How To Avoid Addictions To Anything

In this podcast, we explore how we can become addicted to many things and how to avoid becoming addicted. Use this track in order to gain insight into addiction, addictive behaviour, and the best methods of avoiding this trapping behaviour.

Transcript

Welcome to the happiness podcast.

I'm Dr.

Robert Puff.

Addictions,

They are really challenging for lots of people around the world.

We can be addicted to so many different things.

And once we get our addictions,

They're so hard to break free from.

And once we get them full blown addictions,

Happiness is often very hard to find.

In today's podcast,

I'm not necessarily going to address how to break free from an addiction,

A full blown addiction.

That's complicated.

I think a person could do a whole series of podcasts on how to break free from addictions.

They're very challenging once we get them.

But what I want to talk about today is how to prevent ourselves from getting addictions.

Because I think a lot of people think I couldn't be addicted to anything.

I just don't have an addictive personality,

Or I'm not going to be addicted to this.

How could this be a problem?

And that's probably just not correct.

Maybe not all of us will try alcohol someday and be addicted to alcohol,

Of course,

But some of us will.

Maybe not all of us will start eating candy and be addicted to candy,

But some of us will.

Not all of us will go through a difficult time and dive into our work to deal with it or really not deal with it.

But some of us will.

But before I begin,

I do want to warn everyone that illegal drugs like heroin,

Coke,

Crack,

Those drugs that are out there,

Meth,

They are very addictive to anyone.

And the best way to stay free of being addicted to them is just never use them.

If we're going to experiment with them,

There's a high probability that we'll become addicted to them.

That's why they're illegal.

So it's best never to use them.

And they're addictive because they're so wonderful,

Believe it or not.

We're often told they're horrible,

But they're wonderful in the sense that we could be having the most horrible day on earth.

And as long as we take that heroin,

We'll feel like we're in heaven.

But of course,

They come with a high,

High price tag.

They'll take us to hell,

Even though it seemed like we're in heaven.

And that's why they're so incredibly dangerous.

Our best bet with illicit drugs is just never to use them,

Period.

Don't experiment with them.

Don't try them.

Just to say,

I'm going to try them.

Just stay away from them.

They are very dangerous and they destroy thousands,

If not millions of people's lives around the world every day.

But let's talk more about the normal addictions.

Normal in the sense that a lot of people have them.

They're legal,

But they're not necessarily very good for us.

And they can truly destroy our lives just as much as hard drugs can,

Particularly when they're full blown addictions.

Things like alcohol,

Pot,

Sex,

Food,

The list goes on and on.

And unfortunately,

Some addictions we even get prizes for.

Like workaholism,

People become CEOs of companies or get Nobel prizes because they're workaholics.

Not all CEOs and Nobel Prize winners are workaholics,

But some are.

So some of the addictions out there are tricky because they seem good,

But they're still affecting us.

And for listening to this podcast,

Then we want to be happy.

We want to just naturally enjoy our lives no matter what.

And if something is taken away,

We're still happy.

And that's where addictions are so dangerous.

When we become addicted to something,

We need that thing.

And if it's taken away,

We're very unhappy.

And this is really true in regards to all forms of addictions.

I mean,

Think about alcohol.

If we take away alcohol from an alcoholic,

They're going to be very unhappy.

Or someone who's addicted to smoking again.

If we take away their cigarettes,

They're going to be very unhappy.

Or someone addicted to food.

And when they go on diets,

Change that,

They are often very unhappy.

I mean,

Fill in the blank.

Whatever the addiction is,

It's something that really keeps us from being happy because if it's taken away,

We're just unhappy.

And that's why addictions are so dangerous.

So in today's podcast,

I really want to talk about how do we avoid addictions to anything.

And the good news is it's very simple.

I can't guarantee this will work in every situation.

For example,

I think with smoking,

If we smoke,

It's going to be hard to stop smoking,

We're probably going to become physiologically addicted to it.

With alcohol,

Some people truly have a genetic predisposition towards alcoholism.

And so even if they experiment with what I'm going to suggest today,

It's probably better if they just never drink.

One of my cousins many years ago told me that he knew the first time he tasted alcohol,

That he could never drink it again,

Because he would be addicted to it.

He just knew the very first time both his parents were alcoholics.

And he knew he needed to stay away from it for the rest of his life,

Which he's done.

But let me use alcohol as an example,

Because I think it's one that a lot of people get caught with.

And they don't see it coming.

It's very subtle.

It doesn't happen overnight.

But subtly,

They are alcoholics.

And it can be true of any form of addiction.

And here's the key factor.

Again,

I want to keep it simple.

But the key factor to avoid any form of addiction is this.

When we do something like let's say we have a drink.

It's been a very good day.

We're happy.

And we just feel like having a drink.

And that's it.

It's been a very good day.

We're happy.

And we just feel like having a drink for no reason.

It just sounds good.

We probably will never become addicted to alcohol or anything if we apply this principle.

Again,

This does not include illicit drugs and cigarettes too,

Because they're just physiologically addictive.

Or if we know we have a genetic predisposition towards something,

Then of course we just need to stay away.

But in general,

If we don't feel we're addicted to something,

Let's not fool ourselves.

Because what happens is people get addicted because it's not a very good day.

And they want to relax.

So they decide to have a drink.

And then the next day is not a very good day.

They're stressed out.

They're exhausted.

And they want to have a drink to relax.

And they do.

And with time,

Any of us can get caught with an addiction.

That's why we have to be careful.

But if we say I will only do something that has an addictive potential to it when I'm in a good mood and I'm feeling good,

Then I'll do that.

Whatever that is,

Coming home and watching television,

Having a dessert after a meal,

Again,

Fill in the blank,

Whatever it may be,

Having sex with a partner that we love,

All those things are beautiful.

They're fine once in a while,

Particularly when it's a good day.

But when we're upset,

When we want to relieve tension,

Then we have to be careful.

Then addictions become something that we have to fear.

Because let me explain why addictions are so dangerous.

First,

Think about a cut.

Let's say I have a cut on my hand.

It's not a big cut.

It's not very deep.

Or maybe it's very deep.

But let's say that instead of washing it out and cleansing it would be something good to do.

We instead just shoot novocaine into it.

So we don't feel any pain and then we ignore it.

What happens?

Well,

With time,

We're going to need more and more painkillers to not feel that pain.

It's going to become infected and it will kill us.

It will turn the gang green and kill us.

Now,

Emotions don't work quite that fast,

But they're quite similar.

If we're stressed,

If we're having a bad day,

Then we need to deal with that.

And that's what this podcast is all about.

How to deal with our emotions so that we can have a good day every day.

But what addictions are,

Addictions are like painkillers.

They do take away the pain,

But they're not fixing anything.

Instead,

They just mask the pain so that with time we need more and more painkillers.

That's why people that get addicted to something need it more and more,

Not less and less.

So the person who gets addicted to alcohol,

Instead of maybe having a beer once in a while,

A glass of wine on a weekend with a meal,

They're drinking a bottle or two bottles every night.

I mean,

With time,

Addictions can be horrible and they have so many side effects.

And we're not dealing with the stressors in our lives that are causing us to be unhappy.

But now we have over 200 episodes of ways to find happiness in the present moment right now and to work through the stressors in our lives,

The healthy way.

What an addiction is,

Is an unhealthy way to work through our pain and suffering.

We can handle and deal with anything really well when we apply the principles that we've learned here in the happiness podcast.

But when we're having a bad day and when we're stressed,

That is not the time to turn to something that can become an addiction.

I mean,

Many things can become an addiction.

Like I said,

Even work can be,

Sex can be,

Food can be,

Drinks can be,

Drugs can be.

So many different things can be addictions.

Coming home and watching television to numb our brain can become an addiction.

So that's the key in life.

We work towards being happy,

Doing well in life.

And then if we choose to indulge in something that some people get addicted to,

We really just don't have to worry about it because we're doing well.

Our heart is in a good place and we're in that happy place.

It's much harder for addictions to kick in.

It's not impossible,

Particularly if we have genetic predispositions,

But the likelihood of whatever we're doing becoming an addiction,

It's so much less when we do that thing,

When we're happy,

When things are going well.

Again,

The simplest example is drinking because a lot of people drink.

Probably most people listening to this podcast sometimes drink something.

And yet millions,

I believe the studies recently show that one out of 10 people are going to become addicted to alcohol at some point in their lives.

But it could be anything now that POTS becoming legal.

Yeah,

It may not have a physiological addictive part to it.

Maybe it does.

Chocolate may not too.

Work obviously doesn't,

But they still can become addictions.

Again,

Addictions are things that make us feel good when things aren't going well.

They're just painkillers and anything can do that.

So the key of it is let's make sure that we're taking care of our hearts,

Keeping them in that happy,

Peaceful place.

And then if we feel like having a glass of wine or if we feel like having some chocolate,

Or if we feel like being intimate with our partner,

That's okay.

We don't have to worry about becoming addicted to something.

It's much less likely.

But when we aren't taking care of our hearts,

Instead returning towards things to help us feel better,

Then we have to be careful because we can become addicted to anything.

And again,

It's very simple.

The way to avoid that is if we decide to turn towards something that could become an addiction outside of illegal drugs or things that were genetically predisposed towards,

Then it's a good day when we decide to use them and we're happy.

And we don't do them too much.

Again,

Having a piece of chocolate is no big deal.

But if we have three one-pound bars in one setting,

We've got to say,

Was I really happy?

Or am I trying to mask a feeling?

Or if we have a glass or two of wine,

Or instead a different time,

We're having four bottles of wine so that we're inebriated and pass out,

We have to ask ourselves,

Am I happy or am I trying to mask something?

The key is moderation and doing these things when we're happy.

Then we just don't have to worry for the most part.

We always want to be careful,

Of course,

To anything.

But if we decide to use something or do something that can be addictive to some people,

The way we're going to avoid that is it's a good day,

Things are going well,

And we feel like having a little bit of this thing.

Then we don't have to worry nearly as much.

And we can all then,

With our lives,

Find beauty and peace in the present moment,

Right now,

Every day.

Thank you for joining me on the Happiness Podcast.

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And until next time,

Accept what is,

Love what is.

Reviews

Wow! What helpful content!! And such a calm voice and energy too!

Thank you, gone back into addicting behaviour on Youtube and video games and realize it's because I'm avoiding some tough situations. I'll work at addressing the stressors and listen to this again soon, thank you!

Very pleasant to listen to and informative. Thank you.

Great advice thank you so much

thankyou, makes sense.

He is awesome. ❤️

Great talk on addicting markers and mindfulness techniques to combat and avoid addictive behaviour.
Thanks
Nathan

Very interesting, I am a therapist but do not see addictions, out of my field, when they come to me, I try to steer them to proper help. But I do get a lot of alcohol abuse among others, and is always a way of dealing with a bad day or bad relationships. A sure way to become addicted. Thank you for your perspective: “only enjoy a glass of wine or a present to yourself when you are feeling good”.

Straight forward & filled with both information & common sense. I am always inspired & helped by your podcasts. Thank you! 😊🦋

Helpful words, thank you. I have a beer or glass of wine almost daily, but have learned to stop with one. Once in a while, two. But I also realize that it is a habit and I don’t pretend it is risk free. For the past two years I have abstained from alcohol for the weeks of Lent as a health discipline.

Thank you very much. While listening to your podcast, I had a moment of clarity. What came to mind was attachments to external things that I use to change the way I feel and see things. This means work for me. Thank you again for your help. You are a gift to me! Hugs

Good discussion of what takes normal pleasure and differentiates it from compulsion

Thank you, very helpful and informative!!🙏🏽

Thank you very much 🙏