Get addicted to something healthier. Force new patterns until they become the routine instead of your old addiction. You can get addicted to pretty much anything. Then take the time to observe how the addiction works, and get used to denying it.
But not too much or you’ll destroy your drive to do anything at all. Most people are addicted to some degree but they don’t call it addiction because they are not addicted to things that are traditionally recognized as addictive. You can even get addicted to the duties of being a parent - helicopter parents. In some ways, being addicted to something recognized as addictive is huge head start on breaking down the addiction, because if you are addicted to something normally considered good then it is much harder to realize that you could be causing harm.
Now, one of the obstacles is that addiction has a dual-purpose as a coping mechanism. It is easy to get addicted to healthy things like exercise and socializing when living a life of great privilege - but if you are compensating for living a life of struggle, then the traditional addictions can be excellent for blunting the trauma (terror management theory): If you’re a helicopter parent, then you’re probably caring for your kid(s) and their college fund(s) rather than smoking weed to suppress the realization that you’re never going to retire and will die in the climate wars.
r/collapse (forgive me but I have reasons for keeping tabs) recently had a post about something like 73% of US teens using drugs or alcohol to relieve stress. You’re answer partly depends on what is your poison, and why did you pick it? Because sometimes things like weed really aren’t a bad compromise while you work on changing your circumstances. Just get a dry herb vape (and try to source bud sustainably!).
Get addicted to something healthier. Force new patterns until they become the routine instead of your old addiction. You can get addicted to pretty much anything. Then take the time to observe how the addiction works, and get used to denying it.
But not too much or you’ll destroy your drive to do anything at all. Most people are addicted to some degree but they don’t call it addiction because they are not addicted to things that are traditionally recognized as addictive. You can even get addicted to the duties of being a parent - helicopter parents. In some ways, being addicted to something recognized as addictive is huge head start on breaking down the addiction, because if you are addicted to something normally considered good then it is much harder to realize that you could be causing harm.
Now, one of the obstacles is that addiction has a dual-purpose as a coping mechanism. It is easy to get addicted to healthy things like exercise and socializing when living a life of great privilege - but if you are compensating for living a life of struggle, then the traditional addictions can be excellent for blunting the trauma (terror management theory): If you’re a helicopter parent, then you’re probably caring for your kid(s) and their college fund(s) rather than smoking weed to suppress the realization that you’re never going to retire and will die in the climate wars.
r/collapse (forgive me but I have reasons for keeping tabs) recently had a post about something like 73% of US teens using drugs or alcohol to relieve stress. You’re answer partly depends on what is your poison, and why did you pick it? Because sometimes things like weed really aren’t a bad compromise while you work on changing your circumstances. Just get a dry herb vape (and try to source bud sustainably!).