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Addiction help
Hi all - Here's what this sangha is best at - i know my friends on the path will come through on this one for me. I have suffered from what i consider a moderate addiction for many years now. It isn't the end of the world but enough to make me suffer periodically physically and mentally. Closest thing would probably be compulsive eating based on feeling low- i'm a bit shy on the details friends!
Question: What would be a buddhist approach to a problem like addiction?:-/
Question: What would be a buddhist approach to a problem like addiction?:-/
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Looking for a doctor, really. Addiction is a deceitful, pernicious, serious thing that should dealt with assistance.
That's the question of the eternal last cigarette. "OK I will have this last one and I'm gonna quit", than you have a low-tide and you go "OK now THIS is the last one, I am taking this in baby steps, this is an exceptional situation so its fine" than you go "oh man, I shouldn't have done that, but since I did I'll just have another one and start fresh tomorrow", and this goes on for years. It might be the end of the world not because of how you feel, but how it systematically undermines you in many aspects of your life, even if you don't notice.
Eating disorders are not necessarily seen as an addiction. Plus, it requires quite a different approach: you can demand a drug addict to stay away from drugs; you can't demand a binge eater or anorexic to stay away from food.
Addictions are mild just in the sense they didn't have the opportunity to fully develop. Once something pushes you over the edge, then you are in deep ****.
Of course its just an opinion. Take care and best wishes.
DONT.LET.IT.GET.TO.THAT.POINT.
We all struggle with many minor addictions. In fact, one can argue that our entire samsaric state is one of addiction (grasping, craving). So, in the context of Buddhism, your best bet is to simply practice through addiction. Let yourself be aware of the suffering associated with your particular vices and really let that awareness deepen. Now, the difficulty is that you actually have to want to stop whatever activity it is. This means much more than simply knowing it's not good for you and wishing you could stop. You actually have to get to the point where you are fed up with your behavior and you become disenchanted with whatever payoff you are seeking by your indulgent behavior.
One thing buddhists practice are antidotes to unskillful states of mind. For example, if you have a big problem with bodily lust, one practice is to reflect on the repulsive nature of the body. If you have an unhealthy attachment to food, you may reflect on the repulsive nature of food. And so on and so on. Anyway, here are a couple of related links to get you started. Hopefully something will resonate:
http://www.viewonbuddhism.org/attachment.html
http://www.mahamakuta.inet.co.th/english/b-way%2813%29.html
This is interesting - what would be a more accurate description of compusive eating? I agree it doesn't seem quite an 'addiction' as an over reaction to boredom/tiredness/sadness etc...
Just to reassure everyone this is a moderate addiction - cigarette/compusive eating/workaholic level. Bugs me enough to REALLY appreciate your help but not at the level of a nasty substance abuse or something of that serious nature thank goodness. Just a bit embarrassing that's all so hope the level of detail will suffice friends.:o
Meditation and mindfulness have helped me more than anything. As already mentioned by not1not2, reflection on the repulsive aspects of object of your desire is helpful. Whenever the thought that drinking + drugs = fun/relief/escape enters my consciousness, I first acknowledge that the thought is not true, and then meditate upon the evidence that it isn't true. I concentrate on hangovers, withdrawals, getting arrested, heedlessness, sickness, regret, etc. With consistency, it starves the desire.
Well, as far as I know (mind you I'm no expert), the difference between eating disorders and addiction tends to be hazy and has been debated.
When you talk about cocaine addiction, for example, if you try to stop your own body starts craving for it. You get nasty withdrawal symptoms and, in case you continue using it, as the time passes, you end up needing a larger amount of it to achieve the desired effect.
These two things - withdrawal and tolerance - would be the main difference.
On the other hand, there is research going on to suggest that eating disorders also have deeper physiological factors involved. The starvation of an anorexic, for example, could activate the dopaminergic reward pathway of the brain, which can indicate that a eating disorder could be an addiction to the body's production of endogenous opioids.
As far as being a reaction to boredom or etc. I think both drugs and eating disorders can start as a way to cope with stress. The reason why a person chooses one instead of the other can be due to environment, personality, degree of social acceptability of the behavior and a number of other factors.
The main point is to notice that in both cases the person is not solving their problems, but just postponing their stress, and that these unsolved issues end up triggering their addictive responses more and more and reinforcing the habit, so it has a sort of snowball effect.
The defining mechanism of addiction is not physical dependence or tolerance, because someone can be detoxed from heroin, for example, in 72 hours, but most people agree that heroin addiction cannot be overcome in 72 hours. Lots of people leave rehab free from any sort of physical dependence and go directly to a liquor store. Most people agree that gambling is addictive, yet there is no physical component.
Addiction is about emotional regulation: addicts use an addictive substance or activity to change the way they feel. There are some emotional states (different for each addict) that leave the addict feeling helpless and trapped. Someone who feels tired, for example, but won't allow him or herself to rest - for whatever reason - may turn to an addictive substance or behavior as a substitute. It matters not what the emotional trap is. Boredom, fatigue and sadness can make a person feel just as helpless as any other emotion if s/he is not equipped to mitigate them. In other words, addictive behaviors are not overreactions, they are substitute reactions.
I agree with you. In my post I was just trying to point out that withdrawal and tolerance don't happen in eating disorders, but other than that they are like other forms of addictions.
If you live in a large city it might be possible to find a therapist who specializes in Mindfulness and Acceptance Therapy (Also called Acceptance and Commitment therapy) - it's sort of a mindfulness / cognitive behavioral hybrid. It's different than most therapeutic approaches because it doesn't seek to strengthen the ego (which is something that isn't congruent with Buddhist teachings.) If you're interested in the clinical details, here's a little background info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance_and_commitment_therapy
People who specialize in this are hard to find, however, especially in small towns or suburban areas. A good cognitive behavioral therapist would probably also help with addiction without trodding on your religious beliefs. Freudian therapies are typically very time consuming and not especially helpful with behavioral problems (compulsive or otherwise), and since that's your main issue, I'd reccomend avoiding that.
There's also a website for recovering Buddhists called http://the12stepbuddhist.com/.
I hope at least some of this was helpful and I wish you the best!
I don't think cognitive therapy does much good for addiction. Most therapists simply have their patients identifying negative consequences, which misses the point that normal sources of motivation don't work on compulsive behaviors. Addicts are well aware of the damage their addiction causes. Behavioral therapists deal with addictions as if they were simply habits.
Didn't use a therapist to quit smoking, but devised my own C-B plan. Whenever I wanted a cigarette, I told myself "I don't do that anymore" (the cognitive part), and substituted the smoking behavior with a swig of water from a water bottle (the behavioral part).
But one of the most important aspect of cessation came from Buddhism ... a willingness to re-frame the experience of craving, and the understanding that one can observe craving without having to "fix" it.
Your smoking sounds like it was more habit than addiction, and C-B works for habits. If smoking is a habit (and for many people it is), then a substitute habit (drinking water) will work, but people who don't know how to calm down without lighting up will find no relief from a drink of water.
I had a therapist who insisted that jogging would be a great substitute behavior for alcohol and cocaine abuse. I assume he had never used cocaine or he wouldn't have made such an obviously ridiculous suggestion.
Pema Chodron has done some work teaching about how to work with addiction. A good audiobook of hers is called Getting Unstuck. She talks about a Tibetan word "shenpa" which means to have the urge, to get attached, to get hooked. Here's a good article by Pema Chodron on it in the Shambhala Sun:
I'm not good with computers, so I'm not sure if this link will work...
There's also a book I haven't read, but would like to, it's called Hooked: Buddhist Writings On Greed, Desire, and The Urge To Consume. It's edited by Stephanie Kaza and came out in 2005.
I wish you well,
Kate
Compulsive overeating has nothing to do with the physical sensation of hunger.
Good luck.
Friends these posts have already been of the utmost assistance. I think it will take time to work with a combination of these links, suggestions and insights. Thankyou so much for your concern and help so far.
I'm aware it might be nice to have a bit more to go on!! I have some insight into the triggers of my behavioural compulsions. It appears to be four things and i'll use the compulsion of compusive eating as my template to explain it:
1. negative energy - when another person has a go at me, dismisses me stuff like that. I seem to catch that negative energy and turn it around saying "Right well i'll use that negative view of myself to get a 'high'. I'll be a pathetic overeating slob and that will turn potential suffering into a 'high' or 'joy' when i feel completely satiated by eating to excess. It feels very much like a conversion of suffering into another form.
2. boredom - if i feel there's nothing much to do and i can't be bothered to do anything if there was! e.g. a self-perpetuating boredom. I'll look for the easiest and most immediate high i can find - and that tends to be the 'compusive eating'. When i'm in this low energy zone my resistance to a dead end fix is at a low ebb.
3. vicious cycle - if i have already 'compusively eaten' recently e.g. yesterday, I'm annoyed with myself. This feeds into a negative self image which leads to point 1 above.
4. environmental triggers - this is when i see someone associated with the compusion. for example on a tv show someone calls another 'fat' in an abusive way. Rather than face suffering a negative self image by association with the TV character I'll replace it by seeing it as an opportunity to get back to that same high. Turn suffering into joy.
If these insights spark any further suggestions/ideas/wisdom please continue to post them. I will be listening and i will be putting the ideas into practise. A well needed prod! :poke:
This is a classic example of using an unhealthy behavior as a substitute for more direct action. Healthy responses to abusive people would be to either tell them to cut it out (after all, it isn't helping them to let them behave that way) or to simply dismiss them as an unreliable source. Perhaps you could explore why you feel unable to take a more direct approach?
I think this falls more in the category of habit, so a substitute behavior would probably work well.
I think this is the hardest one, and the one which responds best to talking to someone sympathetic.
I imagine that if you stop letting others do this to you in "real life" (see #1), then this will cease to be a trigger. You're not turning suffering into joy, you're prolonging suffering.