The Secret to Beating Addiction

March 13th, 2009 by admin

Beating addiction is a process and a journey, not a one-time occurence that just suddenly happens. Any recovering alcoholic or addict will tell you that overcoming addiction is a process that unfolds before you for the rest of your life. But what exactly does this process entail, and how can we go about pursuing it successfully?

Before you can even attempt to beat any form of drug or alcohol addiction, you have to surrender fully to the disease. What does this really mean?

It means you have to stop fighting with yourself in terms of trying to control your use. You have to discard the illusion that you could some day drink alcohol like normal folks do without going off the deep end. If you are hanging on to the idea that one day you might be able to control your drinking or drugging and thus use successfully, then you are setting yourself up for failure.

Surrender is a process. If just seems to happen; I do not see evidence that anyone can force it to happen by their own free will. Most recovering alcoholics would argue that you have to hit bottom first. If you are still experiencing good times with drugs and alcohol then you are not in a position to be ready to give up anytime soon and give recovery a try. It is only after going through lots of miserable life experiences with drinking that surrender becomes an option. It is only after the fun times are long gone that a person might consider the idea of recovery.

Because addiction attacks a personâ€™s mind, body, and spirit, the solution must also address each of these areas of your life. That is what makes an integrated and holistic recovery program so effective. So many times in recovery I have seen alcoholics devote too much energy to one aspect of recovery and lose their balance in life. This almost always leads to disaster and eventually a return to drinking. Beating addiction demands a more in-depth approach.

A holistic solution for recovery addresses these issues. You stop dumping booze and chemicals into your body and your overall health starts to improve because of this. At the same time a successful recovery program will push you to grow spiritually. You will grow emotionally as you fix broken friendships and also develop in a social sense as you network with your peers in recovery.