When someone says they are addicted to something, what we quickly translate this to mean is "there's something bad am doing but I can't stop doing it".
Addiction is the compulsion to continually engage in an activity or behavior despite the negative impact on the person’s ability to remain mentally and/or physically healthy and functional in the home and community.
Damn! That definition is too complicated. Lemme try again...
Addiction is a point where you cannot do without something even when you know it's dangerous to your health.
Some common addictions include;
Drug addiction (substance use disorder):
This is the most common addiction (that I know) and I think it's mostly common among teenagers and youths in their twenties.
Sex and love addictions:
Lookup 'nymphomania' and you will see what I mean. It mostly common in women
Shopping addiction:
O yeah! People get addicted to shopping too. There's this movie 'shopperholic' where the girl is addicted to shopping and had to go for rehab. She was asked to ice her credit card but after a while of temptation,she broke the ice and started shopping again.
Gambling Addiction:
Online betting,poker games, sports betting,slot machines and so on. This addiction leaves you miserable at the end and can even get you killed.
Gaming addictions:
Staying up all night playing videogames depriving yourself of your important sleep and causing damage to your brain.
Food addiction:
It's OK to love good food but not to the point of always craving it everytime. In some cases this addiction causes you obesity.
Exercise addiction:
You wanna be Mr Macho or have a figure 8 shape so you can have them boys walking into poles while checking out your backside. You take supplements to speed up the process. You become addicted to the process.
Now that we know some common addictions and their dangers, it's time we know how we stop these addiction so that we can live a healthy life.
How to be free from addiction
It doesn't take a day to be addicted to an act so you should have it in mind that freeing yourself from addiction is not gonna take a day as well.
Step 1: Make up your mind to stop.(It's gonna be very difficult decision but it's an important one)
Step 2: Make a list of the side effects of your addiction.(when you have these listed out, am sure it's gonna be bad enough your gonna be scared to death.)
Step 3: Set a time frame.(get a calendar and follow up your acts. Tick for days the act is committed. Try as much as possible to stay long without committing.)
Step 4: Identify what triggers the act.(when you are aware of what causes you to commit these acts, you will be able to avoid it by not giving room to the triggers.)
Step 5: Get rid of everything that triggers your addiction (stay off bars if you are addicted to alcohol and so on)
Step 6: Get yourself distracted.(whenever that urge comes,find something else to do that will take your mind away from the act. Exercising really help in situations like this.)
Step 7: Reward yourself.(you get more motivation to keep going when there's an incentive to be gained.)
Is there any addiction you think cannot be cured with the above mentioned steps?
Is there anything you would like to contribute to help cure addiction?
Let us know in the comments section below.
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