When we think of addiction our minds usually go to ‘bad’ drugs and alcohol. However, most people have addictions and dependencies for ‘good’ food. The most common are, in no particular order.
Chocolate
Caffeine
Potatoe Chips
Cookies – biscuits
Pizza
Ice cream and dairy including cheese.
French fries – hot chips
Pop corn
Do nuts and cakes and bread.
Soft drinks (soda)
The key culprits or ingredients are usually sugar and salt (sodium), plus carbohydrates and flavors,
As a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist inMandurah, Perth,Singapore and BaliPeter Zapfellaspecializes in working with people who want to break free of their addictions, dependencies, and bad habits.
Quit Addiction
“Congratulations upon your 25 years as a therapist. You helped me with my addiction and my life and I can’t thank you enough.” Kris Viner.
Other addictions and dependency therapies Peter has treated include: cocaine, painkillers, phones, Internet, social media and gaming, credit cards, sexual fetishes, choc milk, fast food, and more.
Quit Addiction
From time-to-time, someone will say they have ‘an addictive personality’. There is no such personality type in psychology however people who are more likely to become addicted include those who: suffer from depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, or schizophrenia, and
Have easy access to the addictive chemical or behavior.
Experience low self-esteem, or have relationship problems.
Live a stressful economic or emotional lifestyle.
Associate with people, or live in a culture where there is a high social acceptance of drug abuse.
Some people may be inclined toward adopting an addiction if they suffer from any of the following mental health conditions:
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
major depressive disorder (MDD)
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
oppositional defiant disorder
separation anxiety disorder
Some people, including some professional therapists, are confused about the difference between addiction, dependency, and habits of behavior.
Habits are just unconscious automatic behaviors. The online web site www.thefreedictionary.com defines habits as a recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. The unconscious creates and maintains habits as an efficient, energy-saving process. They can be changed easily with an overriding conscious effort. The best way is to replace an unwanted negative habit is with a new positive habit. Habits are a component of the structure of addiction, yet they are not in themselves an addiction.
A habit is a regular routine, practice, manner, tradition, custom, convention, rule, or pattern of behavior. A person with a ‘bad habit’ can choose to stop the habitual behavior if they understand how, and with practice, they can replace it with a new positive habit.
Physical dependency is often thought to be the thing that defines addiction, but this is not always necessary or sufficient for a diagnosis of substance dependence. The web site nim.nih.gov defines dependence as a need, which may or may not be related to addiction. It gives the example of a person who may be dependent upon a drug for pain relief, but they are not addicted to the drug. They are dependent upon the chemical for pain relief. A person may be dependent upon herbal sleeping pills to achieve sound sleep, yet they are not physically addicted to the herbs. Physical dependence is the physical bodies adaptation to a particular chemical. If a person abruptly stops using a chemical or drug: the body, and perhaps the unconscious mind may create withdrawals. These withdrawals may be psychological rather than physical.
Cold-turkey is often used to describe the sudden cessation use of a chemical. Symptoms may vary from headaches, mild discomfort, anger, insomnia, fatigue, diarrhea, anxiety, and sweating. Some of these symptoms are generally the opposite of the chemicals direct effect on the body. Depending on the length of time a chemical takes to leave the bloodstream elimination half-life, withdrawal symptoms can appear within a few hours to several days after discontinuation and may also occur as cravings.
Cravings are the strong desire to obtain and use a drug or other substance, similar to one might experience for food through hunger.
Addiction: Overcoming Addiction. A common-sense approach by Michael Hardiman, defines an addiction as: A condition whereby an individual regularly takes a substance, or acts in a particular way, in response to a strong and sometimes overwhelming desire to do so; and that in the absence of so doing, he will experience negative feelings or actual illness. By taking the substance or carrying out the behavior, the addict causes harm to himself or to others.
Dependency is often used in an interchangeable way with addition. There is a lot of confusion, even among therapists.
Addiction Monitor
Like it, Want it, Need it, Crave it, Depend upon it.
The signs and symptoms of addiction vary from one individual to another, the substance they are addicted to, their family history, and personal circumstances. These are the main features:
The person uses the substance and cannot stop with at least one serious attempt.
They experience withdrawal symptoms when levels of that chemical go below a certain level (based upon the half-life period). The patient has physical and mood-related symptoms. There are cravings, bouts of moodiness, bad temper, poor focus, anxiety, a feeling of being depressed, frustration, anger, bitterness, and resentment. There can be bouts of aggression and violence too.
There may suddenly be increased appetite. Insomnia is a common symptom of withdrawal. In some cases, the individual may have constipation or diarrhea. With some chemicals, withdrawal can trigger violence, trembling, seizures, hallucinations, and sweats.
Addiction continues despite health problem awareness. The individual continues taking the substance regularly, even though they have developed illnesses linked to it. For example, a smoker may continue smoking even after a lung or heart condition develops. Some smokers are known to continue to smoke until they die because they smoked.
Social and/or recreational sacrifices. Some activities are given up because of an addiction. For example, an alcoholic may turn down an invitation to go camping or spend a day out on a boat if no alcohol is available. A smoker may decide not to meet up with friends in a smoke- free venue.
Maintaining a good supply. People who are addicted to a substance will always make sure they have a good supply of it, even if they do not have enough money for basic needs. Sacrifices may be made in the house budget to make sure the chemical is available.
Taking risks. In some cases, the addicted individual may take risks to make sure he/she can obtain his/her substance, such as stealing or trading sex for money/drugs.
Dealing with problems. An addicted person commonly feels they need their drug to deal with their life challenges.
An addicted person may spend more and more time and energy focusing on accessing their drug of dependence.
Secrecy and solitude. In many cases, the addict may take their substance alone, and in secret.
A significant number of people who are addicted to a substance are in denial. They are not aware (or refuse to acknowledge to themselves) that they have a problem.
Excess consumption. In some addictions, the addict consumes it to excess. The consequence can be blackouts (cannot remember chunks of time) or physical symptoms, such as a sore throat and bad persistent cough (heavy smokers).
Dropping hobbies and social activities. As the addiction progresses the individual may stop doing things he/she used to enjoy. This may even be the case with smokers who find they cannot physically cope with taking part in their favorite sport.
Hidden stashes. The addicted individual may have small stocks of their substance hidden away in different parts of the house or car; often in unlikely places.
Taking an initial large dose. The addict may use a large dose to ‘get high’, then follow-up later with smaller doses to keep it going.
Problems with the law. This is more a characteristic of illicit addictions rather than legal. This may be in order to get hold of money to acquire the substance they break the law.
Financial difficulties. If the substance is expensive, the addicted individual may sacrifice a lot to make sure its supply is secured.
Relationship problems. These are more common in drug/alcohol addiction, where the addict is more committed to their drug of addiction than their family and work.
Family history. Anybody who has a close relative with an addiction problem has a higher risk of eventually experiencing an addiction themselves.
Alcoholics are six times more likely than non-alcoholics to have blood relatives who are alcohol dependent. Researchers from the Universidad de Granada, Spain, in a study revealed that the lack of endorphin is hereditary, and thus there is a genetic predisposition to become addicted to alcohol.
According to the Mayo Clinic, USA, males are twice as likely as females to have problems with drugs.
Having a mental illness/condition. People with depression, ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), and several other mental conditions/illnesses have a higher risk of eventually becoming addicted to drugs.
Peer pressure. Trying to conform with other members of a group and gain acceptance can encourage people to take up the use of potentially addictive substances, and eventually become addicted to them. Peer pressure is an especially strong factor for young people aged between 14 and 24.
Family behavior. Young people who do not have a strong attachment to their parents and siblings have a higher risk of becoming addicted, compared to people with strong family attachments.
Being alone and feeling lonely can lead to the consumption of substances as a way of coping; resulting in a higher risk of addiction.
The nature of the substance. Some substances, such as crack, heroin or cocaine can bring about addiction more rapidly than others. For example, if a group of people were to take crack every day for six months, and another identical group of people were to drink alcohol every day for the same period, the number of crack addicts at the end of the six months would be a lot higher than the number of alcoholics. For some people, trying a substance even once can be enough to spark an addiction. Crack, also known as crack cocaine or rock, is a freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked.
Method of use. Injecting a drug straight into the veins is likely to be more addicting than smoking or snorting it, which is more addicting than swallowing it, which is more addicting than a transdermal patch or suppository of the same substance.
Age when substance was first consumed. Studies of alcoholism have shown that people who start consuming earlier in life have a higher risk of eventually becoming addicted, than those who started later. The human brain does not reach full maturity until the mid-twenties. For this reason, alcohol and drugs may be more addicting when used regularly, for young people.
If a person’s stress levels are high there is a greater chance a substance may be used in an attempt to blank out the upheaval. Some stress hormones are linked to drugs and alcohol.
How the body metabolizes (processes) the substance. In cases of alcohol, for example, individuals who need a higher dose to achieve an effect have a higher risk of eventually becoming addicted. For a person to overcome any addition they must first be willing to do whatever it takes to change, for a change to take place. In other words, there has to be a clear intent to succeed before an addiction can be overcome. People must have a degree of motivation; otherwise, they will not make a decent effort to quit. People must have the personal discipline to stick to their quit program, whatever it may be. They must have the self-confidence to believe in themselves, and their ability to beat the addiction. Without all of these qualities, they may as well remain addicted, because no quit method can work for them.
You need never suffer from the debilitating effects of addiction again, there is a better way.
Peter Zapfella has created a range of specific therapies, using Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), the Emotional Alignment Technique, and advanced hypnotherapy methods in Mandurah, Perth, Singapore and Balito overcome the root cause of addiction and dependency in just one session. He brings with him more than 28 years of passionate experience and thousands of past successful and happy clients.
……………………………..Peter Zapfella – Changing Lives For The Better
Peter Zapfella’s personal pledge: if you fail to quit your addiction or dependency in one session, if you relapse – whether it is one hour, one day, one week, one month or even one year following your original session, he will
Changing Lives For The Better
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