

Addictions are usually a sign of underlying unresolved trauma. When an addiction becomes harmful or plays too big a role in our lives it can be beneficial getting some help.

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I am passionate about de-stigmatising addictive, distressing, and destructive behaviours.

Nobody wants to be abusing alcohol or drugs, be anorexic, bulimic or self harming. Nobody does these things for fun, even though it may have started out that way.

We can honour that survival strategies are adaptive, whilst acknowledging that they take a toll and come at a cost.

Addiction can manifest in a number of different ways. It might be an activity addiction like gambling, a substance addiction like alcohol, a thought addiction like thinking obsessively or being co-dependent on people, love or sex.

Addictions are usually a sign of underlying unresolved trauma. When an addiction becomes harmful or plays too big a role in our lives it can be beneficial getting some help.

Psychotherapist
in training with

Psychotherapist
in training with

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Image

Psychotherapist
in training with

Psychotherapist
in training with

Image
Image

There are a number of signs which show that you have an addiction or behaviour that you need some help with.

These signs might include:

  • The substance no longer provides relief

  • Obsessively thinking about the activity or substance
  • Being unable to imagine life without it

  • The addiction is encroaching into other areas of your life
  • Prioritising the addiction at the compromise of your values

  • The substance or activity controls you
  • Rationalising and justifying why you are addicted to something that is unhealthy
  • Friends and relatives are beginning to notice that something is wrong

There is a purpose to all behaviour and feelings. We just need to look a little deeper to find it.

On the surface, addictive or self-destructive behavior seems illogical, but if we focus on its benefits, few though they may be, we will be able to unlock the mystery of the behavior and put ourselves in a position to change it.

Not why the addiction but why the pain.
Gabor Maté

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