Addiction
An addiction is a feel-good escape that eventually becomes a trap. We who are addicted, worship the source of our addiction and its power over us. There is no end to the list of things we can become addicted to: eating, drinking, shopping, gambling, sex, adrenaline, to name a few of the many. We pursue and fall into an addiction trap to avoid the pain in our lives. It becomes a way of self-medicating to cope with bad feelings. This kind of coping makes you feel good in the short run but worse in the long run because every addiction leads to increased shame. So when does a seemingly normal, enjoyable behavior become an addiction? When it dominates a person’s life, to the detriment of healthy living. No single behavior pattern defines an addiction, but often only when the behavior takes control and life becomes unmanageable do we acknowledge our unhealthy dependence and seek help. The therapeutic work is multifaceted and often includes understanding the addiction to gain power over it, healing from the pain that drives you to the addiction, and finding new and more varied ways of soothing, coping with, and responding to the pain in your life. If you are suffering with an addiction, you cannot just remove the addiction, you must find new habits that bring joy and meaning to your life without the sense of shame.