Are you addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, video games, or something else entirely? You should know that you’re not alone.
There are millions of Americans who suffer from one form of addiction or another every year. Many of them end up getting stuck in a vicious cycle and have a hard time getting out of it.
The key to coping with an addiction is sticking with it. You might not be able to beat your addiction on the first, second, or even third time that you try to defeat it. But if you continue chipping away at it, you can eventually get out of its grip.
Here are seven tips that will help you break the cycle that you’re stuck in so that you can start living a much better life.
1. List All the Reasons Why You Want to Beat Addiction
Why exactly do you want to beat your addiction?
Is it because you hate what your addiction has done to your family? Is it because you realize addiction has slowed down your professional growth? Is it because you’re sick and tired of being, well, sick and tired?
You need a “why” when you’re coping with an addiction. It’ll make all the struggles that you go through worth it, and it’ll also make it easier for you to say “no!” when addiction rears its ugly head.
Write down a list of all the reasons why you want to beat addiction and keep it somewhere close to you. It’ll come in handy in the coming weeks, months, and years.
2. Find Someone to Help Hold You Accountable
No matter how hard you try and take down an addiction on your own, you’re going to have weak moments. There will be times when you’ll be so tempted to give in and take a drink, use drugs, or place a bet that you’ll do it.
It’s why you should consider finding someone to help hold you accountable when it comes to your addiction. In some cases, your accountability partner can be a spouse or a best friend. But you also might want to turn to a sponsor to help you since they’ll have some experience with what you’re going through.
3. Consider Getting Professional Help
If you’ve been addicted to something for a long time now, it’s not going to be easy for you to just quit cold turkey. It could even be dangerous for you to take this approach to battling addiction.
If you think you might fall into this category, you should seek professional help when taking on your addiction. It’ll be especially useful for those who are dealing with a drug problem.
A stint in drug rehab might be just what the doctor ordered for many people working their way through a neverending issue with drugs. It’ll provide you with the tools you need to stop using drugs for good.
4. Add Something to Your Life to Replace Your Addiction
When you remove an addiction to drinking, drugs, gambling, sex, or video games from your life, it’ll leave a gaping hole behind. You’ll have a ton of time to fill and nothing to fill it with.
Get around this by adding something to your life that replaces your addiction. This “something” can be exercising, reading, volunteering, or doing any number of other things.
By staying active, you’ll prevent your mind from wandering to a bad place. You won’t have time to sit around and think about your addiction.
5. Keep a Journal Detailing Your Fight Against Addiction
From the second you decide to eliminate an addiction from your life, you should keep a journal documenting your pursuit. You should try to write down how you’re feeling each day.
Your journal will help to illustrate how far you’ve been able to come over the years. It’ll also give you something to look at on your dark days when you’re thinking about going back to your addiction. You’ll think twice about doing it when you see the progress you’ve made.
6. Set Out to Help Others Addicted to the Same Thing as You
One of the most effective ways to get over an addiction is by helping those who are struggling with the same addiction as you.
You should not attempt to do this when you’re still new to the process and making your way through the many challenges associated with coping with an addiction. But once you have some time under your belt, you can look into assisting others.
Helping other people battling addiction will give you a real sense of purpose. It’ll also reinforce in your mind why you don’t ever want to give in to your addiction again.
7. Never Give Up, Even When You Experience Setbacks
A lot of people experience setbacks when coping with an addiction. They’ll have a momentary lapse in judgment and run back to their addiction for one reason or another.
You might feel hopeless when this happens to you. But it’s important to remember that it’s all part of the process! You should pick yourself back up again after a relapse and get back to work.
You’re never going to defeat addiction completely. It’ll always be just around the corner, waiting to tempt you again.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep on fighting the good fight. You’re a lot stronger than you might think and don’t have to let addiction keep you down forever.
Coping With an Addiction Will Be a Lifelong Battle
Coping with an addiction isn’t something you do once for a few days, a few weeks, or even a few months and then never do again. It’s something you’re going to do for life when you have an addiction.
The sooner you realize that, the better chance you have of fighting back against addiction and winning. You can neutralize an addiction and stop it from taking a toll on your life as long as you’re willing to keep fighting.
Interested in finding out some strategies for avoiding an addiction relapse? Read our blog to get information on how to do it.