If we are talking about addiction to a substance. A person uses a substance in order to get out of the present reality… because reality is not colourful enough, or suitable enough, or too difficult, or not to their liking somehow. There are other people who use natural conditions – or seemingly natural conditions – in order to produce the same personal results. For example maybe a person suffering from acute depression or anxiety or some other disorder. They might hold themselves in the room, really reclusing. They are keeping little things together, switching off their wi-fi, they are not watching anything or doing anything, they’re just sitting there and being in that space. They are in actual fact creating an “out” for themselves. They’re doing exactly the same thing as someone using a substance. Escaping.
When a person is escaping the way that we deal with that depends on the individual, but we need to find out what they are running away from in the first place. For example in the case of people suffering from depression, this is generally centered in the past; and the frustration of all their mistakes; and the situation in which they grew up; the influences in their lives; the schools that they went to etc. etc. that depresses them. There’s nothing that they can do about it any longer. So we have ways and means of being able to redress that. And so we find that all of that which seems like negative programming was in fact essential for them to come to this point and be able to have the conversations that are necessary to change.
What is addiction and substance abuse and HOW do we change?
If you’re talking about serious addiction, or you’re talking about acute conditions, like acute anxiety or depression and so on. These are not superficial things, these things run exceptionally deep – they run right into the core of your being – and if you’re not prepared to address the thing from the core of your being there’s just no ways that you’re going to do this. Because you need the cooperation of your mind, your body and your emotions in order for you to do that. And those three vehicles are often so undeveloped, or they are damaged, so those things are not working in unison.
How do we transform? There are prerequisites. Honestly. Open-mindedness. And the Willingness to change. That’s absolutely essential. However the implementation of those things is not easy, this is not easy work. We’re not dealing with quick fix. Because we’re often dealing with something that hasn’t even presented itself yet. It can often be painful. It can be beautiful. There’s a lot of realisation. We’ve seen the change; we see the fundamentals change; we see priorities change; but most importantly we see that we see behaviour change. Because without behavioural change I’m afraid everything will just remain the same until it’s too late.