When seeking a definition of addiction what is it? what causes it? and how it is understood, is still debated. Addiction is often thought of solely in the context of, being addicted to a thing or an activity, but that definition is focused on someone who experiences addiction, not what addiction is; what or how addicts experience their addiction is largely irrelevant.

There continues to be much discussion on what addiction is, remaining split by focusing on individual behaviour or substances instead of trying to convey the rationale for this type of behaviour. This quote below much better sums up what addiction is and how it manifests itself.

Writing in Psychology Today Stanton Peele defined addiction in a much more satisfactory way compared to those who focus on the specific manifestation of that addiction:

 

"Addiction is the search for emotional satisfaction for a sense of security, a sense of being loved, even a sense of control over life. But the gratification is temporary and illusory, and the behaviour results instead in greater self-disgust, reduced psychological security, and poorer coping ability".

 

Addiction what is it... Emotional thinking?

As outlined by Peele, addiction is a process of thinking and dealing and behaving within the world and this process is part of the emotional coping mechanism used by those who experience addiction to manage the feelings they have in their lives.

Ultimately, people who are addicts use either a substance, this could be anything from alcohol or other drugs but also certain food stuffs; or they may adopt a particular behaviour, which could include gambling, sex, shopping, which for the addict, occupy the decision making and logical aspect of the brain and serve also to elicit new positive feelings, overriding and subduing the negative feelings which the addict associates with their day to day experiences of the world.

Asking those in addiction what is it they are doing and experiencing they may give lifestyle examples without being able to explain fully why they do what they do.

 

ADDICTS FIXATE TO BLOCK OUT  REALITY

When addicts use a behaviour like shopping or gambling to block out how they feel, they fixate on the activity. It is not the activity but the total immersion process which is addictive.

 

Is the process addictive not the result?

For example a gambler is not addicted to the winning, instead it is the gambling process, choosing where to gamble, what to gamble on, what to stake, how the bet is made and watching the bet run its course. Any winnings are often no more than the mechanism to bet again until they have no resources to gamble; rarely are they a source of joy.

When searching for a simple answer to addiction what is it and who is affected by it, it may never be satisfactorily answered as it is a process, a type of behaviour stemming from a way of thinking.

Low esteem comes from a poor sense of self, sense of not being worthy, capable and low expectations of how others see you. To change this anyone with low self esteem needs to feel complete and have a life with purpose. Self esteem rests on feeling fulfilled. This fulfilment is based on life being in balance and many of your needs being met. The website has different ways to address each personal need. Some of the issues to raise self esteem include more social contact, learning assertiveness, changing the negative message that yo say to yourself as well as meeting one of your basic needs of feeling spiritually connected to your world instead of just a observer. This does not mean specifically god or gods, though for some it does, but a much broader personal sense of being a significant member of their world.

 

What does being spiritually connected really mean?

What spirituality means here is a deeper sense of connectivity to the world that you live in. There are a range of ways that someone feels spirituality connected with their world. For some people it is having ties with their own family and especially their children. This allows them to feel connected with their own children but also connects them with their own ancestry and their own connection to the world they live. They are also able to feel connected to future generations and feel connected beyond the here and now and have a deeper sense of belonging in their world. to raise your won self esteem you could reconnect with your family, spend more time talking and listening to them or you could go and research your local history or family history. Feeling connected is vital, so you could just connect with your community just by volunteering. You know what is right for you.

Beat low esteem by reconnecting with nature

Some people feel connected spiritually by connecting with nature. You could meet your spirituality needs by walking in the country, climbing mountains or watching wildlife. For some people, who feel connected with nature they experience the extremes of the season with relish. So maybe take a Walk in the rain, snow, wild winds and feel a sense of connectivity by the might and power of the forces of nature during floods, gales or the serenity of a sunset.

Make time to fulfil your spirituality needs to beat low self esteem

Other ways in which people feel spiritually connected include religious connectivity and meet their spiritual needs through reading religious texts, performing and participating in religious observances and having a shared religious identity.

To prevent low esteem there is a need to recognise how your own spirituality needs can be met and to find time in your life to meet those needs.  Being able to meet your own spiritual needs helps build personal motivation and resilience during crisis.

Need more help to deal with low esteem

Contact positive hypnosis for more practical help and advice to deal with low confidence. Online appointments available on Skype and face to face appointments available in Sheffield UK.

How effective is Addiction Hypnotherapy?

Addiction hypnotherapy can be a very effective way of dealing with addictions. Hypnosis is a valuable treatment for addictions because it helps to get at the root causes of their issues which the addict is unable to deal with without resorting to their addictive behaviour.

The various issues which addictions hypnotherapy treatment is effective for includes drug and alcohol addictions, eating addictions, exercise, work, gambling, shopping, sex and the whole host of behaviours that are used to distract you away form managing your feelings effectively.

Hypnotherapy can help in the early stages of recovery to help deal with triggers from the activity or substance that you are struggling with. Hypnotherapy can support with dealing with any urges you experience and, in conjunction with my extensive knowledge of sustainable recovery, I can offer specific tools and approaches to deal with each recovery challenge that you face or experience.

Hypnosis can also help cope with work or lifestyle pressures which may threaten your long term recovery and, if left unresolved, can cause you to lose confidence and lapse or even to relapse.

Recovery coaching by an expert

Recovery is built on establishing or re-establishing a fulfilling life and addiction hypnotherapy, through hypnotic coaching can also help you identify and act positively towards reaching  your own life goals. Hypnotic coaching can be used to help you identify and develop life plans and offer the motivation and drive to action your plans instead of allowing fear of failure to limit your life experiences.

Addiction hypnotherapy is much more than using hypnosis as the therapeutic aspect of the work means using a complex mix of therapeutic approaches to help the client begin, maintain and sustain their recovery with key techniques and tools used along the recovery journey

Treatment using hypnosis is part of the treatment programme and ultimately you need to want to change and I can give you greater understanding of what to do instead of using, whilst the hypnosis makes it easer to deal with your destructive thoughts, giving you space to think clearly, act the way you want and feel more and more like you want to feel so that your addictive behaviour (the need to escape the thoughts and feelings in your head) becomes redundant.

SUPPORTIVE THERAPIESThe techniques which would be used in tandem with hypnosis include use of psychodynamic therapeutic techniques to aid you to identify some buried issues so that you are able to move forward with fewer anxieties and reservations about your potential and your ability.

Other hypnotherapeutic tools

Other techniques involve Person Centred Counselling approaches to allow you to manage your own needs and develop total independence from your addictions. As an NLP practitioner I use techniques which will support recovering addicts to identify and access self motivation to deal with any dips in mental health and motivation and use these to help my clients to reach their recovery as quickly as is possible.

My extensive history of working with addictive behaviour alongside hypnotherapy demonstrates the value of hypnotherapy for addictions.

Beyond hypnosis, trained hypnotherapists will have the skills to help you to manage any feelings of anxiety, support you to grow your self confidence and use a mix of specific hypnotherapy for addictions treatments and other therapeutic approaches to help you to live fulfilling lives again.

To access skilled practitioners who can offer addiction hypnotherapy check the national hypnosis registers; in the UK they include the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH)and the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR).

Online Therapy

I offer online therapy for people all over the world using Skype. As long as you have  access to a computer find out more about accessing therapy, whether it is CBT, mindfulness, psychodynamic approaches or hypnosis to achieve your goals contact me today at dave@positive-hypnosis.info or send me a direct message on Twitter @hypnosisdave and I will arrange an appointment time.

The addictions section of the site is here to help you identify your needs and access the appropriate support for you or someone who is struggling with their behaviour. If you are trying to get a better understanding of the condition, whether it is alcohol, cocaine, heroin, gambling, shopping sex, self harming or eating disorders, no matte what you are experiencing this is the place to discover more.  If you want to find our what changes you can do to take control or what professional support is available from Positive Hypnosis, or how effective therapy and hypnotherapy can be in helping you to make sense of your behaviour and support you to get your life back, then follow the links to the relevant sections.

 

What are addictions?

If you are new to this or are struggling with gambling, alcohol drugs or any other behaviour that has taken over your life and want to understand what is going on, this section will offer some key information about this. There is a quick test to determine if you have an issue, alongside lots of more common questions around what it means when we discuss this issue.  Find out more here.

How can you build self esteem? An essential ingredient to beating your addiction?

Self esteem is essential to beating your addiction and living a long happy life in recovery. Are your preparing to change read this section to get yourself ready to build a long lasting recovery.

What tools do you need to keep your recovery moving forward from your Quit day?

Understanding what to do to keep your recovery on track is not enough. recovery from any problematic behaviour is not a theoretical process, it is a practical skill which needs to be maintained or the risk of lapse may occur. Use the tools in the Quit Day and Quit Day Tools section to keep motivated and find fulfilment in the early stages of living without using returning to your destructive behaviour.

How do I stop lapse turning into a relapse?

One of the key issues for people in recovery is learning to accept that change is difficult. During the recovery journey lapse though not recommended is a common occurrence. this section will help you to discover different ways to survive a lapse, find these experiences empowering instead of demotivating and as springboards to new learning, re-energising your recovery so that you can successfully break free of the unwanted behaviour. Lapse is just another way of learning about yourself. Use it to learn what does not work and adopt a new strategy which does.

What experience do you have in treating addictions and how effective is it?

I have worked with addicts who are struggling with alcohol, cocaine, heroin, cannabis, gambling. self harming, violence, and other behaviours over the last decade where I have worked in residential rehabs, hospitals and in community projects alongside my confidential private practice.

I use a range of techniques, many listed around the site to allow you to recover and let go of that destructive behaviour. The techniques I use start with gaining an understanding of the situation, the purpose and reasons that the behaviour exists and then use self awareness, self esteem building techniques, stress and anxiety management and goal setting to build a smooth and sustainable new life. The work may include works around managing guilt so you can move forwards and also tools to feel calm and in control again. I also offer support and advice so that the risk of lapse and relapse is reduced. I have used a range of creative approaches and commit fully to supporting a client to reach their addiction, both within the therapy room and beyond.

The use of therapy and hypnosis underpins all these changes so that the new way of being and feeling is done both at a conscious and unconscious level so as to make recovery natural and sustainable, instead of feeling like an effort.

As part of your therapy I will explore the support networks and recovery strategies which we can develop to make the treatment work for you. I have extensive experience in developing support and sustainable recovery.

How effective is Hypnosis in treating my condition?

Hypnosis treatment is highly effective at breaking negative thinking patterns and behaviour patterns. It is highly effective at supporting anxiety treatment, and helping form new patterns of living and thinking. If you want to feel and think differently use hypnosis as part of your recovery.

How can addictions be treated by Hypnosis?

Hypnotherapy can be a very effective way of dealing with problematic behaviours. Hypnosis is a valuable treatment for this condition because it helps to get at the root cause of the issues which the addict is unable to deal with without resorting to their using or repetitive behaviour.

How can you help someone with addiction?

“How can I help someone get help?” This question is often heard in the world of recovery as the various friends, family, carers and professions attempt to deal with the confusion and chaos that behaviour creates. End your confusion and frustration, learn what and how best to help.

 

Need more help and support, contact me directly and I offer a free 30 minute consultation to help beat addictions

Contact me on Skype, WhatsApp or FaceTime if you do not want to meet in person.

End codependent behaviour, build personal responsibility to beat addiction

Codependent relationships are common in addiction. Addicts learn to lose their sense of independence as they live a life of chaos, leaving others to pick up the pieces as they focus on feeding their addiction. Bills don’t get paid, children left at the school gates, meals not prepared and money used solely to fund the addiction.

 

Co-dependency normalises addiction

Addicts often seek out other addicts who they become codependent on to normalise their behaviour and share their chaotic lifestyle with. Equally, the addicts loved ones sustain another level of codependency taking responsibility for many of the neglected things which the person with an addiction is either unwilling or unable to do.

Personal Responsibility begins the pathway to recovery

Personal responsibility in addiction is essential to allow the addict to develop into full blown recovery. Addicts come from all walks of life, from high functioning and often very privileged members of society, through to the least economically and social advantaged. Addicts become totally consumed by their addiction and lose confidence in their wider coping strategies and instead adopt instant gratification behaviours which ignore the consequences. This self defeating behaviour, common with all addicts, leaves the addict feeling incapable and worthless.

How to help an addict?

It is essential that any addict is taught self reliance and incremental independence so that they can be reminded of their self beyond the addict. At the height of addiction, addicts lose sight of who they really are and also of their skills set.

In order to address this and support the addict towards life long recovery, a key piece of support will be taking personal responsibility of more and more aspects of their lives.

By taking more and more personal responsibility of their lives, the addict will become reminded of their broader skill set, of what other things they are capable of and ultimately that addiction does not define them; instead seeing it as just something that they currently do to manage their mental health.

To support an addict to take personal responsibility, they need to be encouraged to adopt a structure in their lives which allows them to keep on top of small tasks. In the chaos of addiction, they may need to support just to stay safe, make appointments or just even to eat. Where possible do not take on simple tasks for someone in addiction, just be with them to make sure it gets done.

At this point, there is a balance to be struck between what realistically they can achieve and what realistically they will want to solve. Over time, with support they will want to do more and more for themselves. With support they will get there, so stay resilient.

Fully recovered from addiction

By encouraging the addict to take personal responsibility, addiction recovery will become more and more evident, as they will be more responsible for all aspects of their lives. The scope of personal responsibility can act as a barometer for the ongoing recovery of an individual, as, over time, they take full charge of their day to day living and become less vulnerable to being codependent and fully independent again. As this incrementally occurs they will grow little by little in self esteem and simultaneously grow the resources to maintain their recovery.

Are you codependent? Take the codependency quiz.

Not sure if you are maintaining your addiction through your relationship with others. Take the quiz to find out if you are independent or using those relationships to keep yourself secure within your addiction.  Take the test.

Sheffield hypnosis practitioners can help you treat your alcohol addiction or problematic drinking or any other addictive behaviour, whether you are aiming for a period of abstinence, reducing your alcohol consumption or seeking to adopt an abstinence lifestyle.  

Use the experts to guide your recovery

I have been using a mix of effective treatments to help people find their recovery. I am aware of how difficult long lasting recovery from any addiction can be. I have support in excess of a thousand people reach work to reach their recoveries. I have worked in various recovery settings including rehabs and community setting. working with people at all points of problematic drinking to reach their desired outcome. I have worked with people who are dependent and supported them to safely reduce their intake, binge drinkers, solitary secret drinkers and those who need to reduce their drinking and are still finding the triggers too difficult to manage.

Even after years of heavy use bodies can fully repair

Alcohol misuse can result in long term damage to organs, memory problems and can result in a reduction in life expectancy. Although Alcohol has massive affects on the body. the body is able to fully recover from alcohol use in many cases. The liver is able to heal itself if given the opportunity so begin your recovery today.

Beat alcohol and live independently

Many people focus solely on the substance, neglecting to recognise that alcohol misuse is a often a symptom of another hidden problem. As I work with you I will help you identify reasons for drinking and a range of techniques and tools which will restore your ability to live independently of substances or any other addictive behaviour.

Sheffield hypnosis practitioner who can help your recovery using a range of therapies tailored to your needs.

I will also give you practical tools to manage triggers, including CBT, solution focused therapies, alongside relapse prevention risk management planning, which will guide to you to fill time when bored and how to find fulfilment in your life which is rewarding, builds self esteem and serves to enrich your life leaving you feeling fulfilled.

Alcohol lapse and relapse prevention (Dealing with triggers, cravings and urges).

Alcohol Treatment will include work to address triggers, cravings and urges as you learn to live without using. Treatment will give the knowledge and skill s of how best to manage all the common challenges which can result in lapse and relapse including tools to deal with Trigger, Cravings and how to deal with Urges. Treatment for alcohol can also include hypnosis to embed all the learning to help you take back control of any thoughts or feelings that could risk your recovery.

Expert Guidance and Support

Throughout this website you will discover that I have spent many years working to support people to manage their alcohol addiction. I have worked in rehabs and continue to offer support in the community to address alcohol and drug issues. My expert approach will give you a clear understanding of what can be achieved and how quickly you can regain control of your alcohol use.

Why learning to manage your feelings and emotions is so important.

Learning to manage your feelings and emotions is one of the key skills for successful change. This approach is key to changes from addictive behaviours, stress, anger, depression, weight management, and any activity where motivation is key to making successful change.

 

However you live your life, it takes that form because it is the best way of doing things for you. If there was a better way of doing, which met all your needs you would be doing it. This message often confuses people, especially when people are doing something which clearly is not healthy or useful for their long term plans such as abusing drugs or spending frivolously when they have long term plans which are dependent on them on saving up.

 

Learning to manage your feelings and emotions is a difficult skill to master if it is something which is something which you may have been discouraged from doing. If you do not express your emotions safely then they will be expressed in unhelpful ways through either extreme anger, sarcasm, depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, violence, or a complete mental breakdown and so it is essential that you learn to express yourself in a healthy manner.

 

The initial process of learning to express your feelings is just to say how you feel at any point that you are aware of how you feel. This should include all the emotions which society has encouraged us to express, such as feeling happy, excited and grateful and also ones which challenge the archaic ‘stiff upper lip’ approach to having emotions which come from the Victorian era, which include, feeling nervous, anxious, angry, afraid or the non-specific vulnerable.

 

By acknowledging how you feel then you are able to employ effective strategies to manage those feelings and emotions (many tips can be found on this site).

 

By expressing the negative feelings, just by expressing them something incredible happens…

 

YOU FEEL BETTER!!!

 

Yep it is that simple if you express to someone how you feel, nothing else, it releases that feeling and immediately you feel differently and more importantly, the intensity of the feeling reduces and withers even if the reason for feeling like this does not.

 

Emotions are like mould, if you keep them buried and in the dark then they grow and grow and eventually take control of what they are growing on. To take that control back, let them see the light of day and release them to the outside world.

 

Managing your emotions is essential to dealing with your motivation and for some issues like weight management, addictions self harm, depression and anxiety it is possible to join support groups to help you learn to express your emotions but if you feel that you do not have an outlet or any friends that you can learn to express your emotions use either professional help, online support groups or The Samaritans service where there is always someone who will listen to you.

HALT Lapse for recovery success

The HALT Lapse technique is a powerful tool to regain control of your behaviour and is a quick approach to reclaiming your thoughts and feelings when your have been triggered so you can build the lifestyle that you want. Use the technique if you want to make difficult changes in your life.

 

Good decision making is most likely to happen when we are feeling and operating at our best. This is when we have addressed our basic needs such as making sure we are fed but also when we are having our basic social and emotional needs met, so to keep those plans moving forward it is vital that you build social networks and support from people who really value you; also you must take responsibility for how you feel which can only be possible if you are aware of your feelings. Finally to keep positive decisions in our lives we must have the energy to recognise the range of options open to us so make sure that you get some quality rest.

 

Using this relapse prevention tool you will find it easier when quitting smoking, sticking to a new weight management routine, beating problematic alcohol use or drug addiction amongst lots of other lifestyle changes.

The HALT technique is an acronym of four questions you can ask yourself to prevent you from feeling negatively and so thinking negatively and ultimately behaving negatively leading to a lapse event.

To keep yourself making the best decision for you, ask your self these four questions if you feel triggered to undermine the lifestyle change that you are making.

 

Hungry? Am I hungry? If the answer is yes, react positively to it. Find some food. It is better to have slow release energy foods as they aid mood stabilisation but in the first instance address your hunger.

 

Angry? Am I angry? Ask your self how your are feeling right now. If you are feeling angry identify the most appropriate way to deal with this anger. It may be talking to someone. Challenge your negative thinking which is leading to you feeling angry. It  may be by acting differently for example apologising if you are angry about how you have behaved, or if you are feeling angry because you feel vulnerable ask for support or communicate how you are feeling. If you are alone there are many vehicles to highlight how you are feeling. You could use Facebook or other social media, use online forums related to which behaviour you are vulnerable to adopting when you are angry such as gambling or using, or you could access the Samaritans service.

 

Lonely?  Are you lonely? If so seek out some company. If you have no support network use online support or the Samaritans but plan to build more social contact into your life via online networks but also by joining social clubs, access a local college course or volunteer at a local service.

 

Tired? Are you feeling tired? Without effective rest you are less able to identify all the options open to you and are more likely to adopt a familiar behaviour rather than a more desirable one. When you are making changes it is common that people have to really think about what they are doing or then can operate on "auto-pilot" and end up lapsing or returning to their negative patterns of behaviour. Appropriate rest reduces the likelihood of poor decision making.

 

Act on the answer instead of breaking your new way of being

It is highly likely that you will answer yes to one of the above questions so instead of drinking, gambling, smoking or eating unhealthy food address the issue that you have said yes to and the craving or urge to lapse will be gone.

 

If you feel hungry - eat healthy appropriate food

 

If your feel angry express your feelings clearly and calmly. You can just express that you feel angry right now or even explain why you feel as you do.

 

And if you feel tired you can rest. Even if you have insomnia you can find a space to rest like having a bath and this will help you to be in a better frame of mind to make decisions.

 

So whether you are trying to break the cycle of addictions such as drugs, alcohol, gambling or self harm; or you are trying to manage you emotions safely so that you are no longer struggling with anger management or emotional eating, HALT is a quick and easy way to help you manage your day to day feelings, thoughts and behaviours so that you can develop more sustainable and effective ways of doing and being to prevent lapse and relapse. HALT will help you find happiness, fulfilment and reach your full potential.

 

Next time you feel close to making a poor decision, HALT and see if you can make a change in your hunger, anger, loneliness and tiredness before you make a decision which could result in a lapse which may undermine your long term plans.

 

Start as you mean to go on by using HALT as a pre-emptive relapse prevention tool

Once the very early stages of change have been addressed it becomes easier and easier to plan for events instead of just reacting. Some triggers can come out of nowhere and some are lodged so deep in the subconscious that on reflection the cause is not identifiable but to limit the effect of these events you can use HALT as a pre-emptive tool and plan your day around making sure that these danger points are kept in check. As soon as you wake you can establish a routine to make sure that you are never....

 

HUNGRY - keep healthy snacks to hand and have planned meals, build into your day space to check in with yourself and offload any strains and stresses so you never feel.....

 

ANGRY - also express how you feel all day long, positive or otherwise and this will make you aware of how you feel and what you need to do to manage that feeling. By having a planned day you can avoid feeling....

 

Lonely - by checking in with people who value you, either in person, by letter, by text, phone or via the internet . If you currently feel lonely and have too few friends it is time to build social networks. Join clubs, night courses, use the internet to meet people but you need to be proactive social networks need effort. Over-socialising has it's risks though as people can wear you and leave you feeling....

 

Tired - get rest check you daily and weekly plans to make sure there is time for you to rest. If you are struggling to sleep, you can plan appropriate sleep routines, appropriate food, plan to find time to nap, poor sleep may be a result of limited exercise to you may need to plan to be more active.

 

By planning your day to avoid these potential catalysts to lapse and relapse you will find your planned changes are more easily achieved.

One way to help an addict recovery is through encouraging healthy eating. Addiction takes it toll on the body so a basic way to support an addict is applying this simple truth, healthy eating beats addiction. Some addicts, as part of their addiction, neglect basic nutrition, so offering meals and fruit will help give them more energy and strength so that they can make better decisions, vital for their recovery.

 

EAT YOURSELF FITTER

Addicts, like everyone else need to have basic nutrition, including fresh fruit, vegetables, water, and the usual mix of what has been described as a balanced diet.Getting some one experiencing addiction to improve their diet, no matter how much will help them to feel better, think clearer and make better choices.

 

Malnutrition for problem alcohol users

For alcohol users, they have a very highly calorific diet. Alcohol is the second most calorific food stuff, second only to fat. Though high in calories it is devoid of any nutrients and so alcoholics are experiencing malnutrition leaving their body incapable of growing and healing properly.

 

REBUILD ENERGY LEVELS

Drug users also experience similar issues. Alongside this they also experience gastric problems, including constipation, and so feel bloated. The effects of some drugs, as well as alcohol serve to suppress appetites which ultimately leads to addicts having little energy and result in poor decision making. There are many sources of information to improve diets for those in recovery, common sense is a good guide, but if you want more info around the effects of chemicals on the body see foods and nutrition for recovery here.

 

Mood stabilising diet

To improve decision making, and ultimately to have the mental stamina to deal with triggers, which lead to the instant gratification drive of an urge to use, an addict needs more stable moods and processing skills. The correct diet helps restore the key chemicals, hormones and neurotransmitter matter needed to manage this. The less that food is processed, the more natural it is and the better it is.

 

RAISE OWN AWARENESS OF NUTRITION

You can help an addict recover by being making yourself aware of the nutrients they need in their body for healing. Giving someone the right food does not mean that they are going to take on this nutrition so to fully support someone to beat addiction through healthy eating it may be necessary to encourage someone to eat.

 

Encourage healthy eating by keeping food in sight

Research has found that to encourage people to eat something they should be able to see it, it should be less than 6 feet away from them and it should be part of a selection of foods. In many rehabs they adopt this research by having water coolers and fruit bowls of mixed fruit around the building. They position it next to popular areas, doorways, popular congregation areas and rest and relaxation spaces. Because of the positioning of the food and keeping processed foods full of sugar away form the person moods remain stable, allowing good decisions and making recovery to be more easily achieved.

 

ENCOURAGE GRAZING

An extension of this can be to make up a prepared salad bowl of cut up, bite size fruit and vegetables. To add variety this bowl could also have nuts and even appropriate spices on it or dips nearby to encourage grazing. Ultimately, any extra fruit, vegetables and water that will help the body and brain function better will support good choices and will lead to healthy eating beating addiction.

 

REDUCE MOOD DE-STABILISING FOOD

There are mood de-stabilising foods which will promote energy fluctuations and mood swings. Not only do they impact on mood but also impact on sleep, necessary for further healing and the development of routines and lifestyle structures. To better help an addict on their journey to recovery, be alert to these addiction enhancing foodstuffs. These foods include sugars, caffeine, simple fast release carbohydrates such as white bread and should be avoided or their consumption limited as much as possible.

To help an addict takes more than encouragement it involves understanding why people behave the way that they do and how best to support them. Using the simple suggestions throughout this site you will be able to help them to reach their recovery, whether it is an addiction to gambling, drugs or alcohol.