What you have to do to overcome an addiction

An addiction is a physical and psychological disorder where both the body and the mind generate a dependency on something, can it be overcome? An addiction is a physical and psychological disorder where both of the body and the mind generate a dependency on something: a substance, behavior or a relationship with another person. In the case of addictions with substances the person puts this substance before other aspects of his life, leaving aside the rest. The substance produces a pleasant state in the person or it frees you from a negative state, so that the body becomes accustomed to that state and when there is absence of the substance it asks for it. Talking about overcoming an addiction, without specifying in which, it is difficult and very broad because we are facing a very broad field and the recommendations will be different depending on the type of addiction. It's like giving advice to cure a disease, but what disease? We all agree that we cannot give the same advice for patients who want to cure a flu that for those who have an injury, however, both will need to be at rest for a while ... Let’s go.

Steps to get out of an addiction

1- Be aware of your problem It is the first step to start. If you self-deception thinking that you can control it is that you really do not want or cannot quit. Moreover, thinking that you can go little by little is also a self-deception. When there is an addiction in which your mind and body have already created a dependency and tolerance or is left totally or not left, there can be no half measures. How to realize my problem? Make a list of the good things that addiction brings you and compare it with what you lose in return (friends, family, life expectancy...). Where have you written more? Take a global balance is it really worth it to continue like this? 2- Get help and let yourself be helped If you have a clear decision, then you should ask for help. From an addiction it is impossible to go out alone, you will need help from others. For the most "simple" you will need at least someone you trust to support you during the first months. For the rest, professional help is highly recommended, preferably a psychologist who has experience in addictions and health. Although depending on the type of addiction sometimes you will also need a medical follow-up or take some type of psychotropic drug. And the better suggestion is that you should contact a rehabilitation center. 3- Follow the marked guidelines Once you have given specific guidelines to your addiction you should follow them as if they were a recipe, stick to them as much as possible. Some may sound like a joke but they think that if they have been put on you, it is because someone who did it in a different way fell. The guidelines have their raison d'être, they are not random or exaggerated, just because psychologists and doctors already know that when you overuse someone is more likely to abandon a therapy, so the guidelines they give are always the least Ask patients for the therapy to work. 4- Avoid behaviors or situations that are associated with addiction Before we talked about the environment surrounding the addiction and how it influences us. Think now of the things you were doing just before relapsing. Sometimes it is not only the environment itself or the companies that incite if not some specific behavior, even a person. For example, if you meet your old friend in the street, you will surely want to drink ... or if you meet someone you used to have sex with without commitment you will surely get excited just by seeing it ... or if you pass through one of the main streets of the city you will surely want to go in and buy that cute and unnecessary garment that you have seen in the shop window ... So, think about the last thing you did before falling into addiction because you will surely have to leave it. Finally, overcoming an addiction is complicated but not impossible. Ask for help from your loved ones and seek professional help. Even the simplest of addictions can cause you to relapse.