The Cycle of Addiction

Education and therapy are also critical for understanding thought patterns and the cycle of mental addiction. The cycle of addiction starts with an emotional trigger—a feeling, thought, or memory that’s often rooted in past pain or trauma. Ultimately, what’s fueling the cycle of addiction is the urge to suppress or shut down those unpleasant emotions or thoughts before or when they arise. They will continue to use their drug of choice regardless of the consequences. Addicts typically experience changes in their brain that can be long-lasting, and even permanent in some cases.

Root Causes of Relationship Addiction

Navigating this path requires courage, support, and an understanding of the processes involved in breaking free from addiction’s hold. Having people who understand and care about you can help you stay strong. They can offer encouragement when things get tough and celebrate your successes with you. A good support system can help you through addiction treatment and prevent relapse.

Tolerance and Dependence

• One major impact of addiction on the brain is the alteration of the reward system.
• By identifying the phases of addiction, it becomes possible to recognize the pattern and work toward a lifestyle that exists beyond the stages of addiction.
• As your use increases, you’ll grow more tolerant to the substance1 and its pleasurable effects.
• We’ve talked about the addiction cycle, how it gets hold of us, and most importantly, how to break free.

When an addict is emotionally triggered, they go into defense mode. They want to protect themselves from something unpleasant by avoiding it. Over time, their mind and body have learned that using drugs or alcohol is the best way to turn off an unpleasant thought or feeling. Based on that learned behavior, emotional triggers can quickly morph into an overwhelming craving to use drugs or alcohol. Relapse rates average about 50%, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Use Of Supportive Coping Skills

Because this stage of addiction also worsens the overall quality of life due to alcohol or drug dependency, mental health often worsens at this stage as well. It can become harder to hold a steady job, which can create problems in all facets of life. Meditation effectively breaks your addiction cycle because it reinforces cognitive behavioral therapy that helps you shake off an addictive behavior.

Gilmore Health Newsletter

Understanding how a simple act can lead to a catastrophic outcome requires us to examine the stages that lead to addiction. There, we can find complex processes beneath the surface contributing how to break addiction cycle to addiction. This process is called the ‘addiction cycle,’ where a seemingly harmless habit can turn into a harmful dependence and eventually lead to chronic addiction. When we’re repeatedly exposed to our pleasure-producing stimuli, our brains adjust and, eventually, we need more and more just to feel “normal,” or not in pain. That’s called a “dopamine deficit state,” and the cycle that leads us there can actually lead to depression, anxiety, irritability and insomnia.

Benefits of Professional Guidance

By addressing negative thought patterns, CBT encourages healthier responses to stress and temptation. This therapy helps individuals understand their addiction better and develop coping strategies that can replace old, harmful habits. Evidence from therapy sessions shows that many people experience significant improvements in their ability to manage their addiction over time. One major impact of addiction on the brain is the alteration of the reward system.

• Ambrosia was founded in 2007 with a mission to provide truly individualized substance abuse treatment to every person who enters one of our programs.
• With professional help and a strong support system, recovery is achievable.
• When an addict is emotionally triggered, they go into defense mode.
• Those who continue to get the support they need are usually the people who manage to avoid relapsing.
• Drug or alcohol use has led to blackouts, and you want to remember life events.
• Rehabilitation centers today are treating both the mind and body, but they cannot help if they do not know who needs assistance.

If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please contact at Drug or alcohol use has led to blackouts, and you want to remember life events. The addiction has caused you severe financial stress or legal problems. Addiction is damaging your professional life and threatening your ability to make a living. In my experience, the biggest single predictor of whether someone will overcome their addiction is if they act on, and keep acting on, their commitment to be addiction-free.