Almost all addictions are unhealthy ways of coping with difficult emotions, stress, and/or unprocessed trauma.
Be it online shopping or alcoholism, the unconscious goal is always to self-soothe, self-medicate, and self-distract from the real issue, the real emotions.
Addiction can also be a desperate attempt to soothe an overloaded nervous system. Unprocessed trauma and ongoing stress can really overload our coping skills!
To put it very briefly and simply - as you're looking for a tip and not a whole essay! - overcoming addiction comes from (1) Learning to acknowledge, express, and regulate difficult / negative emotions in a healthy way, (2) Learning nervous system regulation skills (practicing deep breathing when you feel anxious, for example, instead of grabbing a drink), and (3) Improving / changing your environment in such a way so that engaging in your addiction becomes extremely difficult, unpleasant, unacceptable, inappropriate, etc. But more on that later in another post!
- Barlas, The Hague
Be it online shopping or alcoholism, the unconscious goal is always to self-soothe, self-medicate, and self-distract from the real issue, the real emotions.
Addiction can also be a desperate attempt to soothe an overloaded nervous system. Unprocessed trauma and ongoing stress can really overload our coping skills!
To put it very briefly and simply - as you're looking for a tip and not a whole essay! - overcoming addiction comes from (1) Learning to acknowledge, express, and regulate difficult / negative emotions in a healthy way, (2) Learning nervous system regulation skills (practicing deep breathing when you feel anxious, for example, instead of grabbing a drink), and (3) Improving / changing your environment in such a way so that engaging in your addiction becomes extremely difficult, unpleasant, unacceptable, inappropriate, etc. But more on that later in another post!
- Barlas, The Hague
