I had a friend email me a question about a common behavior in the addiction/recovery community and that is the act of trading addictions. Â In other words the alcoholic stops drinking but gets hooked on pills or porn or food or sex or shopping etc… Â This is very dangerous because the new addiction often leads the person trying to straighten out back to his or her drug/addictive behavior of choice. Â So below is my response to my friend’s question about somebody trading addictions:
This is very typical. Â I traded addictions for about 4 years until I finally figured out I needed to stay away from anything that was a damaging addiction. Â The problem with the addict is his or her sobriety is dependent upon his or her ability to be honest with themselves and this takes some time because we live so long in an imaginary world that we don’t know what reality and truth is. Â That is where counseling and 12 Step meetings (AA and NA) are real helpful, but even then it becomes a process of peeling the layers of onion away one LIE at a time. Â Those who work the hardest at their sobriety usually find the truth much quicker and enjoy the sober life much more and I am one of those who worked hard…knowing it only takes one bad decision to throw it all away.
For those of you new to EagleLaunch please note I have an RPH degree (Registered Pharmacist) as well as a TSOHN degree (The School of Hard Knocks) and most of my addiction related comments are derived from my TSOHN degree.
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com RPH, TSOHN
