Author: Ann Schiebert
Types of Reality Distortion Systems
I’m Not an Addict cont’d
What does one do to get out of this Reality Distortion System? First of all, no one can do it for you – not your spouse, your uncle, best friend etc. YOU have to be the one to get yourself out of this RDS. This will take a lot of courage, tenacity, and willingness. You will also go through a grieving process wherein there is great sadness that you can’t participate in any of those activities that have been the organizing principal of your addiction. One of the greatest fears of addicts is that they cannot have brain altering substances and/or they cannot do the behaviors that have provided them immense compulsive pleasure in the past.
What to Work on:
- Get educated about addiction.
- Get evaluated to find out if you do have an addiction, and/or if you are dependent on a substance.
- Research available treatments for your addiction.
- Tell someone that you have an addiction.
- Discover what community recovery supports are available to help you change the behaviors and beliefs that are part of the addiction. For example: there are many 12 Step groups available to assist one in looking at and recovering from their addiction. Alcoholics Anonymous, (AA); Narcotics Anonymous (NA); Debtors Anonymous (DA); Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLA); Overeaters Anonymous (OA); Gamblers Anonymous (GA); Pills Anonymous (PA) are all groups that help their members overcome their addictive behaviors, beliefs, and connections.
- Get professional counsel about whether or not you need to become abstinent from your addiction.
- Start to eradicate negative self talk.
These suggestions will take a very long time. Patience is a necessity. Be kind to yourself.
More, next post.