“Addiction is when one is dependent on a substance or activity, a craving, a weakness and a need to repeatedly use a substance or activity to ‘feel good’ or simply function.”
When one thinks of addiction, it is most often associated with drugs and alcohol, and so we choose to disassociate our self with the issue. Even when we have a friend or family member who we know, is suffering, we seem to choose to disassociate from the issue, and we struggle to understand how to deal with or support our friend or family member. This is where beyond blue is of great assistance as they provide a much needed service.
The addiction may well have started in the early years of life and not become anything serious. Sugar is the most socially excepted substance of addiction and is disguised in so many foods, it takes a lot of awareness to reduce its consumption.
How often is a child given a sweet by a parent to distract them? Coffee can also be put into this category of socially accepted.
Awareness is one of the keys to any form of addiction, be it alcohol, drugs, porn, social media, food, or work, and even exercise can become an addiction, purely because it releases the happy hormones that make us “feel good”. And therein lays one of the secrets to addiction: “We do it because it makes us feel good!”. Think about it: exercise for the ones that enjoy it, do it because it makes them “feel good”. Sugar is the same, not everyone likes chocolate (I know you can’t believe it, NOT everyone likes chocolate!) but for the ones that do, it makes them feel good and often it is associated with a positive experience so there can be an emotional attachment as well.
Emotional attachment is another important aspect to addiction. If an individual is in pain and given some form of pain relief that makes them feel better, there is potential for addiction, especially in the case of serious physical trauma. This is not a pre-meditated occurrence, it happens slowly and over a period, it is not always a conscious thing.
If a person is in emotional pain, then taking something to reduce the pain or help them not to think about their issue, is not the solution, even to feel the uncomfortable sensations associated with the grief or hurt, are the same in intensity, the desire to remove or disassociate themselves from a sensation or situation is very strong, so we do or take something to change the way we are feeling.
This may be a passing thing or develop into an addiction, but if not monitored, exposure to addiction is real, and just as easily turn into an addiction.
Obviously, some addictions are more harmful than others, and some can develop without a conscious beginning. In the case of grieving over the loss of a loved one, too easily medication is prescribed to help with sleep, as this is often disturbed due to the sadness.
Perhaps, what the person really needs, is someone to comfort them and feel connected, heard and understood, but in our busy lives, we struggle to connect with others, and over time we can become numb and lose connection to things and people that give us meaning.
Medications, in any form, are readily available and can be necessary in many cases, but if they are not monitored, an addiction can develop, as in the case of physical pain, then one will do almost anything to reduce or eliminate pain.
A person is seeking something outside of themselves to fix what pains them, be that emotional or physical, when what often needs to happen is they should connect with the pain and understand how to manage it.
Positive Ways to Deal with Addiction
Meditation and mindfulness are becoming a part of the rehabilitation protocols in hospitals to help people manage with long term chronic pain.
Floating has an advantage over some of these other therapies like mediation and acupuncture and massage, although all are beneficial, it is the floating where a person can potentially experience the deepest level of relaxation and pain relief. And it allows for some reflective time with one’s own thoughts and feelings to come to the surface and be better understood and felt.
Floatation therapy is fast becoming the go-to therapy for stress and is the “new kid on the block” for depression and anxiety, and because of research data being released recently, showing significant results for improving mood and a deep sense of calm is experienced.
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People have reported being pain free in clinical trials and anecdotal in testimonials.
In a study focusing on the benefits of Floatation therapy as an effective tool for stress management, researches encountered positive results showing the improvement on general well being, lowering blood pressure and cortisol levels.
Another study’s results showed the benefits increased one’s ability to relax, improve pain relief and the participants began to have “a shift in consciousness to a state that is more introspective, less defensive, and more receptive”.
“When one is more relaxed and at peace with themselves then life choices are made from a different perceptive.”
