As someone who has witnessed many people close to me struggle with addiction, I understand how hard it can be to move past. Addiction stems from our habits, which can be ingrained into our psyche and are often coping mechanisms for some past trauma or issue that we have not yet dealt with. Of course dealing with this is one of the major steps in treatment. But the person must want to work on their addiction and change, which is another important step. If the change does not come from within the person experiencing the addiction then they will most often slip back into their old habits. I hope this post will help all of you struggling with addiction and who are ready to take that first step towards recovery and better health.
What is addiction?
Addiction is the need or urge to have a substance or drug in order to feel happiness or feel good. This could range from anything from coffee, prescription drugs, illegal drugs, foods or even exercise. The point is the use of the substance or activity is to excess and is eventually harming health rather than helping.
Symptoms of addiction:
Feeling like you have to use a substance or activity regularly to feel good
Having intense urges that block out other thoughts
Needing more and more of the drug or substance to get the same effect
Spending more money on the substance than you can afford
Use of the substance affecting work, school or recreation
Ensuring you have a regular supply of the substance
Experiencing withdrawal when you stop using the substance
Failure at attempts to cease using the substance
Driving while under the influence
Doing things you wouldn't normally do to get the substance
Continuing to use the substance even though it is causing you significant harm
Spending a great deal of time obtaining or recovering from the substance
What causes addiction?
Environmental factors including beliefs around substance uses, family and peers.
Genetic traits can affect the likelihood of experiencing addiction
History of trauma or abuse
History of substance abuse by a family member
Those with mental health disorders such as depression or anxiety are more likely to experience addiction
Natural treatments of addiction
Firstly as mentioned above the person who is addicted must make the choice to work on improving their addiction.
The use of therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can be very useful at restructuring patterns of behaviour, triggers and habits.
Addiction is all about habits, so finding a healthy habit to replace the substance can help (e.g. chewing gum when quitting smoking, drinking kombucha instead of a beer, etc).
Take it one step, one day at a time. Each day is a new day. Sometimes there will be a few steps forward, sometimes a few steps back.
One of my favourite supplements to treat addiction is N-acetyl-cysteine or NAC. This is an antioxidant that helps scavenge free radicals in the body, but also improves addiction by working on the receptor that deals with glutamate (one of the neurotransmitters involves in dopamine release).
Other treatments for addiction include herbal medicine such as passionflower or Bush Flower Essences such as emergency essence to help ease the symptoms of withdrawal. And working on healthier coping mechanisms when experiencing stress or anxiety.
I hope this post helps any of you struggling with addiction. Please to not hesitate to book an appointment if you need any further support.
Love and light,
Branwen