Other Dealing with addiction - Substance and Process addictions - Accountability thread

Ecdysis

Sponsor
I need to deal with 2 things in my life where I can see addiction patterns at work - one is a substance, the other is a process. I don't actually want to get into discussions about them, so I'm going to call them Substance-E and Process-L

Both are things that are a common part of life and actually can't be avoided entirely. That makes trying to break out of addictive patterns more difficult for me, than if it was somthing that I could literally "just" avoid. So, I'm actually just going to have to try and cut down both of them to healthy/ normal levels.

I've got a plan on how to deal with Substance-E. I have no plan on how to deal with Process-L, that one's truly daunting for me.

Both of them are causing relatively major damage to my health tho, so turning these patterns around would be quite a big deal.

I'm struggling a lot at the moment, so I feel like my ability to deal with withdrawal symptoms etc, is close zero right now, which is not a very helpful place from which to start. But eh, when is it ever "the right time"? Maybe if I can cut down the addiction patterns in these two areas, I'll actually feel a bit better and struggle a bit less?

I've never had to deal with addiction issues head-on before. I'm not prone to substance addictions, thankfully. Never been addicted to alcohol, drugs, nicotine, meds, coffee, etc. But that also means having no practice/ experience in this area. I find process addictions are a bit sneakier... Never been addicted to the classic things like gambling, computer games, shopping, etc. Probably had a sort of TV addiction back in the day and I know I use my phone too much these days, and I've had phases where I think I've spent too much money on stuff I didn't need. But they've never been outright addictions... And I think process addictions are so much easier to "rationalise" and "explain away" anyway... So no experience there in actively dealing with process addictions either...

So yeah... My whole plan on how to break through these addictive patterns is... "Um... just stop...?!" Which sounds like it's going to be a naive failure... So I'm hoping an accountability thread might make it a bit less likely I'll fail...?

Anyone else trying to break any addictive habits right now?

Anyone got experience and good tips re do's and don'ts re trying to break out of addictive cycles?

ETA: I've set myself some (hopefully vaguely) realistic goals re Substance-E. I've got nothing re Process-L, tho. I should set myself some kind of goal, right? Kay... I guess I'll set myself a goal of 25% x 10. Bit cryptic, but I know what it means, which is what matters...

ETA-2: Doing my first lot of refraining-from-Process-L. I've set myself a time limit, to make it achievable at first. I feel resentment, straight away. My brain wants to fight it. Is coming up with a ton of reasons why this is a bad idea. Feels like my brain and body are like "Noooooo". Ugh. Great. I assume it will sort of get easier over time, with practice? Except for on "bad days" and when I "mess up", obviously. Not expecting this to be a neat, linear thing... Even tho not-doing-Process-L is objectively not a horrible thing (many people actually truly enjoy this activity) my brain and body hate it. They're both all about Process-L and wanting more of it... They'd be happy to do this 24/7, each and every day. Can't get enough of it. Ugh. It seems weird to me, that my brain and body are that polarised... That focussed on one end of a spectrum... I know that hating the other end of that spectrum has to do with childhood trauma... Never having learned anything positive to connect with the-opposite-of-Process-L.... Sigh... I guess that's going to be something I need to do... I don't think breaking this process addiction is going to work if I continue to view its opposite as "horrible" and "to be avoided at all costs". I have to get it to be something that's not entirely negative in my head.
 
Last edited:
Hi @Ecdysis proud if you for facing it! It’s true that it’s so hard to change and develop new habits—but not impossible which is good you recognize!

Have you heard of the Life Process Program? It’s an addiction program based on harm reduction rather than abstinence. It recognizes that before you can let go of something (that is helping you cope) you have to build up replacement behaviors that *you* find valuable. And the program is very reasonably priced (I think it’s like $20/month, pay per month, all online). The program aims to treat any and all addictions that bother you—substance, process, or otherwise. Anyway, I’m really talking it up! It helped me in ways that 12 step (which I also did) could not.
 
Thanks @Rose White that looks like a good resource! I'm glad it's helped you!

I think I'll try muddling my way through on my own initially, but it's cool to know I can "upgrade" to a proper programme if I find that my own muddling through isn't working.

I also just realised that I think I should list the health benefits that abstaining from Substance-E and Process-L will have... Those goals would be pretty motivating and I think focussing on the goals will help me get through the rough patches, instead of just focussing on the moment and feeling all my frustration with said moment...
 
Doing surprisingly well today, both with Substance-E and Process-L. Meeting my goals so far and not feeling beyond frustrated. It's unexpected, but hey, I'll take it. Grateful for any wins.

ETA: Bizarrely, I'm finding housework tasks a helpful distraction from Process-L. Given that I haaate housework tasks and will avoid them like the plague, I'm actually finding this kind of amusing. That my household is getting tidier and cleaner as a by-product of trying to distract myself from Process-L.
 
Last edited:
I have been working on caffeine for about a month now. All drugs seem to have a profound effect on me. The pain clinic at the Mayo told me I have Central Sensitization which is something I had never heard of before. The brain magnifies pain signals and it can also cause extreme reactions to things like cleaning products or in my case, drugs. Every new drug I take I take half of the minimum sub therapeutic dose and that seems to work well for me. Being a slow learner I finally made the connection between caffeine and my sleep issues. So I have been cutting down. I no longer make a pot of coffee in the morning because if it is there I will drink it. I now use a French press that makes 2 cups. I am planning on grinding the beans 50-50 with decaf as the next step.

It seems like my whole life has been overcoming things inside me. I have developed a template that has worked over and over again. First is awareness of the flaw inside me. If I notice something I don’t like I do a lot of self examination on it to see how it plays out in my life. If I see a pattern of something happening over and over again I realize the common element is me. Then I know I have to work on it.

For the first few months there is a lot of “Damn, I am doing it again”. Then several months go by and one day I realize I have not done whatever it was I disliked for a long time. For me, it is about honesty and patience with myself. I always try to be the best person I can be but then again, I am not very good at it.

When I am making such efforts I take extra care on self care by eating clean, getting outside and exercising.
 
Well, weirdly, I did really well with this issue today. I'm trying to view it as a random fluke, cos I know my PTSD-brain... If I view it as any more than that, that will set up huge pressure for tomorrow to not dip below today's standard and that will mess me up completely.... So, a randomly good day, going to be grateful for it and accept whatever randomly happens tomorrow and try to do my best to do what I can with it.

Other than that, I've totally hit a wall... Exhausted now and it's not even 8 pm yet.
 
Bizarrely, I had another good/ easy day at dealing with Substance-E and Process-L. I was expecting huge pushback from my brain and body, but so far, no.

Still expecting this to get harder tho and fully expecting that I'll f*ck up and that might cause a massive backslide and that i may fail at dealing with that.

But so far, I'm grateful with what I've got...
 

2025 Donation Goal

Help Keep MyPTSD Alive! Our annual donation goal is crucial to continue providing support. If you find value in our resource, please contribute to ensure we remain online and available for everyone who needs us.
Goal
$1,600.00
Received
$220.00
13%

Trending content

Featured content

Latest posts

Back
Top