When you’re given a diagnosis like I was—or you come to think of yourself as a “gambler” like Mario did, a “hoarder” like Marianne, a “worrier” like Valerie and Jeremy, or an “insecure codependent who needs constant reassurance from a partner” like Jackie—you lose sight of the fact that your habit comes and goes. It begins to feel like the habit is a stable part of you, always there, albeit sometimes in the background.
