Combating Addiction
Do you have an addiction? Are you sure you know what an addiction is? The costs of an addiction are high, but you don’t have to feel trapped. There are ways to help yourself.
When people think of addiction, they generally think of alcohol and drug addiction; however, this is not the only kind of addiction that exists. Drugs and alcohol are the leading addictive substances, but too much of anything can lead to addiction.
Plain and simple: excess of anything is destructive. In order to create balance in one’s life, he/she must cut as much excess as possible. If you find yourself doing an excessive amount of one particular thing, it could be or lead to addiction.
Excess vs. Addiction
To do something in excess is different from addiction and it is important to understand this. Excess is simply when something is done too often. This could be any activity: playing a sport, taking a substance, feeling an emotion, etc. Though it can be dangerous to do something too often, excess is not inherently problematic.
Addiction, however, is when an activity that is done in excess becomes habit. Humans instinctively make habits out of anything they do on a regular basis. That is why, after performing the same ritual over a period of time, you no longer have to think or remember to do the action. Your body will remind itself. Click here to learn some of the benefits of forming habits.
Habit vs. Addiction
You may be wondering, “If I do something repeatedly, how do I know if it will become a habit or an addiction? And what’s the difference?”
The terms “habit” and “addiction” are similar, and sometimes used interchangeably, but there is an important difference between the two. A habit is a ritual which a person does unthinkingly. It is something that the person does not need to be reminded to do because it is so deeply engrained into the person’s subconscious. An “addiction” is different because the person is not instinctively reminded to perform the action. Instead, the person has a steady and unquenchable desire.
An addiction is dangerous because the person wants it all of the time, whereas a habit is a sudden urge or feeling. A habit is easily given up, an addiction is not.
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