Navigating Addictions:You’re Not In It Alone
My clients with addictions tell me one of the hardest parts before getting help is the feeling of isolation.
They see their chronic habits can affect everything, including their relationships, finances, well-being, or their ability to manage their lives.
On top of all that, they feel alienated from the people around them, even (and especially) from the people closest to them.
Addictions I help people with most often include social media and electronics, behaviors around food, work, and spending money. These are now just as common as drug and alcohol addictions.
But what stands out to me so much, and the reason I’m highlighting this topic today, is how long clients often wait to get help.
They’ll report time and again they were so ashamed and disappointed in themselves they didn’t want to say it out loud.
And those thoughts and the isolation it brings ends up creating the need for relief. So they turn to their addiction.
But here’s the thing. Zoom out from that addicted person sitting in their house, and look at all the houses on that block. There’s someone in every house with some chronic habit that sabotages them.
We all have repetitive thoughts that help bring focus and order to chaotic thought.
We’re all doing the best we can trying to navigate through life’s ups and downs.
On the most basic level, we’re all built exactly the same way.
We were all given the gift of thought and free will, and we all innocently use it to impair ourselves a huge amount of the time.
So we’re not alone in the fact that we struggle.
Zoom out from that addicted person sitting in their house, and look at all the houses on that block. There’s someone in every house with some chronic habit that sabotages them.
We also have something helping us navigate addiction and every other problem we face.
Life gives us a steady series of problems to solve.
And our experience of those problems moves and changes based on the thoughts in our head. So our experience of life is not fixed, it’s spiritual.
We’re connected at birth to a creative and intelligent source that brings us an ever-changing experience of life, and a stream of guidance, common sense, hope and answers we didn’t see last week, new ideas, or a fresh set of eyes.
So we have always been provided with a source of answers crafted uniquely for each of us.
That’s how we get over break-ups and crushes, and it’s why we’ve matured and evolved emotionally over the course of our lives.
We are not alone in any of our struggles.
Understanding that fact brings people a level of well-being and stability that connects us more consistently to our creative process, and the hope and answers it brings.
That’s what I do in my work.
And that’s what today’s video is about. Click below to watch.
I hope it helps.
Interested in teens and addictions? I’m offering a 4-part live webinar series in June 2024 called ‘Addictions in Teens: Helping Parents Keep their Sanity’ and Influence. Click here for more info or to register.
erika bugbee
I’m a global coach who works with teens, individuals, couples, and practitioners that are open and motivated to change.
