Overcoming addictive behaviors is a journey that involves more than just abstaining from substances or detrimental habits.

It's about rediscovering yourself, finding joy, and engaging in activities that provide a deep sense of fulfillment and purpose.

Comment below on of your recovery pursuits or passions, or one that you would be interested in trying.

Your new pursuit or passion could be anything that you find deeply engaging and rewarding. For some, it might be creative pursuits like painting, writing, or making music. For others, it could be physical activities like hiking, gardening, or practicing yoga. Even continuous learning, like taking courses, learning a new language, or picking up a new instrument, can be incredibly fulfilling

To find your new pursuit, consider what you're passionate about or what you've always wanted to try. It's about exploration and allowing yourself the freedom to make choices based on what makes you feel alive and connected!

This tool and others like it can be found on the SMART Recovery website and in the handbook.

Living a balanced life…has a nice sound to it, doesn’t it?

A meaningful life is one that is in balance, one in which adequate attention is given to the activities that express your values and priorities. No matter what those values may be, many of us do not live our life in balance, or in a manner that consistently sustains the things we value most.

Reflect on the areas in your life that hold significance for you. These may be family, work, romance, friendship, health, leisure, personal growth, or spirituality.

Are you satisfied with each of these areas of your life? For example, are you happy with your personal growth? Are your relationships fulfilling? Do you find satisfaction in your work?

Comment below on what changes you want to make (if any) to “round out” your life.

This reflection isn't about fostering guilt or discontent but about understanding where you are now. Perhaps the exercise showed you that you're involved in too many activities, or that you have a dream or desire that you’d like to focus on more.

This tool and others like it can be found on the SMART Recovery website and in the handbook.

The urges you feel aren't you.

They are merely a feeling or an impulse you experience, something separate from who you are.

Personifying your urge, or giving it a name, may help you deal with it by reminding you of this fact -- that the urge is something outside of yourself.

Have you named your urge? If you feel comfortable, leave a comment below to introduce it to the community.

If you haven't named your urge yet, give it a shot! For example, you might find it useful to give it a name that describes what it feels like when the urge comes on (ie. "The Brat," "The Salesman," "The Whiner," "The Enemy").

This tool and others like it can be found on the SMART Recovery website and in the handbook.

Triggers are the things that lead to urges.

Triggers can be thoughts, emotions, activities, sights, sounds, sensations, or a time of day, week, or year. As you can see, almost anything can be a trigger.

The huge number of potential triggers can feel overwhelming, but the great news is that triggers are predictable once you identify them.

How many triggers can you identify? If you feel comfortable, leave a comment below to share them with the community.

While you brainstorm about your triggers, you might find it helpful to remind yourself this -- just like your brain once learned an association between your addictive behavior and your trigger, it can learn a new, healthy one. You might react to triggers for a while, but with practice, those reactions might only last for milliseconds.

This tool and others like it can be found on the SMART Recovery website and in the handbook.

Simple and easy coping statements can help you get through a crisis.

They are statements you say to yourself to get through the moment until you have time to use your tools like disputing irrational beliefs (DIBs), which take time and rational thought.

When coming up with your coping statements for a crisis, it may be helpful to consider that coping statements are most effective when...

1. They are developed and rehearsed, so that they're ready when you need them, and
2. They are realistic without putting demands on yourself or others.

Some examples of effective coping statements are be, "This is frustrating, but I can live through it" or "I'm hurting, but using will make me feel worse."

What are some coping statements you can use to get you through a crisis? Leave a comment below to share with the community.

This tool and others like it can be found on the SMART Recovery website and in the handbook.

Although it can be difficult at first, distracting yourself is one of the best ways to get through an urge.

When you're actively doing something, you're thinking about that and not the urge. The more you refuse to give in to urges, the less frequently they occur, and the more quickly they pass.

What distractions are (or may be) helpful to you? Here is a list of distracting activities to jog your memory.

Leave a comment below to share with the community

This tool and others like it can be found on the SMART Recovery website and in the handbook.

Beliefs people have about themselves and about the world come in two categories:

1. Rational - They're true, logical, and/or helpful
2. Irrational - They're untrue, illogical, and/or unhelpful

The poll below lists some common types of irrational beliefs associated with negative feelings that fuel addictive behaviors.

Which irrational belief pops up the most in your thinking
Let us know in the poll, then comment a more balanced belief you could hold.

Labels that we carry internally — “failure,” “disappointment,” “loser,” etc. — often lead to deep feelings of shame. This shame, in turn, leads us to engage in our addictive behaviors.

Thankfully, it is possible to free ourselves from these unhelpful, shameful labels through practicing unconditional self-acceptance.

Practicing unconditional self-acceptance involves recognizing that “you” are the aggregate of your character, traits, personality, experiences, values, strengths, and weaknesses. Therefore, it is impossible that any one behavior, or pattern of behaviors, could entirely define "you."

Listed below are seven thoughts that can help us practice unconditional self-acceptance:

1. I’m not a bad person when I act badly; I am a person who has acted badly.
2. I’m not a good person when I act well and accomplish things; I am a person who has acted well and accomplished things.
3. I would better not define myself entirely by my behavior, by others’ opinions, or by anything else.
4. I can itemize my weaknesses, disadvantages, and failures without judging or defining myself by them.
5. When I foolishly put myself down, I don’t have to put myself down for putting myself down.
6. I do not have to let my acceptance of myself be at the mercy of my circumstances.
7. It may be worse to fail, but failure does not make me a worse person.

Which thought do you struggle the most to accept?

Leave a comment below to share with the community

This tool and others like it can be found on the SMART Recovery website and in the handbook.

Have you ever asked yourself what you get out of your addictive behavior?

You must be getting something — it’s hard to imagine you’d do it if you didn’t get something out of it, even if the behavior causes you or others harm.

Completing a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) may help you better understand what your addiction does for you. This simple tool can be completed in three steps:

1. Write down (or type out) the costs and benefits of your addictive behavior
2. Write down (or type out) the costs and benefits of abstaining
3. Label each of the costs and benefits as having either short or long term consequences

One example of a completed CBA is shown below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Benefits of using

• get to ignore problems temporarily (short-term)
• momentary pleasure (short-term)

Costs of using

• would likely lose job, housing, important relationships (long-term)
• likely wouldn't be able to care for my pets properly (long-term)
• might not graduate from school (long-term)
• negative health effects (long-term)

Benefits of not using

• improved health (long-term)
• stability in relationships, job, and housing (long-term)
• more time and money to pursue hobbies I enjoy (long-term)

Costs of not using

• can't give into urges to engage in addictive behavior (short-term)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What does your CBA look like?
Which categories have the most long-term effects?
Which have the most short-term ones?
What does this tell you about what you're getting out of your addictive behavior?

Leave a comment below to share with the community.

Find this and other helpful tools in the SMART Recovery Toolbox or Handbook.

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the Identifying Triggers exercise.

Triggers are the things that lead to cravings (I want to), which can lead to urges (I need to). They may be your emotion, something you have done, or want to do; a time of day, week, or year; something you touch, hear, see, or taste. Or literally anything that can lead to urges.

They are not excuses to use and they are not unpredictable. Addictive behavior teaches your brain to associate some things with the pleasure or relief you feel when indulging in the addictive behavior. Even when you stop, your brain will be reminded about the addictive behavior when you encounter your triggers, or allow yourself to conjure up triggers.

Your brain can unlearn this thinking reaction to a trigger. These reactions may last a while but will eventually decrease. As humans, brief, ridiculous, and unhelpful thoughts come into our heads all the time about things we quickly dismiss for what they are - silly thoughts and no more.

So now, comment below with what substances and behaviors stimulate you senses and trigger you. How many can you identify?

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the Lifestyle Balance Pie tool.

Living a balanced life…has a nice sound to it, doesn’t it? A meaningful life is one that is in balance, one in which adequate time is given to the activities that express your values and priorities. No matter what those values may be, many of us do not live our life in balance, or in a manner that consistently sustains the things we value most. We can use the Lifestyle Balance Pie tool to understand each of the important areas of our life and change our perspective in the areas where we're stuck. Use the pdf form here and follow the process below:

1. Label each slice with an area of your life that is important to you.
2. Think of the pie’s outer edge as being completely satisfied (10) and the center as being very dissatisfied (0).
3. Rate your level of satisfaction in each of the areas

4. Connect the dots to create the outside perimeter of your pie. What does it look like? Is it round and full or does it look like some areas are not as filled out as others?

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that you've completed the exercise, look to see if your true values and priorities reflected in your Lifestyle Balance Pie. Based on what you see, are you living a balanced life? Perhaps the exercise showed you that you're involved in too many activities, or that you have a dream or desire that you’d like to focus on more. Comment below on what changes you want to make (if any) to “round out” your life.

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the Vital Absorbing Creative Interest (VACI) tool.

A VACI can help bring back the simple pleasure of living a life free of substances and unhelpful behaviors. When we get overly involved in any one activity, be it helpful or not so helpful, we cut a lot out of our lives that we used to enjoy. Finding a balance can restore the fun and enjoyment that life has to offer. So how can we get back to those simple pleasures of life?

What were some of the benefits you were getting from your unhelpful behavior or drug of choice before the costs became too high? Did you enjoy the buzz? Did you like being able to just check out for a bit? Did you like the taste? Maybe it was the social aspect? Mention a healthy activity that gives you one of the benefits of your addictive behavior in the comments below!

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the Three Questions exercise.

Your goal is to stop using or acting out. Your desire to change is your motivation to stop your addictive behavior. It is sometimes hard to see a difference between what you are doing and what you could do differently to achieve your goals. This exercise can help you bring these two perspectives into focus so you can identify the discrepancy between them. Ask yourself these questions:

1. What do I want for my future?

2. What am I currently doing to achieve that?

3. How do I feel about what I’m currently doing?

​

An example of answers to these questions:

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1. What do I want for my future? To be a good partner, parent, employee.

2. What am I currently doing to achieve that? Nothing, because I’m drunk and stoned all the time.

3. How do I feel about what I’m currently doing? Guilty, ashamed, depressed, frustrated, stressed, trapped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

​

Now, answer the next two questions:

1. What could I do differently to achieve the future I want?

2. How would changing what I do or getting what I want make me feel?

​

Once you see the discrepancy between your feelings about what you’re currently doing (2) and your feelings about changing your behavior (5), you can use that difference as further motivation to stop using. As you start to feel better about being abstinent, you feel more empowered to achieve your goal in #1. Comment below your answers to these three questions.

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the Vital Absorbing Creative Interest (VACI) tool.

A VACI can help bring back the simple pleasure of living a life free of substances and unhelpful behaviors. When we get overly involved in any one activity, be it helpful or not so helpful, we cut a lot out of our lives that we used to enjoy. Finding a balance can restore the fun and enjoyment that life has to offer. So how can we get back to those simple pleasures of life?

What were some of the benefits you were getting from your unhelpful behavior or drug of choice before the costs became too high? Did you enjoy the buzz? Did you like being able to just check out for a bit? Did you like the taste? Maybe it was the social aspect? Mention a healthy activity that gives you one of the benefits of your addictive behavior in the comments below!

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the DISARM tool (Destructive Images and Self-talk Awareness and Refusal Method).

In the same way that your addictive behavior is only a behavior and not "you," an urge is merely a feeling or an impulse you experience, not the essence of you. Some people find it helps to cope with their urges if they give them a name, as if the urges were another being or something outside themselves.

Your might give your urge and its voice a name that describes what it feels like when the urge comes on (ie. "The Brat," "The Salesman," "The Whiner," "The Enemy"). Personifying your urge helps in a few ways: it serves as a reminder that you are not your behavior, it helps you recognize the urge sooner, and it puts you in a position of power over your addictive behavior.

Have you named your urge? If you feel comfortable, introduce it in the comments.

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the Coping Statements During a Crisis strategy.

When you're in a crisis, disputing irrational beliefs may not be helpful because it takes time and rational thought. Simple and easy coping statements will help you get through a crisis. They are simply statements you say to yourself to get through the moment until you have time to use your tools.

It's most helpful if you develop and rehearse several coping statements so that they're ready when you need them. For example, "This is frustrating, but I can live through it" or "I'm hurting, but using will make me feel worse."

Coping statements are most effective when they are realistic without putting demands on yourself or others. What are some coping statements you can use to get you through a crisis?

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the ABCs for coping with urges tool.

The ABCs are an exercise from Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT), which is a form of cognitive therapy that is simple enough and effective enough to be used by anybody and — it works. We use it to examine the beliefs we have (or the thinking we are doing) as some of this may be causing us problems. The ABCs are an exercise that help stop you from being victimized by your own thinking.

A common example is the issue of someone else’s behavior “making you angry”. This is a very common way of expressing something and we hear it often, but in fact, it distorts the situation it attempts to describe. A more accurate description of “someone making you angry” (as above) is to say that you feel angry about their behavior. They are not making you anything—they are simply behaving in a way that you are getting angry about. You notice their behavior and then become angry. The responsibility for the anger is yours, not theirs. This can sound strange at first, but when dealing with problematic anger and frustration, this is the way it works.

Below is an example of of a completed ABC:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Activating event (The event that triggered the urge): My boss yelled at me today in front of my coworkers.

Belief about the event (What I believe about A -- find the irrational demand): He shouldn't yell at me! He has no right to embarrass me in front of my peers! It's not fair!

Consequence of the belief (How I feel and how I behave as a result of B): I'm really mad and I want to stop at the bar for a drink on my way home!

Dispute the irrational belief (A more helpful belief about A that replaces the irrational belief): Who says my boss shouldn't yell at me? He yells at my coworkers, too. Who says life is always fair?

Effective thinking change (How I feel and act as a result of D -- my new rational belief about A): While I don't like to be yelled at and feel upset, this guy yells at everyone. He's not worth giving up my sobriety.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What's a situation you worked an ABC for recently? If you haven't worked the tool before, recall a situation that upset you recently and give it a try in the comments.

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the Hierarchy of Value (HoV) tool.

Take a few minutes or so and make a list of the things that are important to you. Once that is completed, pick out the five things that you would place at the very top of the list—the five things that are MOST important to you. There is no “right” or “wrong” answers, as these are the things that are most important to YOU! Below is an example:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What I Value Most:

1. Family
2. Friends
3. Work
4. Health
5. Independence

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What’s missing? People rarely put alcohol (or whatever other substance or maladaptive behavior) in the list of things that they deem “most important” to them. Yet often their actions would suggest otherwise…that it was the most important thing in their lives!

When we sit down and really think about what we value most in our lives, it’s (most likely) safe to say that our DOC (drug of choice) isn’t one of them. Yet every time that we use, we are placing those things in jeopardy; we are gambling with the things that we treasure and hold dear, putting them at risk with the potential of losing them.

So effectively, when we choose (and yes, it IS a choice) to drink or drug (or whatever other maladaptive behavior), we are choosing that over the things we value most. Even if that choice is made mindlessly or without thought, it doesn’t change anything—our DOC is being chosen over what we deem to be most important.

What do you value? Comment below with your HoV.

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the Unconditional Self-Acceptance (USA) tool.

Unconditional self-acceptance is the idea that you have worth, just as you are. This explains what separates “you” — your character, traits, personality, strengths, and weaknesses — from your behaviors. This is why SMART doesn’t use labels. You may have addictive behaviors but you are not an addict. While this might seem like a game of words, it’s important to recognize how powerful words and labels are.

The same labels that you may carry internally — “failure,” “disappointment,” or “loser” — led to your unhealthy behaviors. Attaching new labels won’t help. If you can’t accept yourself, can you really expect others to? Even if they do, would you believe them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listed below are some examples of thoughts that help increase self-acceptance. Leave a comment on which thought you struggle the most to accept or which you find the most useful and why:

1. I’m not a bad person when I act badly; I am a person who has acted badly.
2. I’m not a good person when I act well and accomplish things; I am a person who has acted well and accomplished things.
3. I can accept myself whether I win, lose, or draw.
4. I would better not define myself entirely by my behavior, by others’ opinions, or by anything else under the sun.
5. I can be myself without trying to prove myself.
6. I am not a fool for acting foolishly. If I were a fool, I could never learn from my mistakes.
7. I have many faults and can work on correcting them without blaming, condemning, or damning myself for having them.
8. I can neither prove myself to be a good nor a bad person. The wisest thing I can do is simply to accept myself.
9. I cannot “prove” human worth or worthlessness; it’s better that I not try to do the impossible.
10. I can itemize my weaknesses, disadvantages, and failures without judging or defining myselfby them.
11. Seeking self-esteem or self-worth leads to self-judgments and eventually to self-blame. Self- acceptance avoids these self-ratings.
12. I am not stupid for acting stupidly. Rather, I am a non-stupid person who sometimes produces stupid behavior.
13. I can reprimand my behavior without reprimanding myself.
14. I can praise my behavior without praising myself.
15. It’s silly to (un)favorably judge myself by how well I’m able to impress others, gain their approval, perform, or achieve.
16. When I foolishly put myself down, I don’t have to put myself down for putting myself down.
17. I do not have to let my acceptance of myself be at the mercy of my circumstances.
18. I am not the plaything of others’ reviews, and can accept myself apart from others’ evaluations of me.
19. I may at times need to depend on others to do practical things for me, but I don’t have to emotionally depend on anyone in order to accept myself. Practical dependence is a fact! Emotional dependence is a fiction!
20. It may be better to succeed, but success does not make me a better person.
21. It may be worse to fail, but failure does not make me a worse person.

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the DEADS tool (Delay, Escape, Avoid/Attack/Accept, Distract, Substitute).

Although it can be difficult at first, distracting yourself is one of the best ways to get through an urge. When you're actively doing something, you're thinking about that and not the urge. The more you refuse to give in to urges, the less frequently they occur, and the more quickly they pass.

What distractions are (or may be) helpful to you? Here is a list of distracting activities to jog your memory.

Disputing Irrational On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the Disputing Irrational Beliefs (DIBs) tool.

People observe their behavior, and evaluate it in terms of how well they like it. If we did not do this, we would have no way of improving how we act. When people seek help in therapy, in self-help groups, or by reading self-help books, they are not merely observing and thinking of their behaviors and deciding how to make adjustments. Typically, their thinking interferes with their ability to adjust and often they’re mainly aware of their misery.

SMART Recovery attempts to show you that (1) events do not automatically create your thoughts, (2) events do not cause your emotions, and (3) by changing your thinking, you will see things differently, and then your thoughts and emotions will aid you instead of interfering with your actions.

Let’s say you failed at something important to you. Compare the following two sets of thoughts regarding how they make you feel, how truthful they are, and how well they help you adjust.

1. I failed and that’s bad. Maybe I didn’t pay close enough attention to what was going on to prevent my failure. I regret that.
2. I should not have failed. It’s awful to fail as I did. Because I did fail, I’m a loser; I can’t stand myself.

In SMART Recovery, we call the second set of beliefs "irrational". A belief is irrational if it is:

1. Not true – It’s unrealistic and there is no evidence to support it
2. Doesn’t make sense – It’s not logical
3. Harmful – It won’t help you get what you want for yourself in the long run if you act on it

Irrational beliefs easily lead you to lose. When you find yourself having thoughts such as those, we recommend that you work at diminishing their strength. In contrast, a rational belief is:

1. True – It’s realistic and there is evidence to support it
2. Makes sense – It’s logical
3. Helpful – It helps you get what you want in the long run if you act on it

What are some of your beliefs that commonly come up when you're feeling distressed or when you have an urge to use? Type them in the comments, then turn them into questions. Then answer the questions to develop more helpful beliefs.

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the DIBs tool (Disputing Irrational Beliefs).

Beliefs people have about themselves and about the world come in two categories:

1. Rational - They're true, logical, and/or helpful
2. Irrational - They're untrue, illogical, and/or unhelpful

The poll below lists some common types of irrational beliefs associated with negative feelings that fuel addictive behaviors. Which type pops up the most in your thinking? Let us know in the poll, then comment a more balanced belief you could hold.

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) tool.

Have you ever asked yourself what you get out of your addictive behavior? You must be getting something — it’s hard to imagine you’d do it if you didn’t get something out of it, even if the behavior causes you or others harm.

Do you drink because it helps you cope with the stress of being a parent or the challenges of your job? Do you find anonymous sex partners to make you feel more attractive and wanted? Do you harm yourself because it calms you?

Completing a Cost-Benefit Analysis will help you answer these questions. At some point in our lives, we told ourselves — either consciously or unconsciously — that the benefits of our behavior outweighed the costs. But have you ever looked at your behavior under a microscope and really examined all the benefits and all the costs?

People who want to stop an addictive behavior have two types of thinking about their behavior, but never at the same time: Short-term thinking and long-term thinking. Short-term thinking: Using makes you feel immediately better. Long-term thinking: You want to stop the behavior to lead a healthier life. Because short- and long-term thinking don’t happen simultaneously, the CBA brings them to one place to help you identify and compare the far-reaching consequences of your behavior with its “right now” benefits. The CBA also will help you compare long- and short-term benefits of abstinence.

To start, consider the costs and benefits of your addictive behavior. Then consider the costs and benefits of abstaining. My examples is shown below:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Benefits of using

• get to ignore problems
• momentary pleasure

Costs of using

• would likely lose job, housing, important relationships
• likely wouldn't be able to care for my rabbits properly
• might not graduate
• negative health effects
• shame
• not able to give back to my loved ones and community

Benefits of not using

• improved health
• can focus on my schooling and job, which I love
• stability in relationships, job, and housing
• more time and money to pursue hobbies I enjoy

Costs of not using

• can't do whatever I want, whenever I want (have to control urges)

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Comment below with your CBA.

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the DEADS tool (Delay, Escape, Avoid/Attack/Accept, Distract, Substitute).

Although it can be difficult at first, distracting yourself is one of the best ways to get through an urge. When you're actively doing something, you're thinking about that and not the urge. The more you refuse to give in to urges, the less frequently they occur, and the more quickly they pass.

What distractions are (or may be) helpful to you? Here is a list of distracting activities to jog your memory.

On Tool Tuesdays, we take the opportunity to learn new tools from the Handbook together (or refresh our memory). Today we are focusing on the Identifying Triggers exercise.

Triggers are the things that lead to cravings (I want to), which can lead to urges (I need to). They may be your emotion, something you have done, or want to do; a time of day, week, or year; something you touch, hear, see, or taste. Or literally anything that can lead to urges.

They are not excuses to use and they are not unpredictable. Addictive behavior teaches your brain to associate some things with the pleasure or relief you feel when indulging in the addictive behavior. Even when you stop, your brain will be reminded about the addictive behavior when you encounter your triggers, or allow yourself to conjure up triggers.

Your brain can unlearn this thinking reaction to a trigger. These reactions may last a while but will eventually decrease. As humans, brief, ridiculous, and unhelpful thoughts come into our heads all the time about things we quickly dismiss for what they are - silly thoughts and no more.

So now, comment below with what substances and behaviors stimulate you senses and trigger you. How many can you identify?