Leslie Glass's Blog, page 280

How To Break Up With Negative Self Talk

Self talk is that inner voice that often chatters to us about all types of things. Unfortunately, it is often negative. Negative self talk impairs our ability to cope with life’s ups and downs. Buddhists refer to this inner chatting as “monkey mind” because monkeys are always chattering about something. And while most human self talk is quiet on the outside, we may even find ourselves talking out loud. Take a minute and think about your inner and outer self talk; is it positive, negative, or both?

Self Talk Habits Form In Childhood

To see where negative self talk comes from, we have to trace its origins. Ask yourself these questions:

Did we start saying negative things to ourselves after others, such as parents and teachers, said negative things about us?
Were we raised in a household that valued perfectionism?
When we weren’t perfect, were highly criticized, and then internalized this negativity?
Did our teachers compare us negatively to our siblings?
Did our religious institution shame us for our beliefs (or lack of beliefs)?

However we learned, negative self talk is highly problematic for living a healthy life. It becomes a tape in our mind which plays over and over. Then we constantly punish ourselves for the negativity of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. However, there are many things we can do to grow out of this habit.

First Annihilate Negative Self Talk

Listen to your self talk and hear what it is saying. Most of the time, you don’t even realized the awful things you are say to yourself. When you hear negative self talk, use one or more of the following to challenge the untrue thought:

Turn down the volume of this negative talk and eventually, turn it off. Visualize this as well.
Let go of the negative. Here, examine your self talk and if you see it is negative, focus on letting it go by accentuating the positive.
Reframe the negative as a the positive. For example, if you hear that voice tell you that you are stupid, tell yourself, “I am intelligent.” Make this a mantra that you repeat over and over.
When something bad happens, examine this and do not catastrophize, for most bad things are manageable. Break down the negative thoughts into small, manageable parts.

Examine whether there is any proof that you are a terrible, awful, stupid, ugly, etc., human being. Sometimes you’ll make an unhealthy choice; sometimes you will actually be wrong.

A positive reaction to an unhealthy choice is to make apologies or amends, but shame, that inner voice that tells you that you are bad to the core, must be silenced, for no one is bad to the core.

Throughout the day, practice saying positive things (affirmations) about yourself. By doing so, these positive affirmations become habit and take over from the negatives. Sometimes, even tell these things out loud to yourself in order to better hear and affirm the positive. Remember that positive and negative are the ying/yang of life; you will experience both but you don’t have to wallow in the negative.

Second Cultivate Positive Self Talk

Make a list of your positives and look at them daily. Speak them out loud. Focus on the positives and rejoice in them. Switch gears when you get into a negative focus. Do something positive such as:

Journaling
Reading
Exercising
Walking your dog
Playing on the computer
Watching the clouds in the sky
Singing aloud
Focusing on relaxation exercises
Getting positive feedback from a friend or family member
Volunteering
Visualize a happy situation such as being at the beach

Embrace Your Humanity

Laugh at your foibles – we all have them. Try to decrease or, better yet, eliminate your stress.  Then, you can then focus more on the positives in life. Prioritize. Athletes use visualization and positive self talk to help them reach their highest potentials. We can do the same. Just like an athlete, we must practice, practice, and practice.

In summary, if you’ve done the negative self talk for years, you can see how effective this negativity keeps you trapped. Fortunately, positive self talk is a stronger force, that can be more effective in healing your life. You are worth it, and you’ll find yourself enjoying life more.

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Can Meditation Improve Your Health? Here’s What To Know

From Time:

When you hear the word meditation, you may think of sitting cross-legged with your eyes closed—breathing deeply and trying to clear your mind.

While it’s true that meditation often involves quiet and focused contemplation, the whole “empty your mind” thing is a misconception, says Dr. Judson Brewer, director of research and innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center. “Meditation is not about emptying our minds or stopping our thoughts, which is impossible,” Brewer says. “It’s about changing our relationships to our thoughts.”

Doing so may help some stress-related health conditions, including those related to the gut. Here’s what you need to know about meditation and what to expect from the practice.

What is meditation?

Meditation practices come in many forms, some of which date back more than 2,000 years. The specifics of each differ, but they all have one thing in common. “All the various practices train or cultivate attention and awareness,” says Miles Neale, a clinical instructor of psychology at Weill Cornell Medical College and author of Gradual Awakening, a book about Tibetan Buddhist meditation.

There are three main types, Neale says. The first and most common is one he calls single—pointed meditation, “where you try to anchor your mind to one point of attention, like your breath or a candle or a mantra,” he explains. The second type, “open focus meditation,” involves recognizing any thoughts, feelings or sensations that pop into your head as they arise—without passing judgment on them. (This practice is a big component of mindfulness, he says.) The third type is one he calls “cultivation meditation,” in which you try to develop specific qualities or habits of the mind. Loving-kindness meditation, which emphasizes openness and compassion, is one example.

What are the health benefits of meditation?

All types cultivate attention and awareness, and research shows that meditation can bolster concentration. Even a little seems to go a long way. A recent study in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that just 10 minutes of mindfulness meditation training improved people’s reaction times and accuracy scores on a computer-based attention test.

“I think many people under-appreciate the role attention plays in their life,” says Michael Mrazek, director of research at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Center for Mindfulness and Human Potential. In every moment of your life, your brain is bombarded with way more information than it can process, he says. A lot of this information comes at you from the world around you, but plenty comes from your own mind, whether it’s preoccupying thoughts of work or worries about an upcoming event. “Attention acts as a filter—like the gatekeeper of your mind—and so where you direct your attention is the best predictor of your experiences,” Mrazek explains.

Enhanced thinking and memory are two more benefits that research has consistently linked with meditation, Mrazek says. The practice can also help you better recognize and understand your emotions—and to let them go instead of becoming embroiled in worry or rumination. This ability to regulate emotions may be one reason meditation can help people with depression and anxiety disorders.

Meditation can also help those with stress-related conditions. One small study from Massachusetts General Hospital found that the practice helped ease symptoms and improve quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. Research has also linked meditation to improvements in people with chronic pain.

How does meditation do all this? It appears to increase activity in brain regions involved in pain regulation. And when it comes to stress and its associated disorders, some research also finds that meditation activates the body’s relaxation response—the opposite of the fight-or-flight state that fuels anxiety and stress.

Are there any health risks with meditation?

Meditation is not without risk. Among people who have experienced trauma or who have a predisposition to mental-health issues, intensive practice can be “destabilizing,” Mrazek says. Meditation can also lead to troubling personal insights, especially for beginners who throw themselves into it too intensely. “We’re usually in this state of hyper-vigilance, but when you meditate you let your guard down,” Neale says. “Some painful memory could be kicked up, and instructors are often not trained to deal with that.”

Meditation requires good instruction and a slow, gradual buildup in training. Like exercise, it also requires a long-term commitment and regular practice, Neale says. If you want the benefits to persist, you need to stick with it.

What is the most effective way to meditate?

How should you get started? “Try a number of different practices and find one that resonates and connects with you personally,” Mrazek advises. There’s no “best” type of meditation, he adds. Finding the right practice for you requires exploration—and an open mind.

The post Can Meditation Improve Your Health? Here’s What To Know appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Brain Growth Slows By Heavy Alcohol Use

From Science Daily New research in nonhuman primates shows that heavy use of alcohol can actually slow the rate of growth in developing brains. The study, to be published April 1, in the journal eNeuro, shows that heavy alcohol use reduced the rate of brain growth by 0.25 milliliters per year for every gram of alcohol consumed per kilogram of body weight. In human terms, that’s the equivalent of four beers per day.

Heavy use of alcohol among adolescents and young adults is not only dangerous in its own right, but new research in nonhuman primates shows that it can actually slow the rate of growth in developing brains.

The study, published today in the journal eNeuro, shows that heavy alcohol use reduced the rate of brain growth by 0.25 milliliters per year for every gram of alcohol consumed per kilogram of body weight. In human terms, that’s the equivalent of four beers per day. The research involved rhesus macaque monkeys at the Oregon National Primate Research Center.

“Chronic alcohol self-intoxication reduced the growth rate of brain, cerebral white matter and subcortical thalamus,” the researchers write.

Researchers measured brain growth through magnetic resonance imaging of 71 rhesus macaques that voluntarily consumed ethanol or beverage alcohol. Scientists precisely measured intake, diet, daily schedules and health care, thus ruling out other factors that tend to confound results in observational studies involving people. The findings in the study help validate previous research examining the effect of alcohol use on brain development in people.

“Human studies are based on self-reporting of underage drinkers,” said co-author Christopher Kroenke, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Division of Neuroscience at the primate center. “Our measures pinpoint alcohol drinking with the impaired brain growth.”

The new study is the first to characterize normal brain growth of 1 milliliter per 1.87 years in rhesus macaques in late adolescence and early adulthood. And it further reveals a decrease in the volume of distinct brain areas due to voluntary consumption of ethanol.

Lead author Tatiana Shnitko, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in the Division of Neuroscience at the primate center, said previous research has shown the brain has a capacity to recover at least in part following the cessation of alcohol intake. However, it’s not clear whether there would be long-term effects on mental functions as the adolescent and young adult brain ends its growth phase. The next stage of research will explore that question.

“This is the age range when the brain is being fine-tuned to fit adult responsibilities,” Shnitko said. “The question is, does alcohol exposure during this age range alter the lifetime learning ability of individuals?”

This study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (U01 AA013510, P60 AA013510 and U24 AA025473.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Oregon Health & Science University. Original written by Erik Robinson. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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From Heroin Addict To Animal Rescue

Animal rescue could not have happened until Alexandra found recovery herself. When Alexandra Ashe heard of TC, an abandoned kinkajous, so much about his story resonated with her — a troubled past, rehabilitation, and the opportunity to start fresh. This was Alexandra’s life in a nutshell, as she suffered from addiction for most of her time. She jumped at the opportunity to help this mammal, who mirrored her journey.

Abandoned Kinkajous rules the roost in this house

TC is a blessing. Her feisty attitude made her a challenge in the beginning, but with patience and unconditional love — she’s a muffin! TC now resides with other kinkajous. Like raccoons, she loves getting into mischief. TC is a fan of “helping” with daily chores, which really consists getting underfoot. She is a master of tripping her caretakers. A funny creature, she has a sweet tooth and a great sense of humor.

As much of a social butterfly as she is, TC needs her alone time and loves naps! Everyone can relate to this little girl in one way or another.

TC is a true rescue. Who would ever want to throw this sweet girl out? Alexandra can’t answer that, but she can tell you who would pledge a commitment of unconditional care for her and offer this kinkajou a permanent home. She could.

TC (pictured above) with Alexandra joined the haven in June 2018.

Six months prior she was found “thrown out” in a dumpster. This is a common practice regarding kinkajous; especially in Florida and Texas. People become overwhelmed with ownership and instead of finding placement, set them free in an inappropriate environment. Fortunately, TC was discovered and taken to a local wildlife sanctuary. She was rehabbed for 6 months and then joined Kinkatopia. We know nothing of her past before being found in the dumpster. Considering she ended up there, we imagine it wasn’t very nice.

TC non-stop play in a safe space

She will live out her days at Kinkatopia, she is loved very dearly and the organization is working to combat situations such as hers.

Animal rescue takes heroine recovery to vulnerable kinkajous

Kinkatopia is now home to 7 kinkajous and Alexandra dedicates herself to giving these animals the best quality of life. However, without her sobriety, none of this would be possible. Alexandra has multiple years sober, but still keeps her recovery as her top priority. “I know what it’s like to build an incredible life with wonderful animals and lose it all. I never want that to happen again. I fight everyday to live a life beyond my wildest dreams … with wild animals.” All these animals are given the chance to live two lives in one, when they end up at Kinkatopia. This concept is special to Alexandra as she has evolved into living the best version of herself. She can relate to TC’s troubled past and the blessing of a second chance.

Alexandra Ashe is a recovering heroin addict who’s dedicated her life to creating a sanctuary and educational platform for this niche animal in the exotic world. She is the CEO and founder of Kinkatopia — the only kinkajou-specific 501c3 organization in the world.

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4 Ways To Stay Happy In Recovery

How can you stay happy when so many unexpected things happen that you can’t control? We’re all on shifting sands that can unbalance, or unhinge us. It’s especially difficult for people in recovery because weird stuff happens to us and we have to keep it together and stay happy.

How to Stay Happy In Tragedy

I have a friend who relapsed and ended up in the ER this weekend, and he’s still there with some possibly very serious health consequences as a result of this most recent relapse. Occasionally something changes at work seemingly overnight, and I’m suddenly faced with new challenges that actually change my schedule. This causes a ripple effect for my recovery. These are things happening in my life, but I have to be able to get through them without losing a beat, or my positive mood. A good mood is everything to me.

How Do We Stay Happy In Drama

Science has proven it again and again that we are more likely to find success after we become happy. Add success to happiness and you’ve grabbed the golden ring. You get to live in a perfect Nirvana forever. just kidding. But apparently it is the magic recipe. Success sometimes comes with the risk that you’re not happy, even though you’re successful! Then, you have to go to South America and take Iowaska and go on vision quests and to India to learn from gurus and maybe, just maybe you’ll find yourself along the way. I’m serious. Successful people still have to search for happiness. But it doesn’t have to be so hard.

A Daily Happiness Practice Is The Answer

I’m working on my golden key right now by developing a daily practice for happiness. My happiness practice is a combination of reading books on the subject, and a new commitment to daily meditation and mindfulness. I’m also working with a coach to learn how to be happier and more successful. Experts help.

So, if you have any drama in your life that affects your mood and you’d like to create a daily practice that will help keep your mood elevated here are some tips.

1. Meditate

I talk about it all the time because it’s a proven method to make people happier, more stable, more focused and ultimately help change the gray matter in their brains to have a more positive outlook on life. Start with 5 minutes a day and build up from there. I use Youtube and I go to a meditation studio.

2. Exercise

Even walking 20 minutes outside in nice weather can do wonders. It will help you if you work in an office, or from home. Stretch your legs, get some fresh air and let your mind take a break and wander.

3. Practice acts of kindness

AKA be of service. Hold the door open for someone, compliment someone, bring something nice in for your office and let other people know you care. You’ll benefit as much if not more than they will.

4. Do something you’re good at

It’s a mood booster and a confidence booster. It doesn’t matter if it’s something at work, or life or a hobby or class, just give yourself the pleasure of exhibiting a strength.

The post 4 Ways To Stay Happy In Recovery appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

4 Ways To Stay Happy

How can you stay happy when so many unexpected things happen that you can’t control? We’re all on shifting sands that can unbalance, or unhinge us. It’s especially difficult for people in recovery because weird stuff happens to us and we have to keep it together and stay happy.

How to Stay Happy In Tragedy

I have a friend who relapsed and ended up in the ER this weekend, and he’s still there with some possibly very serious health consequences as a result of this most recent relapse. Occasionally something changes at work seemingly overnight, and I’m suddenly faced with new challenges that actually change my schedule. This causes a ripple effect for my recovery. These are things happening in my life, but I have to be able to get through them without losing a beat, or my positive mood. A good mood is everything to me.

How Do We Stay Happy In Drama

Science has proven it again and again that we are more likely to find success after we become happy. Add success to happiness and you’ve grabbed the golden ring. You get to live in a perfect Nirvana forever. just kidding. But apparently it is the magic recipe. Success sometimes comes with the risk that you’re not happy, even though you’re successful! Then, you have to go to South America and take Iowaska and go on vision quests and to India to learn from gurus and maybe, just maybe you’ll find yourself along the way. I’m serious. Successful people still have to search for happiness. But it doesn’t have to be so hard.

A Daily Happiness Practice Is The Answer

I’m working on my golden key right now by developing a daily practice for happiness. My happiness practice is a combination of reading books on the subject, and a new commitment to daily meditation and mindfulness. I’m also working with a coach to learn how to be happier and more successful. Experts help.

So, if you have any drama in your life that affects your mood and you’d like to create a daily practice that will help keep your mood elevated here are some tips.

1. Meditate

I talk about it all the time because it’s a proven method to make people happier, more stable, more focused and ultimately help change the gray matter in their brains to have a more positive outlook on life. Start with 5 minutes a day and build up from there. I use Youtube and I go to a meditation studio.

2. Exercise

Even walking 20 minutes outside in nice weather can do wonders. It will help you if you work in an office, or from home. Stretch your legs, get some fresh air and let your mind take a break and wander.

3. Practice acts of kindness

AKA be of service. Hold the door open for someone, compliment someone, bring something nice in for your office and let other people know you care. You’ll benefit as much if not more than they will.

4. Do something you’re good at

It’s a mood booster and a confidence booster. It doesn’t matter if it’s something at work, or life or a hobby or class, just give yourself the pleasure of exhibiting a strength.

The post 4 Ways To Stay Happy appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Words Matter: Alcoholic, Addict, Problem Drinker

From Psychology Today:

Labels Can Hurt More Than Help

Almost every time I see a movie or TV show that includes a depiction of heavy drinking or drug use, the terms “alcoholic” or “addict” are used. The latest example is the film, A Star is Born which won 2 Grammys and an Oscar this year. Predictably Bradley Cooper heads off to two months of (posh) inpatient rehab after a career of heavy drinking and wetting himself while blind drunk onstage at an awards show. Might he have entered treatment before this point if there was not the stigma attached to heavy drinking? We’ll never know (and the original movie came out in 1937) but we now know how labels can have unintended consequences.

While the medical community moved away from these labels years ago now (along with alcohol abuse or drug abuse), they are still in common use. And it’s time to re-think this.

Let me be clear though that I’m not referring to how people label themselves. If it’s helpful for a person to conclude that he or she is an “alcoholic” then that’s all that’s needed. It should be also be noted that whether one accepts a label of alcoholic or not does not have an impact on outcomes in treatment. Just as many people recover from alcohol problems who don’t admit to the label as do those who do. What’s important in this context is an acknowledgment by the person that their drinking is causing too many problems or putting them at a higher risk for alcohol-related problems, and they need to make a change.

Now back to how we think of others. How we describe a person and his or her alcohol or drug use affects our attitudes towards them. My colleague, Dr. John Kelly, at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, has been studying how labels affect a person’s perception of the individual. He conducted an experiment that compared referring to a person as an individual with a substance abuse disorder or to a person as a substance abuser. In looking at the data, the substance abuser “was perceived as engaging in willful misconduct, a greater social threat, and more deserving of punishment” compared to the person described as having a substance use disorder.

Words and labels can be pejorative, harmful, and, ironically, increase or decrease the chances that heavy drinkers will seek help. Using terms like a person with a substance use disorder reduces the stigma that is a barrier to people entering treatment. Anything we can do to reduce barriers to help people resolve their alcohol and drug problems is a worthwhile endeavor. Something to consider the next time you talk with a person with drinking or drug misuse.

The post Words Matter: Alcoholic, Addict, Problem Drinker appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

How To Get Yourself To Exercise If You’re Depressed

From Tonic.Vice:

Psychologists gave us 7 ways to motivate yourself to work out when it’s the last thing you want to do.

I remember waking up one spring morning about three years ago agitated from multiple efforts to extract the most aggressive of running shorts wedgies. I had slept in full running gear, boob-smashing sports bra included, and my sneakers were on the floor directly next to my bed, per instructions from my therapist. She was trying to get me to go outside for a jog as soon as I woke up in the morning and this seemed like the path of least resistance.

Let me back up. I went through a phase of mild depression in 2015 after moving to a new city where I knew no one except for the partner who had just broken up with me. Depression feels different to everyone, and mine was basically sad movie-sobbing plus fear intertwined with anxiety—a fun combo platter. So on top of being too exhausted to do much (a common physical symptom of the weepies), I would get really angsty and negative in the morning. I had a bomb ass therapist though, who rocked with me to and through this phase, and one of the things she pushed was exercise.

Exercise is not a cure for any type of mental illness, but it really helps for a lot of people. It made a huge difference for me. “Just getting activated, behaviorally, is a useful treatment for depression,” says Nicholas Forand, assistant professor of psychiatry at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell Health. “The act of getting out and engaging in some goal directive behavior and getting some positive feedback—that can help shift the tide a little bit in terms of feeling depressed.” Forand also tells me that aerobic exercise (a.k.a. cardio) has been shown to help people with depression feel better.

Here’s the thing, and I can testify: It’s really hard to get a depressed person to work out. In my mind, exercising was a lot of work and I couldn’t fathom why or how it would enhance my life, which at that point was basically an early Adele album. But my therapist—like any worth their co-pay—was adamant. And her calculated strategies got me out, moving around—even if only for a few minutes—and feeling like a more familiar version of myself. So if you ever find yourself in the situation I was in, here’s a little hope in the form of seven ways to get yourself to work out, starting with the running-shorts-to-sleep technique that proved successful for me.

Make it as easy as possible for yourself.

“The hardest thing is task initiation—to get started,” Forand tells me. Give yourself a chance to succeed by setting up your environment in a way where it makes it easier to do the hard thing.” Hence, wearing the running attire to bed. If I’m already dressed, all my depressed, sluggish ass needs to do is to walk out the door. Do whatever you need to do to eliminate all obstacles that could make you want to give up and go back to bed, he says.

Be extremely realistic.

“People often say they’re going to wake up at 5:30 and go to the gym when there’s a zero percent chance that that’s actually going to happen. You set yourself up to fail,” he says. And that failure can be incredibly demoralizing. Achieving goals is something that’s crucial to your self-esteem at this time, so don’t play yourself like this. “Set realistic expectations for yourself. What would be a better time to go to the gym? Maybe you feel a little better when you’re coming home from work, or maybe at lunchtime. Arrange it around that instead of doing it at a time where you’re already working against yourself.”

Going to the gym for an hour may feel impossible, adds Amy Serin, neuropsychologist and chief science officer of the TouchPoint Solution, a healthcare tech company, but walking for five minutes outside may feel doable. “Exercise doesn’t have to be a heart-pounding, sweat-dripping experience to be effective,” she says. “Even small amounts of moderate activity can go a long way toward lifting someone out of a depressive funk. And once the first small step is taken, it’s easier to add on to the behavior.”

Reinstate an old exercise habit (if you had one).

“It’s easier to build a habit off of old neural pathways that are already established rather than forging new ones,” Serin says. “So if you used to do a kickboxing workout regularly, for example, start with that because the habit can be reactivated easier than starting something totally new. Use your neural networks to your advantage.” Serin assures me that if you weren’t active beforehand, you can still implement exercise into your routine now, but it might take longer.

Make your workout something you actually want to do.

“If you’re telling yourself the only way to work out is to go to the gym and run on a treadmill for an hour—which sounds horrible to me—of course I’m not going to want to do it,” Forand says. “I like riding my bike. So instead of going to the gym and torturing myself, I ride my bike on the weekend.” There’s no wrong way to be active, he adds, especially if you’re not working out at all. “Any kind of exercise is better than nothing, so you might as well make it interesting to you.”

Treat yo’self (after you actually exercise).

“You can create short-term motivation by using psychology’s Premack Principle—equivalent to ‘eat your broccoli and you’ll get dessert,’” Serin says. Make a deal with yourself to do something pleasurable or treat yourself if you exercise; the reward can be small or can even be something that’s a regular part of your day (e.g.: “I will walk this morning for at least 15 minutes and then I can text my friends”).

Hold yourself accountable.

Putting it in your phone’s calendar or setting a realistic plan is an accountability thing, Forand says. What’s even better, though, is to be accountable to someone else. “Sign up for a class and pay money for it. They expect you be there and you’ve got a little bit of skin in the game,” he says. If you can find a workout buddy, that’ll make you less likely to bail since you’d be disappointing someone else. “Or even tell somebody you’re going to do it. Tell someone to hold you accountable.”

Record your triumphant moments.

“Even simple things can feel like they are impossible when someone is depressed and conjuring up motivation can be really, really difficult,” Serin says. So treat exercising like an experiment and you can potentially use the results to fuel you, since your brain might be predicting that exercising will suck. “Approach it with curiosity,” Forand says. “I’ve asked people to write out their predictions—which are usually negative—and then go try it for a little while and see how accurate their predictions were. Often times, the exercise is pretty self-reinforcing and you feel better afterwards.” Serin adds that it’s hard to remember the positive when depression strikes, so it’s good to keep a reference to remind you that after exercise your mood really did improve temporarily.

The post How To Get Yourself To Exercise If You’re Depressed appeared first on Reach Out Recovery.

Why Drugs Can Be So Appealing To Some People

From Psychology Today:

The self-medication theory of addiction emphasizes that psychological pain is at the heart of addictive behavior and that vulnerable individuals resort to their addiction because they discover that the addictive substance/behavior provides short-term relief and comfort from their suffering (Khantzian, 2018). The theory implies that addiction problems are less about pursuing pleasure than they are about seeking relief from painful feelings. Long-term, addiction becomes an end in itself.

Self-regulation can be defined as the ability to act in one’s long-term best interest. It involves knowing and managing one’s emotions and impulses. The self-medication theory of addiction suggests that individuals with deficits in emotion-regulation skills (i.e., skills relevant for modifying emotional reactions to tolerate negative emotions) use drugs in an attempt to manage negative feelings (Khantzian and Albanese, 2008). Thus, substance addictions function as a compensatory means (for vulnerable individuals) to regulate emotional pain and suffering that otherwise feel unmanageable/intolerable.

Sadly, the addiction problem prevents the user from understanding his or her distress, as well as the development of the emotional capacity to self-soothe. They are less likely to grow and develop the psychological capacity to meet life challenges (e.g., self-esteem, relationships, and self-care).

From the self-medication perspective, addiction is both a solution and consequence of the psychological pains. Drugs are painkillers for treating psychological pain, at least in the short term. The attempts at self-sooth are short-lived and all too often replaced by the suffering associated with addiction. In essence, addicts substitute a misery that is vague and confusing with the misery that is caused by drug use.

The theory of self-medication emphasizes that addictive drugs are not equally appealing. Although a person might experiment with various drugs, they discover that they are drawn toward a certain drug (e.g., stimulants, depressants) because of what it does for them. For example, many cocaineabusers attempt to regulate inner emptiness, boredom and fight depression. Opiates counter intense anger and rage. Alcohol is frequently used as a way of coping with social anxiety. The drinking removes, at least temporarily, the stress of anxiety, and softens rigid defenses. Returning to this relief, again and again, results in addiction.

Thus, the drug of choice might provide clues to the specific psychological problems that are painful for that person. For example, individuals with ADHD are drawn to marijuana and nicotine to calm their anxiety, anger, and depression.

In sum, the self-medication theory of addiction provides a useful tool for the understanding of addiction. The theory focuses on how and why some individuals are vulnerable to addiction. That is psychological distress and suffering increase addictive vulnerability. The intention of drug use is not pleasure, but to find relief from intolerable suffering and pain in the absence of alternatives.

Therefore, treatment has to target the suffering and the person. The crucial step in treatment is to understand the suffering that compels their drug use and explore what the drug does for them. Effective treatment includes developing a capacity to internally sooth themselves – to learn how to tolerate frustration without immediate gratification, or a need to latch on to something outside oneself in order to relieve some deep discomfort.

For example, a recovering alcohol-dependent patient who represses emotions would benefit from learning to acknowledge and manage those emotions. The recovery work includes expanding one’s emotional vocabulary and helping patients to identify/name their feelings. The process of working through upsetting emotional states is a painstaking task. It takes time, patience, endurance, and tenacity. This ultimately turns passive and active suffering into active thinking, problem solving, soothing, and living.

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Why Is It So Hard to Change Bad Habits?

From Psychology Today:

It’s often challenging to change habits related eating, exercise, and jobs.

I’ve managed to turn around a lot of my bad habits over the years, like reducing my fast food consumption, spending less time glued to screens, and finding an exercise regimen that I like and works for my life.

But my healthy habit journey isn’t anywhere near completion yet. I’m constantly looking for ways to optimize my energy and improve my life. If you’re reading this article, chances are you too have a few habits you’d like to change. So why is the process of adopting new habits usually so difficult? Because there is not a system in place to help you get the job done (unless you’ve reached the problematic tipping point of developing an addiction or diagnosable disorder.) Even then, the systems that are in place just want to help you stop the bad habit, not give you the tools needed to adopt new, healthier ones.

Why does this happen? Partially because, as a society, we still hold onto a false notion that those struggling with addiction or mental health issues are somehow different than the rest of us “normal” folks. This is not only false, but it’s also extremely dangerous because it ends up exacerbating the shame and stigma for those who are struggling, thus preventing them from seeking help.

The good news is that we do know a lot about how to change people’s behavior before things escalate to a problematic tipping point. Today I’ll be sharing with you four different approaches to change bad habits and the scientifically proven tools that will help you adopt new habits.

1. Behavioral Psychology

When we think, feel, and act in a particular way over a period of time, habits form, not only in our behavior but in our memory systems too.

There are different types of memory classification including semantic memory (knowledge), episodic memory (remembering events), and procedural memory (knowing how to do things) which is considered an implicit form of memory and therefore operating mostly below conscious awareness. It’s this last memory type, procedural memory, that is most important in the formation of habits. Over many decades of research, three primary types of learning emerged in the behavioral psychology domain.

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian conditioning) is learning through association. It was discovered by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov, which he discovered in his infamous study of dogs. In simple terms, classical conditioning refers to two stimuli which are linked together to produce a new learned response. 

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning refers to behavior that is shaped by either positive or negative reinforcement. It was developed by American Psychologist B.F. Skinner who studied the behavior of rats. He found that he could encourage or discourage behaviors based on a reward or punishment system. 

Observational Learning

Albert Bandura, an American psychologist, believed that people learn behaviors by observing and modelling other people’s behavior, attitudes, or emotions. In particular, he studied babies and young children and found that they imitated the behavior of those around them. This became the foundation of his social learning theory in which he highlighted that any form of learning requires the individual’s attention, retention, reproduction andmotivation to imitate the modelled behavior. 

2. Neuroscience

Researchers from MIT have identified that if neurons fire at the start and end of a specific behavior, then it becomes a habit. Neurons located in the habit formation region fire at the beginning of a new behavior, subside while the behavior occurs, and then fire again once the behavior is finished. Over time, patterns form, both in behavior and in the brain. This can make it extremely difficult to break a habit. 

In the forebrain, the basal ganglia is known to control voluntary movements and it may also play a crucial role in habit formation (both good and bad) as well as emotional expression. This system is not just concerned with motor (body) movements, but it has a strong effect on the emotional part of the brain. Investigator and Professor at MIT, Ann Graybiel, believes that at its core, the basal ganglia works to help people develop habits, so that they become automatic. This frees up space in your brain and memory to take in all the other things we encounter on a day to day basis. Automatic habits may include riding a bicycle, driving a car or brushing your teeth.

However, it’s the same region that helps people develop unwanted, or unhealthy, habits like eating disorders, anxiety, depressed mood, and addictions.

Research in this field, that focuses on the neurons in the basal ganglia, may lead to new psychological and drug treatments in mental health disorders and addiction.

3. Self-help Tools

The self-help industry claims to want to help you develop better habits. Before newer technologies, self-help mainly came in the form of physical books, but these days you can access information from home through eBooks, online courses, apps, and podcasts.

What Else Is Important?

Two factors that effectively help people achieve the behavior change they desire are incentives and accountability.

The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) have released data from their study on accountability and the results were very interesting! What did they find? If you are held accountable to someone else, by committing to someone that you will achieve a goal, then your chance of success is up to 95 percent.

Accountability is the most important factor in habit formation or habit changing. This means that the likelihood that you will reduce your alcohol or lose weight will go up if you share your goal with friends, family or your community, either in person or online.

Though the above-mentioned tools are proven to work, physicians and therapists typically don’t employ them that often because they don’t think they are relevant to mental health issues and compulsive behaviors.

So, when people become “addicted” or “depressed” we just tell them they should stop without rerouting those “bad habits” and then wonder why it doesn’t work. Why? Because we are bad at stopping ourselves from doing something, especially if it’s already a habit.

While attending a mental health conference, I was introduced to another woman in the industry. She told me that we (we as in medical and health professionals) are not very good at getting people to stop anything. Instead, we are much better at getting them to do something else.

The key is to start your habit changing journey much earlier than the problematic tipping point. That tipping point is a world full of shame, stigma, and disappointment that makes normal coping and functioning look like a faraway land of make-believe, on you’ll never attain. If you can learn to control your habits long before they become addictions or disorders however, you’ll have a much better chance at not only surviving, but thriving.

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