Five Steps to Breaking an Addiction

Breaking an addiction is often a lifelong battle. By their nature, addictions are habits that can feel nearly impossible to break. However, addictions do not have to rule your life. While it can take dedication and a lot of willpower to battle through an addiction, you can overcome them.

Addictions come in many forms, some which can have more severe consequences than others. Regardless of your type of addiction, being heavily dependent upon something can be detrimental to your health.

If you are struggling with addiction, here are five steps to help you break it:

First things first, in order to break an addiction, you have to acknowledge that there is a problem to begin with. After recognizing that there is a problem, you then need to identify why you do it. Is it due to stress? Loneliness? The feeling you get from it? Understanding the purpose behind your behavior can help you understand the changes you need to make in your life.

The next step to breaking your addiction is to seek help. While many are embarrassed by their addictions and attempt to break their habits on their own, seeking help is crucial to breaking an addiction and staying clean. Speak with a doctor or counselor, and find a support group that can help keep you accountable.

This is a vital step, as getting help is the best way to work through an addiction. Health insurance can help cover doctors visits and any other medical costs you may have working through your addiction. If you do not have health insurance, or are struggling to make your payments, use the aca subsidy calculator to see if you have a health care tax credit, as you might be eligible to lower your monthly health care payments.

Research has proven that those who are struggling with addictions break their addiction by replacing the habit with a healthier one. Some alternative habits that are often used are breathing exercises, journaling, Yoga, and other relaxation techniques.

Breaking a habit starts with understanding what triggers your need for the addiction. Is it a particular time of day? Something associated with a memory? Recognizing what triggers your need can help you prepare to overcome them. For instance, if you are struggling with alcohol, and you know that on Fridays your office spends happy hour at a local bar, you can prepare yourself all week that there will be a temptation to spend happy hour with your office. By being prepared, you can decline their invitation. Being caught off guard often makes it more difficult to avoid the troublesome situations.

Breaking an addiction is a journey, and a tough one at that. Reward yourself for the progress you have made in order to motivate yourself to continue persevering.

Addictions are never easy, and they can be the hardest habit to break. But, you are stronger than the addiction, and these steps can help you find the strength inside of you to break free.

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