I admit I know a couple of people who were able to win the battle of addiction and stay clean. They are part of a group that is very small in comparison to this epidemic. I want to focus on the majority of people trying to win their own battle. When deciding that this is finally the time to stop this addiction, you need to set up a plan that works for you. Unfortunately for addiction there really is no solid 100 percent plan that will help you stay clean. I personally think the best results are take parts of plans that have worked for other people and may work for you and try them out. You may need to adjust some things and some plans just might not work.
So why is it so hard for people to quit? Because it really is a disease!! There are some people out in the world that would laugh at this idea. They will even go a step further and say its all in your head. Please do not listen to these people, we have plenty of evidence and solid research to show it is a disease. Addiction involves changes in the functioning of the brain and body. These changes may be brought on by risky substance use or may pre-existed (Center of Addiction). In Harold C. Urschel MD. book called “Healing the Addicted Brain” he says
“The addicted brain is full of distorted and irrational thoughts. Part of this is due to the process of addiction, which physically damages the brain, and part of it is due to the practice of addiction, which requires isolation, disengaging from normal, healthy emotions, rationalizing, and developing mental subterfuges, all of which make it more difficult to think clearly.” (Page 29).
Another big reason it is hard to stay clean is the routine you dug yourself into. You wake up either to full-blown withdrawal or with just enough to make you feel normal and find that next fix. I personally spent so much time trying to gather money, waiting, and calling dealers that it literally became a full-time job. We get caught in this disastrous cycle that is truly never-ending. It comes to a point where you do not care for the consequences as long as you can get that fix. Stealing from your wife or girlfriend, friends, parents, and siblings it becomes the norm, to me this is the start of losing everything you have.
Having support is a huge part of sobriety, you do not want to be around the same people you were hanging out with during addiction ( most anyways). If you have no one you can reach out to find someone (like me) that can help you. You really need a support system to be succesful from relapse. What do you have left when the people you love lose that faith and trust in you? For me it was nothing I wanted so bad to give up and just keep doing what I was doing, but you need to fight for the people you love. I was very lucky not to have my friends and family turn their backs on me. They gave me tough love and did what they needed to do BUT they never gave up on me even when I put them through hell or worse. For me this is the backbone of my sobriety having family and friends I can talk to without judgement. A lot of people who have trouble staying clean or getting clean the only support they have is the people they are doing drugs with or they keep the addiction hidden so no real people who care about you know what is really going on.
Here is three ways reaching out to friends and family can help:
- Contact friends or family to talk about what you are feeling and why you think you want to relapse.
- Be upfront to these people DO NOT LIE of they don’t get the full story they can’t really help.
- Have people lined up so that if one doesn’t answer you can call another. Important to have people you can reach out too 24/7.
I also want to briefly talk about the fact maybe you just don’t want to stop. We can say we want to quit very easily but doing it is a lot harder than just saying this. Yes, this is the first step and most important step. If we never tell ourselves we want to stop then will we? No. There can be a lot of different reasons you are not getting the results you need and keep relapsing. It ranges from individual to individual of course, we do not all go through the same life experiences so please take that into account.
Last and most important personally is withdrawals. You might be asking what about them? They are one if not worst things you will experience in your life. This is really the point where you are most vulnerable (of course) you literally feel like sh*t and death. Along with that you will get random sweats, your bones will ache, you will not be able to sleep, and will be very restless. These are some of the common things you may experience, but the most important thing is this is where a lot of people relapse and for good reason you want to feel normal. During this time we will do anything to feel normal and if we do not have that strong supporting and a plan setup we will fail every single time!
Good-luck on your journey to sobriety and taking control of your life once again!
Cheers!
Addiction to Investing 