Whether or not you’re willing to admit it to yourself, you’re on this page because either you or someone you care about has let something — whether it’s drugs, pornography, shopping, gambling, the Internet, or anything at all — get in the way of maintaining healthy lifestyle.
Take a moment right now to take a few deep breaths, in and out through your nostrils. Think about who you are and what your life currently looks like. Is there a particular activity that you’ll engage in no matter the consequences? Has your job or have relationships suffered as a result? We’re sorry to hear that, but there’s a chance that you’ve become addicted.
No matter what has happened as a result of this behavior or habit up until this point, be encouraged that your life can change — YOU can change. That little voice in your head that tells you that you don’t really have a problem is a liar. If you’re wondering if there’s is a problem, then there probably is one.
Your addiction doesn’t have to define you from this point forward, and Thriveworks Grand Rapids Addiction Counseling is here to help you come up a new definition for yourself, a definition that includes the words “happy,” “fulfilled,” and “free.”
Getting to the Root of the Problem
We turn to addictions, oftentimes, for a one-time thrill or to cope with another underlying issue like stress, depression, anxiety or other problems with self-image.
The sick part about the addiction, however, is that these issues are only momentarily masked, and usually come back the same (if not worse) by the time the high of a shopping spree wears off, or when the booze wears off the next morning and you’re left with the unpleasantness of a headache, an upset stomach and having to answer for whatever you did because you got messed up the night before.
You feel bad all over again, and return to the addiction again, and again. Likely increasing your dosage to combat the diminishing returns and heightening tolerance.
At Thriveworks Grand Rapids, Forest Hills Addiction Counseling, we’ll do more than help you modify your behavior. We’ll help you find the source of the problem that made you want to cope in the first place. Doing so might sound like an impossibility, or at best a platitude, but the people that work at this counseling practice do so because more than believing that radical change is possible, they have experienced this change in themselves and seen their clients experience it over and over again.
Signs and symptoms of addiction include:
- Obsessive focus on an activity or substance
- Negative consequences are outweighed by desire to continue an activity (even a “healthy” one)
- Use of a substance for longer than one year
- Shame and guilt
- Difficulty saying “no” to something you know you shouldn’t do
- Lack of interest in things you once enjoyed
- Uncontrollable urges and behaviors
- Substance use for a year or more
- Inexplicable changes in mood
- Otherwise inexplicable distance from family and friends
- Increasing patterns of behavior or substance use over time
- Mood swings
- Feelings of self-worthlessness or shame
- Loss of focus
Thriveworks Grand Rapids Addiction Counseling Will Help You Regain Your Freedom
When you’re up late at night and no one else is around to tell you differently, do you slide into the exact habits that you know that you should keep away from? Do you always end up doing the one thing that holds you back from achieving the life you want?
Well, that’s what counseling is for. There’s an unfortunate misconception out there that therapy is only for those who have really severe problems. You know, the issues that “only other people suffer from.” The truth is that we all have our personal issues that need addressing, and there’s no shame in that.
Even if you believe your addiction is relatively mild compared to the sensationalized caricature of the needle-in-the-vein junky lying in the gutter, you still may not realize how much better your life can be once you’re free from your indulgences.
You might believe that life looks different for everyone (which it does) and that who is to say what is an addiction to one person might be totally fine for someone else. While that is a valid perspective, consider this: Freedom, in life, isn’t about being able to do whatever-the-hell you want, it’s about being free to choose to distance yourself from the things that don’t propel you into becoming the best version of yourself.
Choose to be free from repetitive, useless habits. Choose to be free from the momentary rush, and instead step forward into a life where every moment is better than the next.
Welcome to the “now.”
