Addiction: Gently Overcoming It (Substance use)

Hey guys,

It's Reuben here.

And so I've been working in substance use for around 18 years.

It's all about this relief.

The relief becomes the thing you need relief from.

What do I mean by that?

By the time someone needs support,

By the time someone needs a service in terms of their substance use.

What's happening is that they've moved from feeling good about taking the substance and it's changed from that to escaping how they feel to use the substance.

So they're using the substance to escape.

Certain feelings.

People can think that they're weak,

That there's something wrong with them,

But this is ingrained within us.

And the older mechanisms of the brain are very strong.

And this means that.

In those moments we want some kind of relief,

The brain's just going to go for what works,

Right?

You didn't choose.

To have a problem with your substance.

But you can change it.

In other words,

It's not your fault.

It's not your fault that you are having a problem with your substance.

But it can be your responsibility.

And this is one.

Massive insight because Again,

Going back to the brain and how it's wired in the narrative that our mind gives us and what other people will say to us or the judgments that they may have is that,

You know,

Well,

You chose this.

This is your problem,

Right?

But what's happened is over time and time again,

Because yes,

Sure,

You chose it to feel better.

Before,

Like years ago,

Right?

But Now the brain has kind of got this stamped.

It's like,

This is what gives me connection.

This is what helps me escape.

And I can do it again.

And it's that stamp,

Stamp,

Stamp,

Stamp.

So engrained that it literally takes over.

So in those moments when you actually want a meaningful day and you don't want to use your substance,

The brain is coming in.

Knowing that actually We could just do it today.

We could just do this.

We could just do that.

And this is a process that's known as reason giving.

It's very common because it's a little trick that the brain does to give us.

Really good reasons really good excuses actually just to do it again just to do it one more time just to do it on the weekend or whatever But anyway,

Coming back to this,

I hope this little video has been helpful for whoever's listening,

Whether you're going through something right now or it's someone you know.

It's not your fault that this has happened.

You didn't choose to have a problem with your substance,

But it is your responsibility if you choose to do it.

And in terms of how the brain.

Grows and adapts to accommodate for whatever it's doing.

This means that when you start to.

.

.

Let go of the urges and cravings for your substance.

And you choose to do something else.

You are training.

Your body,

Your nervous system,

Your brain,

Everything.

You're basically saying,

I can do this.

I can do this.

Every pause.

Is new wiring.

And rewiring of those neural templates in our brain.

So it's not like a.

.

.

Oh,

This is just it.

This is how it's going to be.

Like I often hear the phrase once an addict,

Always an addict from people coming into the service that I work with.

They've heard it so much and it's just not true.

So I hope this video can help you and I hope you find some of the resources here on Insight Timer that can pave the way for you as you go about your journey.