Are You Ready to Stop the Addiction - What Does it Take to Stop?

Addiction can be to drugs, alcohol, overeating, gambling or even internet usage. We get addicted to something mentally when it appears to ease our pain or promise some new possibility such as getting a windfall of money.

Certain substances can lead to a physical addiction. This includes nicotine addictions, cocaine dependency and an addiction to opiates. When there is a physical addictive issue treatment often involves tapering off the substance or a detox program. A psychological addiction is often an additional component that needs to be addressed.

Psychological addictions usually has an obsessive element. Someone who has a computer addiction finds ways to sneak onto the internet during family functions, at work and during vacations. When people have an addiction to marijuana there can be a lot of calculations on places to smoke at work or school, how to get away from one's family to smoke marijuana and ways to cover up the evidence.

The first step is to recognize there is a problem. Instead of brushing it off by saying that it is just something I like to do or it's a habit, try to analyze if it's taking up a lot of your mental energy and time. How much of your day is planned around this activity or figuring out ways to be able to get back to it? What's it like if you can't get on the internet, smoke marijuana, overeat or get to a casino? Don't forget there are other addictions including shopping sprees, excessive sexual activity and even fitness workouts.

Look at what it seems to offer you. Is it relieving some pain inside you've been carrying for a long time? What do you hope for if get more shoes in a shopping spree or win a jackpot gambling? How will this make you happier?

Examining the promise that the addiction holds is an initial way to get motivated. Will pursuing this over and over again give you what you really want? Are you fed up yet?

Tired of the addiction? Read about Valium Addiction and other articles including Negative Effects of Marijuana.

7 Steps for Creating an Addiction to Success

Humans are creatures of habit. We feel most comfortable settling for "repeat performances" and mediocre results. This is simply because we have a hidden self-image that dictates our lives and does not enjoy the idea of change. If you're able to realize your potential, though, and want to break free from your comfortable and habitual ways of living, develop an addiction to success, and follow these 7 steps:

1) Create a Definition for Success

The first reason people cannot be successful is because they don't have a personal definition for success. Once you create your definition for success, now you have become aware of the path which you must follow in order to create, attain, and maintain success in your life. Such a definition will be different for everyone: maybe you want to strive to be a millionaire; maybe you want to get another job within a month; maybe you want to lose 50 pounds in a year! If you don't have a goal you're working towards, how can you become any more successful in life if you're simply staying in your comfort zone? Remember, though, that success is the progressive realization toward a worthy ideal. Once you've created your "definition for success" (or your goal), realize that moving in the direction required to achieve your goal is success in and of itself.

2) Realize Why You Desire the Changes You Seek

A big motivator in helping you achieve your definition of success is the "why" factor. Why do you want what it is that you want? What is the underlying reason for the burning desire you have to reach your goal? Aspiring to become someone better than you already are is completely natural. We dream about our ideal world as children and should continue to do so as adults. Just make sure you become aware of the reason you want your goal. As well as serving as motivators to help you achieve success, these reasons can help you push through the "tough times."

3) Visualize Your Ideal Lifestyle

Your current results are dictated by the self-image you hold of yourself in your subconscious mind. If you want to permanently change your results, you must change the self-image. If you do not do this, and you simply go about trying to change your results, your self-image will bring you back on course to what it has become accustomed to. To change your self-image in your subconscious mind, you must impress a new, idealistic image upon it to make this become the dominant self-image. One way to do this is to visualize yourself already in possession of what it is you're working toward. Do this exercise at least three times a day, and really feel the feeling of having made it to your goal. This will help motivate you, it will help bring the forces of the universe into harmony with what you want, and most of all, the more you visualize this with emotion, the sooner your old self-image will fade and your new self-image will dominate your subconscious mind, your actions, and your results in life.

4) Take Note of the Changes That Are Needed to Be Made

Before you can begin to make the changes to help you move towards the achievement of your goal, first you must become aware of what changes to make. You must become aware of the differences between your current self and your projected, future self. Once you can realize what needs to change, then you can successfully begin to make the change.

5) Make the Required Changes

Results do not come when action is absent. With the physical changes taking place, this will help re-affirm to your subconscious mind the new self-image you're trying to create. It will also start bringing you different results, and the achievement of such results can be a truly liberating experience for you. You'll know that the work you have done, both in your mind and in the physical world, has paid off for you and that you are well on your way to reaching your ultimate goal.

6) Don't Give Up

At first, you may not experience any new results. Your new self-image is still in the midst of being developed and also, many times, results simply don't come overnight. Put the emotion of faith into everything that you choose to do, and know that you are getting closer and closer toward your goal with every action you take. Many people lose sight and hopes of their goals in this step. They also take failures as end points instead of forces to propel them to keep going. If you seek change, know that it's possible; know that humans can achieve anything they'd like to. You have infinite potential, and continue to explore this potential by never giving up.

7) Notice Results

Results are what most people love to get. When they can see that their hard work has paid off, they soak up the moment. When you start getting the results you want, you know that you're heading in the right direction. Results inspire you to keep going and to improve even more so that you can get even better results. Be happy of your accomplishments and successes, but never stop striving to progress further in life. Your contentment of your current results will only last so long until you end up becoming comfortable with these results.

In order to stay happy, create bold and audacious goals, keep striving to reach your full potential, and create a never-ending addiction to success!

"Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire."

- Arnold H. Glasow

To receive more FREE tips and articles on Goal-Setting, Personal Development, the Law of Attraction, and Much More (AND to get my FREE eBook "10 Shortcuts to Instant Happiness"), click here: http://www.theinevitablechoice.com

Think You Have an Addictive Personality? Think Again

Having an addictive personality is a great way to excuse yourself for having addictive behavior and becoming an addict. So, if you are addicted to drugs, alcohol, compulsive sex, gambling, food etc. -- any one or a combination of impulse control behaviors -- you can excuse yourself by saying that you have an 'addictive personality' -- but there is no excuse. It's merely a label which you can use for keeping dysfunctional behavior. There is no personality label that predestines you to being an addict.

Addictive behavior stems from wanting a temporary escape from any number of emotions -- boredom, anger, frustration -- to name a few. All addictive behaviors start out pleasurable, until the behavior takes control, but no one thinks of that.

Gamblers and food addicts say that once they've reached a certain stage in their behavior, much like a substance abuser, they get into a zone. There is no thinking, good or bad -- nothing -- until they're sick with food, or the money has been spent -- then they crash and feel awful. However, for a short time, they've achieved a temporary break. All of us prefer pleasure to emotional pain -- so if it's gambling, food, compulsive sex or the computer etc., provides a temporary break, be aware of it. Ask yourself, what feelings you're escaping. Discover the triggers that lead you not to cope.

People with these personality traits are more susceptible to developing addictive behavior:

Impulsive Behavior: If you are more impulsive than others, you're more likely to react first and think later.

Anti-social Behavior: When you're angry, you to think negatively, do negative things and will be influenced by negative people. Your thoughts influence your behavior.

Anxiety: When you're anxious, you want relief from that pressure. If you escape stress through food, drugs, video games etc., that's what you'll do to get relief.

Low self-esteem: When you have low self esteem, there is a tendency not to care about yourself and feel incapable of being like others.

Insecurity: Insecurity leads to fear and anxiety, which was discussed above.

Depression: Depression makes you feel worthless and have no purpose.

So would you say that you have an addictive personality? Or would you say that these personality traits could make you more susceptible to developing an addiction?

Awareness is the answer If you or someone you know has these traits, you should be aware of it. But once there is an awareness, there now is no excuse. Learn techniques to to get back on track or get the help you need. Having 'addictive personality' traits should only be a wake-up call. You're more susceptible to developing impulse control behaviors, but it doesn't determine a life of an addict.

Beverley Glazer MA., ICCAC, is a psychotherapist specializing in addictive behaviors: drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, computer, compulsive sex, codependency and relationship issues. She has a busy private office practice and can be reached for consultation, coaching and recovery coaching by phone or on the web. For more information about Bev, check out: http://www.untwist-your-thinking.com/effective-counseling.html. For more on addiction for all impulse control behaviors, check out the website: http://www.untwist-your-thinking.com You can opt-in for a free self help newsletter and also ask her advice for free.

The Emotionally Addictive Personality

Addictive personalities are typically closely related to compulsive behavior. Often, the need to control is at the root of an individual's addiction and this in itself can cause the majority of tension and negative issues within the home.

While the majority of the information available on addictive personalities concentrates primarily on substance abuse, the problem can be far more subtle and less life threatening than drugs or alcohol.

Addictive personalities can manifest themselves in a variety of ways that may not, at first glance, be recognized as such. Whether this addiction is an insatiable need instant gratification, attention, reassurances of love or simply always being placed at the top of the household's priority list, the damage can be as emotionally devastating as any drug or alcohol problem.

In cases of the emotionally addictive personality, those living with this individual may find that they are unendingly challenged to "prove" their love, concern or appreciation for the addicted individual. Calculated emotional tests are often administered by the addictive personality through the creation of crises within the home. One failed "test" and days or weeks of panic and chaos can ensue. This panic and chaos sacrifices the needs of everyone else within the home if left unchecked.

In order to avoid this cycle of behaviors, it is imperative that those living with the addictive personality learn to disengage from these attempts. To engage with the individual does nothing more than escalate the problem, as the tests will continue to become more challenging as long as the addictive personality is receiving the desired results.

Breaking the cycle is an unquestionably painful process. The addictive personality will interpret refusal to participate in these tests as affirmation of their fears that they are not loved, valued or treasured. However, by concentrating on reconditioning them to realize that exaggerated accommodation of their demands is not symbolic with love, it can be a successful process.

In order to do this, one must demonstrate a great deal of patience and empathy. However, neither of these should be confused with surrendering your objective. The addictive personality in your life will panic when his or her methods are no longer yielding the satisfaction they once did. This is to be expected and is by no means an indication that the process is proving to be unsuccessful.

To begin this process, articulate to your loved one that you have made a decision that the drama and chaos must stop now and that a zero tolerance policy for the manipulative behavior is now in effect. Explain to your loved one that your love is unconditional and based on issues that go much deeper than surface actions and accommodating their frivolous demands. Reassure them that "no" is an occasional, but ongoing part of life and should never be interpreted as, "You are not important" or "I don't love you enough to say yes." In fact, point out to them that the very love they so desperately desire requires limits and boundaries. Without these, love is not love, but rather control, manipulation and sometimes even obsession.

By having this initial conversation with the addictive personality in your life, you are laying the groundwork for the next episodes....and they will come. When they do, stay calm, but point out to your loved one that you recognize that he or she is attempting to engage you in another emotional test and that based on your previous conversation, you cannot and will not participate in the process.

The initial response you will receive may very well be a devastating one. The second, third and even fourth times may be just as difficult. However, once your loved one realizes that their previously successful manipulations are no longer reaping the rewards that they once did, their behaviors will begin to change.

With patience and above all, consistency, your relationship with the emotionally addictive personality can become one of mutual satisfaction for both of you. One that frees you from the cycle of "giving in" and "giving up." Your lives together can become that which truly embodies love...where respect, mutual understanding and reciprocity genuinely and truly exist.

The Drug Personality - How to Get Rid of the Addicted Label

Addictive personalities or drug personalities are artificial and added to the individual. How does one end the drug seeking behavior, lying, deception and ingratitude? How does one shed the addicted or alcoholic label for life? An intelligent look at the situation will reveal that drug personalities and the 'addict' or 'alcoholic' labels are artificial -- not natural conditions.

Albert Einstein once said the type of thinking that created the problem is different than the type of thinking that is needed to solve it. Simply, drug & alcohol abusers need to gain new ways of thinking, NEW skills and abilities - and have these skills now resident in themselves, in order to stay clean, sober and happy in their new lives.

Training people to develop new talents and gaining new abilities is the road to independence; it's also the way to end one's addiction.

There are several major approaches to drug and alcohol rehabilitation:


The usual common approach is the traditional medical / counseling method plus 12 step approach. It believes that once you're an addict, you'll always stay an addict and the only way to manage your addiction is through medication, on-going counseling, meetings and some un-spoken miracle as this approach nets less than 22% success.

While sometimes drugs and counseling are necessary, we don't believe addiction is a life sentence. Perhaps the labeling of drug & alcohol abusers as addicts and alcoholics explains why more don't flock to traditional rehab. Drug and alcohol abusers don't want to accept the 'addict' or 'alcoholic' label.

Another more workable approach is the one of improving one's skills and abilities so one is able to live a fulfilling life without the use of drugs or alcohol. Rising above it is the long sought after method - this technique does exist, it's real. They'll need help achieving improvement as this level of ability lies above their current ability.

If you DON'T want your loved one to be dependent on counselors, others or drugs for the rest of their lives, this is the time to throw away those beliefs that say: He or she needs to be dependent on others, because that's probably why many drug & alcohol abusers resist treatment.

The basic question one asks when deciding on a course of action to end an alcohol or drug abusing pattern is: what can be done to change this behavior? The decision follows from the question. I know this is totally simplistic, but this isn't the pattern of question and answer that follows most people's reasoning. Families often look for available programs and then fit their loved one into the system, expecting it will fix them. Sorry, but that's backward.

Support groups and counselors may be crutches. Some support groups actually enforce artificial conditions of dependency, although many of the bonding and right actions taken are beneficial.

What drug & alcohol abusers need are new abilities, skills and confidences to END dependencies on drugs and alcohol and succeed and fulfill their dreams. They need to get rid of their artificial labels and addictive personality.

Would you like to hear how a former drug abuser finally ended his addiction to crack after a dozen different rehab attempts? Listen to his audio testimonial while he shares how to deliver a home intervention.

Subscribe to our free newsletter and get our Latest Discoveries about intervention, what prolongs addiction, how to end addiction and get the help you need, go to: Interview With A Former Addict

Tibor A. Palatinus, CCDC, is the Director of a Drug / Alcohol Detox and Rehab Consultancy which specializes in Referring Clients to Drug-free Detox and Rehab Programs which End Addiction for Life.

PS: See why addicts keep relapsing despite rehab and find out how to prevent relapse. Go to http://www.detox-narconon.org/program/program.php

Some Questions About Alcohol Or Drug Addiction And Some Answers

Alcohol or drug addiction affect more than just the person suffering the addiction. The situation also harms the people who care for the addicted person, such as family, friends... even coworkers are affected. In this article, we hope to offer some helpful information concerning drug addiction through common questions and answers so that you will be informed and able to approach situations in your own life with both sensitivity and realism.

What is drug addiction?

Drug addiction is a physical and mental condition characterized by habitual and uncontrollable drug intake, involving craving and seeking, even despite the negative consequences associated with drug use.

Alcohol or drug addiction is different from alcohol or drug dependence, though. For example, a person who is taking a drug to treat a disease or illness may have trouble functioning without the drug, but the person may see an improvement in the medical condition while taking the drug. They are only dependent, however, because they are not taking the drug compulsively. Persons addicted to a drug or alcohol exhibit compulsive behavior towards the drug, and unlike the medically dependent drug or alcohol user, they are unable to quit the use once the drug or alcohol has performed its intended effect.

What are the most common forms of drug addiction?

Interestingly enough, the most common addictions are to legally available substances.

Alcohol - also known as ethanol - can become addictive, and it is a depressant. The most common forms of alcohol for consumption are beer, wine, and liquor. Most countries have laws regarding the legal consumption of alcohol, such as a minimum age requirement and maximum blood-alcohol level to operate a vehicle.

Nicotine, most often in the form of tobacco in cigarettes and chewing tobacco, is another legal drug. Nicotine is a stimulant and highly addictive. It is also a very difficult substance to stop using once addicted.

Caffeine is also an addictive drug. It too is a stimulant, offering the user a temporary increase in energy. Once addicted to caffeine, however, the caffeine addict must continually consume caffeine, usually from a beverage like coffee, tea, or a caffeinated soda or soft drink, in order to maintain their level of energy. Stopping the use of caffeine may cause the coffee drinker to go through withdrawal, causing headaches or fatigue.

What are some other viewpoints concerning the reason for drug addiction?

More are beginning to think that drug addiction is a form of dysfunctional learning. Much of what people do is based on motivation and reward. Abused drugs or alcohol take over the parts of the brain that are involved in motivation and reward. The drug user is re-educated, erroneously, motivation stimuli and the associated rewards. Drug-associated cues will in it's turn cause the desire to use to flare up in the addicted person. This will lead to unconscious and/or compulsive drug-seeking behavior as well, for example lying, stealing, and even physical violence. The addicted drug user will lose the sense of voluntary control over the use of the drug. The continued use of drugs strengthens the neurological pathways in the brain, and their activation quickens with each use. The quicker the "high" is achieved, the stronger the dysfunctional learning.

Why is drug addiction so difficult to overcome?

The more a person uses an addictive drug, the more difficult it becomes for the person to stop use. Their learning process is problematically reshaped. Drugs also physically change a person, transforming the neuro-chemical makeup in a person's brain. This leads some of us to view addiction as a disease. However, the model that sees drug addiction as a matter of dysfunctional learning helps to explain how learned behaviors can be unlearned. Certainly the more addicted a person is, the more difficult it will be for them to unlearn their addicted behaviors. Abused drugs can change long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) in neuronal circuits involved in the addiction, also adding to the difficulty of overcoming drug addiction. Properly assessing the development of an addicted person's affected learning would increase the potential of more effectively treating the addiction.

What are the some of the chemicals involved in drug addiction?

The CREB protein, a transcription factor activated by cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) immediately after a high, triggers genes that produce proteins such as dynorphin, which cuts off dopamine release and temporarily inhibits the reward circuit. In chronic drug users, a sustained activation of CREB leaves the user feeling depressed and dissatisfied, unable to find pleasure in previously enjoyable activities, often leading to a return to the drug for an additional "fix". It also leads to a short-term tolerance of the substance, necessitating that a greater amount be taken in order to reach the same high. Another transcription factor called delta FosB, is thought to activate genes that evidently counter to the effects of CREB, actually increase the user's sensitivity to the effects of the drug or substance.

David Richards is a publisher of alcoholism articles.

You can go to alcoholism treatment for more.

How to Motivate Someone to Go Through an Addiction Treatment Program

It is really a big task for an addict to come out successfully of an addiction treatment program, but to bring the addict to the addiction treatment center is even tougher. Most addicts deny that they are addicts and hence it becomes difficult for their friends and family members to bring them to suitable treatment programs. In every state in America, the rate of denial among addicts is quite high; about 90% of the addicts refuse to believe that they are addicts. That is the reason why the success rate of such addiction treatment is low. Most people who are with an addiction don't think that they need to undergo such addiction treatments.

If someone you know is with a chemical dependency and you want to bring them to an addiction treatment center, then you will need to plan out an intervention program for them. The intervention program allows you to give moral support to the addicts and encourage them to enter a suitable mode of treatment. These programs are the best guides for addicts who are in the denial phase of their addiction. You can plan such a program with the help of other family members and some friends.

If you are organizing any such intervention program, then it is better to call an intervention specialist to guide you. This specialist will guide you properly about the steps involved in the addiction treatment. This specialist will also motivate the group by giving examples of people who have successfully undergone these treatments and living their lives happily without any addiction. With the help of the intervention specialist, you can make your intervention program more effective. Thus you will be able to motivate the addict for joining the addiction treatment program.

This is how a typical intervention specialist will help the group.

1. The intervention specialist will ask you to form a group of people, especially the family, who are willing to help the patient join addiction treatment. The family members are more willing to give support to the patient and thus it becomes easy for the addict to take a decision. Try to include close friends and neighbors of the addicted person into this group. It is also better to involve the employer of the addicted person in case he or she is working under someone. They can assure the affected person about some incentive in case they can come out of their addiction. You can even call your religious leader so that the person feels comfortable. Try to make this group short, maybe you can involve just four or five people into this group. If you will gather more people, then it might become troublesome, as the addict might feel disoriented.

2. After forming the group, you will need to inform the interventionist about it. It is better to decide the goal of this group beforehand. Your group can either have a goal of just motivating the addict to join the addiction treatment center or helping him or her until complete recovery. It is better to note down the role of each person from the group. The intervention program is a serious activity and each group member should know this. You are doing a great job of making the addict accept his or her illness.

3. The next step after deciding the goals of the intervention program and the role of each member of the group is getting guidance from the interventionist. The interventionist will guide you about the various ways in which you all can motivate the addict. You will be needed to prepare a speech, which you will read in front of the addict to motivate him or her. In this speech you will need to tell the addict about your love for them, also about the fact that the addiction treatment program is not difficult and also about the incentives that he or she will get if with an addiction program. All the group members will prepare their own speech, which will be unique and motivating.

4. Once you are through with writing the speech, the interventionist will check them and make them more effective. If you get any suggestions, do add them in your speech. You and your group members will be asked to rehearse the speech, so as to make it more meaningful and not mere dialogues. You will need to say the lines with correct emotions and your love for the addict should become visible too.

5. After all this, you will decide a day to meet the addict and you will speak with him or her either individually or in a group. If this is done well, there is a great chance that the addict will join the addiction treatment program.

Don't expect that the addict will immediately get motivated and join the addiction treatment. There are chances that your first attempt might go wasted. Be ready for the next meeting too. With patience and persistence you will surely succeed in motivating the addict.

You will find more articles like this informative one on the addiction treatment program by visiting:- http://www.narcoticaddiction.com/colorado

Comfort Food Addiction and Stress Link - How to Create Choices to Have Joy Within Eating

Comfort food addiction is described with these characteristics. Food products that have a high level of sugar, fat and salt and other chemicals that have been process together to enhances and amplify flavors will above normal food levels. Do to the abnormally high levels of sugar, fat and salt and other chemicals the body changes its chemistry to adapt to the affects of digesting these foods which has the affect of physically changing persons chemistry. Once the bodies chemistry has changed which affects emotional and mental association to eating comfort food and relaxation through repeated eating comfort food for through reinforcement of behavior with comfort food the mind learns to relax before it even starts to eat your comfort food and that experience forms mental addicted attachment and behavior.

The way comfort food affects relaxation is by reducing energy within the body, that is created by the affect of changing ones chemistry and the mind identify chemical change as relaxation. Any addiction is mind or mental state, body stress in shoulders and tension in body and spirit energy force between the mind and body which is being supported by their breathing pattern that support addiction. It is the interaction of all three that has to be address to change persons compulsive behavior. The power of personal spirit to affect their emotional, physical and enjoyment reality has to be developed and incorporated otherwise you fight your addiction but do not change your addiction. The ability to enhances ones personal spirit force is directly connected to the power of core/breathing for in order to do it at the highest level the whole torso is engaged in each breath and the mind is conscious (conscious is not thinking but feeling action which lets you think with sense of feeling the body) of the experience during the breath. Clarity here for breath and spirit are connected for its force within and being express with each exhale.

Over time the mind and body will adjust its sense of taste to deal with comfort foods over active taste which has the affect of numbing the tong and mouth to point that a person will find it hard to taste anything else other then process foods. Because of altered taste a person will continually pick process foods over other foods because it's the only time they can taste their food. Other foods that have not been process will seem tasteless thereby not enjoyable to eat. It takes time to recover taste once person stop eating comfort food.

There is mindless eating to consuming comfort food for taste is not the issue but creating a chemical induce emotional relaxed state is. The food is consumed as a person is thinking emotionally and being a alone. Then there are the times being with other people at parties and consuming comfort foods, with its high taste of salt, sugar and fat. One of the biggest times to eat comfort food is during entertainment like watching T.V. The minds focus is not on the eating of food but in conjunction of doing other things emotionally. Comfort foods become relaxing cluing to escape into entertainment while person is mindlessly eating to create a relax mind state. Your creating an emotional reality around your comfort foods that drives the eating so the emotional cluing experience can be recreated. Since eating is an emotional physical experience behavior that has been learned, a person can replace the old with a more dynamic experience around food and emotionally balance their wants with needs by finding ideas and techniques within over all method they create with their relationship with food. Here is rule of life "a person is greater then the some of their behavior", for people have their spirit to work from to create a change if they tap into it with its force that is a positive conscious force.

Over eating comfort food as your thinking or being entertained is common behavior and your 35 pounds or more over weight, your addicted to the chemical emotional change that happens when you eat your choice of comfort foods. To change addiction person has to put their own program together that affects them personally, emotionally and physically, in order to be effective in the long run. Finding a program that works for you is only the beginning part to change your addiction for its the first part. To recover from addictive behavior and thoughts that drive a person, they have to change their emotional physical energy interaction between the mind and body. There is short term gain and long term affects but to be the most affective a person has to create their own program in side them self to change their emotional reality into one that promote positive attitude with joy of doing things. Once your addicted your attitude is centered around the emotions connected to your addiction and there can not be emotional change in person life. Addiction holds your emotional reality and your time in one place by affecting your creative spiritual to develop your emotions over time and being impermanence. Addiction prevents changing and developing a creative range of feeling about life and the creative force of being spiritual being within what your doing for enjoyment.

Developing your program to change your eating habits, there has to be a method that affects your emotional, physical interrelationship reality around food. Eating is an emotional event, just look at all the senses that are engaged when person is working with food so the questions is what type of emotions within the event of eating does a person want to create when they are with food and eating? People create an event with comfort foods and its simple but very sensory for its eaten with your hands or licking with your tong. Example can be seen with cake there are two ways to eat it. One way is on plate and will staged and the other is pick it up and having the feeling of the food in your hand and put it in your mouth. Use of the hands is very powerful emotional connection to comfort food. Here is test of emotional connection of how you eat your food affecting emotional feeling to the food. If you use your hands to eat your comfort food, now put it on plate and use fork to eat it and wait minute between each bite and see what type of emotions is created relating to your comfort food that way. People create emotional values around food so eating is just not simple, so the question is what does person want to create emotionally within food.

Here are suggestions to change the emotional experience relationship in eating comfort foods, do not use your hands but serve it on plate and use fork. To change addiction to comfort food is base on emotional behavioral habits being redirected into and finding other behaviors to consume comfort so you do not repeat the same behavior, the goal is stop repeatable behavior to comfort food so eating it differently each time. Make each time eating comfort food different so the brain has to look at the food and realize what it is doing. Habit is repeatable behavior so changing the way person eats comfort foods does not let the brain become emotionally connected to the food, that is like the addictive emotional state for the person has to change the emotional connection to comfort foods. Changing emotional patterns with comfort foods disrupts the minds emotional connection to the food. The goal here is little behavior pattern change force the mind to be conscious of its action and real decision can be made to eat it or how much to eat and realize the taste of the foods. Varying patterns of thoughts and behavior on how you eat comfort foods breaks emotional patterns behavior to what your eating. when you eating comfort food differently each time you eat it to changes the affects emotionally so it does not let the old emotional pattern bring up the addictive emotional state.

Emotional change is challenging within the struggle of dealing with comfort food addiction and being over weight. It starts with knowledge of what emotional relationship to foods you want to create when eating and knowledge of foods affect on the body to begin. But how to change and how you change your emotional behavior matters to eating, to create the most affective method when changing addiction person has to have clear idea about foods, its function and how to stage events internally with food that promoter enjoyment with food.

To change addiction which is physical repeatable behavior with lot of emotions that affects person emotional state, which the addiction changing stress in shoulders and tension in body with the affect of being relaxed with one self and others. In this program to change addictive comfort food eating, you start off physical then go to mental then back to physical for their is on going interaction between mind and body but its relationship is base on energy flow that affects body feeling and mind emotional thoughts. The starting is with the power of core-breathing action. Now there are many ways to work the core-breathing to affect energy and emotional feeling connection between mind and body for there is not just one way but a person has to find the most affective way that influences their energy feeling flow between mind and body that creates calmness and it can change with each meal. In this program the breath and core is viewed as a reflection of ones emotional reality in situation of life for it supports your emotional reality. Your breathing pattern or how you create your breathing within the torso affects your energy, and ability to feel and physical strength. So starting your change with the power of core breathing is to bring your mind (mindfulness) into your physical body and not into emotional abstractions. This program is about creating choices for a person by affecting your core-breathing relations that give person ability to create calmness between the mind and body so person can redirect their mental focus and emotional energy in to a purpose that benefits them the most.

Purpose in life is undermined when person is addicted and that addiction is the center force of emotional actions. Being emotionally addicted to comfort foods limits a persons spirit to create there internal emotional reality around the natural act of eating. Comfort food limits enjoyment of the act of eating food that helps your body the most and the physical and mental affects of enjoyment of eating food. To change stress you have to change your emotional reality to food, your self and what your doing.

The knowledge of the power of core/breathing to affect addiction to comfort food by giving the mind a feeling of personal physical strength and an enhanced mind and body relationship during eating food. The power within the core/breathing is its ability to change stress in shoulders and tension in body and the affects of energy flow before, during and after eating for enjoyment as an experience to replace other experiences with foods. Replacing comfort food eating experience with eating experience that lets person be more powerful is the goal. For change should let you be stronger in life and not leave you weaker.

To bring person chemistry back to normal it takes 9 months or more depending on damage to the body and its relationship to the mind from comfort foods. Not having the ability to tastes other foods is part of the force of being addicted to comfort food that will change over time. When person cuts comfort food out of their diet the body will go through chemical changes which affects emotional connection between mind and body. As the body adjusts to the chemical changes the ability to taste food will increase. Part of the change relationship to food is how you eat it and the food setting you create forms experience of enjoyment in eating good food.

To change your addiction and the stress that keeps your addiction is challenging but to change with joy is the most powerful force and holds the greatest benefits to your spirit in life with food. To change with joy is about directing and being within your spirit as you are changing behavior and your emotional attitude by being positive in your projection as you eat and joyfulness with your food. By projecting positive emotional calmness of joy person becomes stronger within their behavioral and their senses are affected in being heighten so the person is calmer with their food. To over come addition is to have new way to emotionally relate to the same old events but with calm joy of being there and seeing anew. So having the same food is not the same because its always different if you let your sense see it and not let the mind tell you it is the same. The senses pick up changes and the mind does not for in addiction the mind rules with its repeatable emotional behavior of thinking and the senses are just their for the ride. So changing addiction is about letting the senses do their job and the mind is open to the new and different feeling information within give event.

People stop addictive behavior but never put their spirit into new behavior so there is internal fight between the addictive spirit behavior and the new behavior that has less emotional connection to mind and body. Changing your spirit force within addiction and redirecting your spirit into new behavior is the challenge of change and the power of joyfulness, is a force of action within change. The power of core/breathing is the foundation of the forces of the spirit and how person uses the core/breathing within eating affects the force of your spirit from within by affecting the ability of the senses to connect to the new behavior.

Finding knowledgeable people about your addiction and how they deal with it, gives information and vision for the future. Addiction is about ones spirit so finding people with knowledge of the spirit that can be used in your own program to live life in the most positive way is comforting. Take responsible for creating your life and you become the creator of your emotional reality.

The power of core/breathing for eating food is about suggestions to be played with but not just done. It is about creating experience with your food and the act of eating to create the most enjoyable experience.

There are three parts, one is before you eat the need to reduce your physical stress feeling and let your mind change its focus to prepare to eat. Bring your mind focus and your emotions into preparing food and enjoying the possible tastes. To over come food addiction it aids a person emotionally if the table is fixed to eat and it looks nice for it set a mood for the food to bring the visual sense into play and tunes the mind for the food. It is about staging an event to bring in all the senses of eating and enjoyment into focus for the mind. The learning to stage even with food, setup emotions to the food and eating. So it is very important to create emotions to the act of staging the event with food for it create mood with the food that affects your senses to eat. The power of core/breathing keeps the mind and body connection during eating so over eating is lesson.

As you're preparing your food the power of core/breathing comes into play to amplify your positive feeling with food by affecting change in your shoulder stress and energy flow feeling of delight in cooking and eating. The more emotionally positive feeling you send to the food as you are working with it the better the taste of the food is going to be.

During eating using the core/breathing is the most natural way to smell the food, relax the body as you're eating and tasting the food. Between each bite of food take moment to relax the shoulders with the power of core/breathing to let the mind feel the experience of the food you just eaten. There are many ways to do core/breathing within cooking, eating and cleaning after wards. Once on the web site is just the beginning exercise development.

After taking your last bite, take an internal enjoyment of the food and your preparation of the food as an experience. To complete the dinning experience cleaning up after your self and making the area clean with smile and feeling the affect of having good food and eating it with enjoyment. Cleaning after your meal can be real enjoyment of what you created and for the most benefit cleaning should be done in silences so your mind has moment to relate to the food that was consumed. This is suggested to be played with not just done for its art to do it affectively. After cleaning up take a moment and see the work you have done and enjoyed doing. The affects of cleaning after yourself after eating is enhancement of the food you had if you create it as experience of enjoyment.

This is an introduction to thinking on how to change addiction using our spirit as a force that advances the idea of enjoyment between mind and body within persons emotional behavior with food. To over come addiction is not one dimensional but having three dimensions that interact together and how a person plays within themselves between the three dimensions, which are mind, body and spirit, and project joy within behavior of eating that will affect the experience of eating that is more creative and dynamic. Creating a emotional experience choice with the food you want to eat and eat requires a conscious mind within their behavior so they can feel the choices and then decide to eat or not and then what emotional connection they want to the food in their hand. To over come addiction, which is emotional behavior, there has to be mindful direction emotional development of joy that replaces the negative emotional affect of comfort food that affect stress and relaxes you. Joy within your behavior is very relaxing and its more dynamic for the person then addictive behavior but it has to be develop through changing your self. There are many ways to develop joy in your every day life and it start from the time you wake up and work with your spirit, which is core/breathing, which affects the stress and tension in muscles from sleeping. Creating a transition time from sleep to being awake and then use your spirit, core/breathing, to affect your physical strength during the day. Then create a transition from day time stress by releasing that energy so the muscles are relaxed as the eyes closed. Your mind is being connected to the body and the body is giving feeling to the mind so their is real strong connection and letting the mind to think.

One of the emotional states that affect the development of joy is calmness that stops addiction in the moment. To create calmness within ones physical and mental state is a transition time for its one of the hardest emotional state to create and hold for any period of time.

Walking before and after meal to change and affect stress energy build up in shoulders give the mind higher sense of the body and the food that was just eaten. Changing your relationship to food from addictive behavior is a conscious directive emotional creative act that adjust the sense anew and your spirit of eating for enjoyment. What emotional thoughts do you want before, during and after you have eaten affects the body and mind for its a creative expression eating is so staging is very important.

It comes down to what do you want to create within your self while you are going through that act of cooking and eating and the development of enjoying your creation ever day that enhance the reality of your impermanence each day that lets person create each day for you work with change.

http://www.bartleyenergycoach.com
Learning to express your spirit with the act of cooking, eating and enjoying the good affect is all learned to feel what your doing. Core/breathing is the beginning to change stress and feel your hands through strength of movement and refine one art of cooking and enjoying. Question how you exhaling when you cook or eat your you emotionally up set which will cause short breath action. Realize your emotional state as you shop for food, cook it and eat it to realize the level of enjoyment and if its low, change is possible. Change your stress and you change your emotional reality. Exercise with low shoulder stress and big range of breathing action.

Can You Ever Cure An Addiction To Alcohol?

Can an alcohol dependency be cured? Any number of high cost private health clinics would like to give a definite answer to this question, but the traditional knowledge of groups such as 'Alcoholics Anonymous' is that an addiction to alcohol can never be cured, but only planned.

Of course no one would renounce that many of the physical problems associated with unnecessary alcoholic substances ingestion can be cured, though some are more easily treated than others.

The liver can renew. Imbalances to the blood and damage to the muscle tissue can both be fixed. Long-term damage to the brain and central nervous system is less responsive to medical treatment. Even then though, no one would want to undervalue the benefits of proper medical care being given to even the most chronic of ailments.

Similarly, medical science can play a very eminent role in helping an alcohol-addicted person get through the period of detoxification that is the mandatory principal step towards bodily health.

While some helping professionals still frown upon the use of sedatives and pain killers during the detox process, few who have seen a person suffering from 'delirium tremens' as an effect of liquor withdrawl would not sympathise with the value of detox medication of some sort.

In all such circumstances though medical science can only treat the warning signs of alcoholic drinks addiction (and alcohol withdrawl). The question is whether the illness itself can ever be cured.

As mentioned above, the traditional wisdom of 'Alcoholics Anonymous' (hereafter 'AA') and its fellow organisations ('Narcotics Anonymous', 'Gamblers Anonymous', etc.) is that such maladys can never be cured, as the the malady is only ever symptomatic of an addictive personality, and that the traits problem is embedded in the addicted person's genetics.

People who participate in AA meetings always begin their time of sharing by introducing themselves by name and then announcing, "I am an alcoholic". They will do this even if they have not touched a drop of alcoholic substances in 50 years, as the self-understanding is that they are now only 'non-drinking alcoholics' who are nonetheless only ever one drink away from returing to a life that is totally controlled by devastating drinking!

Such a perspective helps to make AA members humble and non-judgemental, as they never see themselves as rising above their sisters and brothers whose lives are still being destroyed by their liquor addiction. Such an judgment though also inevitably minimalises the significance of any non-genetic factors leading to alcohol addiction, which, it could be argued, might inhibit the recovery process.

A person who drinks alcoholic drinks regularly and excessively always has a history associated with their drinking problem. While in some cases it might just be a bad habit picked up during the party days of their youth, in a vast number of cases the drinking problem has arisen in response to an experience of dangerous personal tragedy, such as family breakdown, the death of a son or daughter, or some other unbearable crisis that has led the person to drink in order to numb the pain.

In the short term of course this can be a very positive way of dealing with an impossible situation. The problem occurs though when the drinker finds that he or she is no longer able to deal with pain or with life itself without the sedative effect of alcohol to soothe the nerves. This is the essence of the predicament faced by the addicted person, be they addicted to alcoholic substances, drugs, sex, work, or something else. They engage in addictive behaviour in order to lessen the pain.

As one good friend of mine who had suffered from a 20-year addiction said to me, when challenged as to why he kept returning to his addiction again and again even after long periods of abstinance, "I just don't know any other way of dealing with pain".

According to the 'addictive personality' analysis, healing can only begin when the addict acknowledges their helplessness in the face of their dependency and hands over control of their lives to God (or their 'higher power', to use the more commonly accepted term).

The emphasis on 'spiritual healing' predictably finds few adherants in the established medical community, even in the absence of successful alternatives to point to. Some religious communities though have also been critical of the 'personality type' verdict, though obviously not on account of the spiritual dimension.

Some reject the idea that there can be no final healing for the addict. Faithful healing is possible, many believe, though the process of healing may require an extensive working through of the historical factors that contributed to the disease.

If there is no healing for alcoholism, then the only possibility for health lies in controlling addictive behaviour and channeling addictive tendencies towards more creative alternatives. A person who becomes addicted to 'working out' or even addicted to their work is naturally far healthier and generally easier to live with than someone who is addicted to alcoholic drinks or narcotics. As is commonly quipped, it is amazing how quickly AA members become addicted to AA meetings. Indeed, I personally know of one member who has not missed a meeting for a single day in almost 30 years!

Perhaps in the end it is unimportant whether or not an addiction to alcohol can ever technically be 'cured' so long as there is a solution to the problem, and so long as sufficient weight is given to the non-genetic factors that lead to liquor dependency. For while the devestating effects of liquor dependency start to look depressingly similar from one alcohol-dependant person to the next, the history of the same ailment is always unique, and needs to be taken seriously if there is to be any hope of recovery.

I'll never forget one tragic old man who was spending the last part of his life moving between Sydney's park benches and the various shelters available for homeless men. After I got to know him a little through one of the shelters I was working with, I spoke to him about the possibility of going through detox. Unlike almost everyone else I had spoken to, he was fully disinterested, though at the outset he didn't want to tell me why. "Buy why not?", I pleeded him. He told me: "because my an alcohol dependency is the last weapon I have against my family!"

It is surely a tangled web we weave, and Indeed, medical professionals will always be limited in what they are able to do to help alcoholic folk. They can treat the indications but not the disease, though when we entirely understand the history of our alcohol-addicted sisters and brothers, we often find that the illness itself is only a indicator of a deeper pain - one for which there is no simple remedy.

To further investigate the question, 'Can Alcoholism be Cured?', visit http://www.alcoholismaddictiontreatment.org/can-alcoholism-be-cured.php

Addictive Personalities and Addicts

People who venture into the world of sex, drugs and bad rock and roll are often labeled as trouble makers and a waste of air and space. Yes, this is what society does; they judge and adapt a critical sense towards these individuals, leaving many lost ones alone with no sense of direction. What people seldom realize is that drug abuse and other substance abuse is actually a sign of an underlying problem; addictive personality is one who relies on drugs and alcohol to solve their problems.

 

Drug addiction and addictive personalities are two different things, to help individuals suffering from these; we first need to understand the traits and personalities of these bad habits. You need to know that drug abusers are driven by underlying problems they are out of contact with; despite denial or how charming, interesting or enthusiastic the person acts while engaging in automatic or compulsive behavior. Sometimes, when they seem the most content and most satisfied with themselves, they could have a million troubled thoughts running through their mind driving them towards alcoholism and drug abuse.

 

As these people could sometimes get violent, the most effective way to decide exactly how harmful they can be towards themselves and those around them is to gauge their potential value next to their current standard of living or conduct. If their potential success is being held back because of these characteristics, then they've got underlying issues to deal with that won't be solved by drugs, gambling, sex, being control freaks or beating others up.

 

Those who suffer from addictive personality, have the obsessive need to always be in control of everything that revolves around their lives. And when things go out of their control, they tend to experience frantic and compulsive behaviors and turn to gambling, alcohol, drugs and sex to run away from their troubled lives. The best way to help those around us who suffer would be to coax them into joining a rehab program that would not only solve their bad habits but tackle the problem from the main cause by talking to them and slowly get them talking about that underlying problem and the reasons behind the addictions.

For more information about side effects of prescription drugs, including Prednisone side effects, visit http://www.DrugSideEffectsInfo.com.

Addiction Counseling Can Help You Fight Against Your Addiction

'Addiction' basically is the helplessness and failure to have a control on some tendencies in spite of their known dangerous consequences. The person is said to get addicted to some things if he/she experiences strong cravings for the stuff either mentally or physically. In many cases, a person may get addicted towards some things so as to get relief from mental pain and also feel good. Common addictions may include: drinking, drugs, sex, eating, gambling, shopping, internet surfing etc.

A person tends to form these long lasting habits because doing these things repeatedly provides him/her a chance to escape from the other pain or worries. Each one of us has the tendency for developing habits. These addictions may give short term pleasure and relief from worries but the long term effects may be dangerous. In scientific view, the human brain brings into play dopamine which is used for stimulation and motivation and endorphins for the behavior afterwards. Addiction counseling can help the addicted person to face the reality and realize the needs. The addict needs to know that escaping from the problem is not the solution; rather facing the problem is the need of the hour.

Addiction Counselors are there to help addicts (may be a drug addict, alcohol addict etc.) to get rid of the addiction. They help them to get to the root cause of the addiction and also the pattern of the addiction. It may be the case that the group in which the person lives may have had an impact on the addiction he/she has. The addiction counselor may also work on a group, a person or a family as a whole to find the solution to the addiction.

There are specific specialized counselors to deal with different types of addiction. The addicted person should be ready mentally to acknowledge the addiction. This may be a long process and it may also need the help of people associated with him/her. There are a number of addictive counseling approaches such as:

1. Behavioral Therapy: It identifies the negative behavioral patterns and changing them.

2. Integrative Therapy: This approach mixes a range if of psychotherapeutic methods. It provides the counselor with a wider range of options for the treatments of the addicts.

Addiction counseling is very effective as it helps the addict to identify the reason of addiction. It also helps the individual to build a healthy life. The author specializes in guiding people to benefit from CBT as well as find a therapist who can treat problems related to stress, addiction, anger, grief and sex abuse.

Addiction and Personality Disorders in Your Partner - 9 Signs of a Larger Problem

Addictions are an extremely challenging for everyone involved. For the partners of addicts, it is often difficult to feel as if they are truly in a relationship when it lacks balance. They may always feel as if the drug or alcohol wins and takes priority over them, time and time again. They may study addiction and its causes for some insight into their addicted partner's behavior without coming to a clear picture or satisfactory answer.

It may not always be easy to discern exactly what is going on underneath when substance abuse is masking the person's true identity, but there is a possibility that underneath the addiction itself is a more deeply rooted problem in the makeup of the individual personality itself. Personality disorders, including narcissism and sociopath/psychopathy, can sometimes have the effect of driving a compulsive set of behaviors. While only a licensed mental health care professional can diagnose a personality disorder, it is helpful to know what signs to look for if you suspect it. Keeping in mind that addicted people may mimic these symptoms while in the throes of the addiction, and not possess these traits in sobriety, here are 9 signs that the underlying contributor to your partner's addiction could be a personality disorder:

1. Lack of empathy. Your partner may seem callous, self absorbed, and unable to put him or herself in another person's shoes.

2. Lack of guilt or remorse. This may be feigned, or your partner may be upset when caught, but this is not the same thing as having a true guilt response emotionally. Your partner may even feel as if they are entitled to exploit people because only the strong survive and they "deserved" it for being weak.

3. Poor behavioral and impulse control. Of course, this can lead to substance abuse and sexual compulsions, among others. It is likely your partner has a very difficult time delaying gratification on a great many things.

4. Failure to conform to social norms, and follow rules or expectations. Your partner may have a sense that the regular rules do not apply to them as they do to everyone else.

5. A tendency toward violence. Many people who have personality disorders exhibit violent tendencies or angry outbursts.

6. A sense of overinflated self worth. Your partner may view him or herself as special and exaggerate his or her accomplishments. He or she may also expect preferential treatment, behave in a haughty manner, and expect to associate with "special" people or institutions.

7. Compulsive lying, manipulation, and conning. Your partner may lie about anything or everything, to achieve agendas. Many people with personality disorders exhibit a parasitic lifestyle, conning people out of money and goods.

8. Consistent irresponsibility. Your partner may be unable to hold down a job, pay bills on time, or honor other commitments.

9. Fantasies about ideal power, love, and beauty. Your partner may also have extreme black and white thinking, first raising you high on a pedestal, then treating you as if you are worthless.

Are you interested in addressing your life challenges from a holistic standpoint, assessing the physical, emotional, and relationship components?

For a free copy of my ebook, "Natural Methods To Fight Depression", click here: http://www.stoptoxicrelationships.com/gifts-naturalmethodstofightdepression.html

Shannon Cook is a personal growth and relationship expert who has written a number of informative articles and ebooks on the topic of toxic relationships and holistic personal growth, including physical, emotional and relationship health.

Addictive Behavior - A Serious Problem For Relationships

Addictive personalities are hell on anyone who has financial, emotional or social interaction with them. Whether you are a parent, friend, student, teacher, boss, co-worker, employee, patient, counselor, manager or partner, having to be involved with an addict can and will drain you mentally, physically and financially. Having grown up amongst alcoholics, I readily adapted to some of the drinking culture popular in the military and construction industries. It was not until I took a good look around to break away from this kind of life style. I started to note that addictive personality did not stop at boozing. Drugs, gambling and compulsive spending were other activities that brought the same misery with it. Without going into too much detail of lost fortunes, broken homes and crippled health, I will go directly to the source of the problem: the addict themselves.

It takes no genius to figure out the role of alcohol and drugs in street crimes. Alcohol or drugs can incapacitate a victim or make a criminal aggressive or reckless enough to swindle, steal from, assault or injure someone. This is not to be confused with the occasional happy hour drinker or recreational user of drugs. The addict is someone who lives for certain drugs or activities like gambling.

Financial abuse, a soft word for incompetence, lying and theft, often gets directed at those that the addict despises. Addicts will destroy themselves and drag down anyone close by. Most of us know a co-worker who constantly mooches money and favors, but turns ugly towards the same people who help them out.

I heard a saying in the army, "You might trust him with your life, but not your money or your wife." I have known fellow soldiers whom I have worked very closely with and relied on heavily, during training and work. But these same guys I could not trust with money or girl friends. It was often the guys who drank heavily. They might have been at the top of their courses and very high performers during the most visible times, but with booze in hand, they were totally just the opposite.

FINANCIAL ABUSE

Alcoholics and drug addicts can be very extravagant, especially with other people's money. A typical example is the guy who always has to borrow twenty bucks as he is certain to have a "hot date." The situation can never wait. Like a gambler, his big chance to score is now and never later. When you try (and try) to collect, the excuses usually run anywhere from trouble with his or her ex, car payments or so many people owe him money that he can only pay you when those "dead beats" pay up. A favourite excuse is "well, _______owes me twenty, so collect off of him." Another excuse for not paying back is "What? After all of the favors I've done for you? Man, you owe me."

Marriage, family and even a top secret security clearance might mean stability to some people, but it is not the rule. I recall a military guy with both a top secret security clearance and a family, who was in charge of his training course's party fund. At the end of the course, the party fund was empty. Gone.

This goes the same with business. The fraternity brother, army buddy or team mate is always a bad risk if they are a "party-goer." I had an ex-army buddy, who started an entertainment company. If a week passed when he did not brag about his new extravagant lifestyle like $20-a-hole golf games and $200 champagne, I was sure to mark it on my calendar. His company was doing just great, for a while. Then the money ran out, the products stopped selling and trouble started with the securities commission. The stock was worth pennies, partners left and the office closed. No doubt, business is tough. But, I should have clued in to the constant pot smoking, the parties, the over-priced automobile and the domestic problems occurring around that office. One just kind of over-looks some of these behaviors, until it is too late.

Again, the alcoholic or addict must always prove that he is better than someone else. He or she will continually set people up to put them down. Whether it is hanging up the telephone on someone, belittling them in public or physical bullying, it is non-stop.

Here's a typical tactic. The addict will sometimes maneuver a woman to stay over at his place. Whether by keeping her out late, spiking her drink, insisted that they both had too much to drink, etc. Since he did not take advantage of her, he gains trust. Furthermore, he now has her feeling guilty and shamed over sleeping over. He has technically scored points to his own ego by having her over within the first few dates. Now he also has her within his territory, so to speak. He might even brag what a morale giant that he is. This might sound downright weird, but an addict will deliberately put on big displays of their own righteousness. They will rant about other alcoholics and insist that they "don't drink anymore." They constantly remind people of that "fact."

One trait that I have noticed of heavy drinkers, especially in the military, is their habit of working very hard or appearing to, for short periods. They usually will not follow a consistent routine, but tend to slack off and then put on a good show of energy in front of peers or supervisors. I remember a guy in the signals regiment who would drink until sun up. A couple of times during our morning run, he would suddenly sprint to the front of the group and then pass out on the grass. I have to admit, it did provide entertainment for an otherwise boring run.

Alcohol/Drug addiction can also be revealed in over-achievement. The addicted people will work in any trade, from judges to scientists, but a high number tend to be in the fields of acting, construction, military, politics (like that is a surprise) and bureaucracies. Once in a position of power, they can wreck havoc on those around them. (Note: Adolf Hitler had a reputation of being a heavy amphetamine and barbiturate user since the 1920's.)

Alcoholics have severe mood swings. Most violent acts happen between binges when the addicts are experiencing withdrawals. This is to say that a sober alcoholic, even a panhandler can be more violent than when drunk.

Addicts are such good liars because they repress memories of their bad performances and they physically undergo "blackouts." Blackouts can occur while the addict is still totally functional, yet their brains will have no memory of the event. As far as they are concern, they did nothing wrong. This trait can also make the addict, a fall guy for crime. (One such former heavy drinker and petty criminal, David Milgaard, once blacked out in the wrong part of town. Namely, near the area where a nurse had been murdered. Milgaard was found guilty and spent 20 years in jail before new evidence proved otherwise.)

Simple indicators of addicts are:

· Mood swings;

· Financial problems;

· Heavy tobacco, caffeine and sugar consumption;

· Poor eating habits; and

· Constant excuses for being late or off work.

Remember, addicts, like social drinkers, do not start out as criminals. Sometimes they can recognized their problem and work at changing it. Other times they do whatever to keep a supply of alcohol or drugs always on hand, regardless of the cost to those around them.

For information on alcohol addiction read the download: Reduce Your Alcohol Craving

Doug Setter holds a Bachelor's of Food and Nutrition. He has served as a paratrooper and U.N. Peacekeeper, has completed 5 full marathons and climbed Mt. Rainier. He held a welterweight kick-boxing title at age 40. He consults clients in alcohol reduction, stomach-flattening, kick-boxing and nutrition. He is the author of Stomach Flattening, Reduce Your Alcohol Craving and One Less Victim. Visit his website: http://www.2ndwindbodyscience.com

Addictions and Logic

Are you frustrated with a loved ones addiction? Are you beside yourself because you cannot make them see the logic of treatment? Do you fear that your addicted loved one will never be on their feet financially or socially? Why can't they see the logic of being a responsible person in the community? Welcome to addiction.

These fears and thoughts can constantly run through the mind of the person who cares for an addicted child or loved one. You can confront the addiction as western medicine tells us to do. Their family and friends can be gathered and approach the person with all the times that they have worried or frightened them. All the times they have let them down. Soon everyone is in tears, everyone except the person with the problem. You may find that you are all staring at each other with a look of amazement, after all how could someone who creates so much trouble and drama in their life, and yours, seem so unresponsive?

Logic doesn't play a part in the mind of an addicted individual. Ridding themselves of pain, anxiety and running from themselves may be a better picture of what they see. After all, how could their life be harming you, don't you have a life of your own to worry about? You see, in the mind of an addict, you are wasting your time, there is nothing wrong. They are coming from a different perspective then you are, a place where logic does not exist. I'm not suggesting that they never feel bad about their behavior and reality hits pretty hard and fast when they are arrested for an incident involving their addiction. But they might tell you that they just slipped that one time, and got caught and life isn't fair.

Now it is time to turn your logic inward toward yourself. First and foremost, it is time you stopped feeling as if this is a personal vendetta against you. No one is doing anything to you. You are reacting to another persons behavior. The addicted person is just living their lives out as someone with an addiction. There's nothing you say or do that is causing the problem, and there is nothing you can say or do to 'fix' the person. You need to focus on yourself, and look within. Ask yourself what you are gaining by living in a pond of worry?

You are not a worthy adversary to addiction. Your friends are not the people you will get help from. Find an organization, such as Al-Anon, to get some support and advice so can start living your life again. You can control only one person in the world, and that person is you.

I work with alternative healing methods such as Reiki, Quantum Touch?, essential oils, sound healing and the metaphysical properties of stones. If you are interested in learning alternatives to creating a healthier lifestyle check out my blog at http://www.zenergygal.com I am also the artist behind Style in Stone jewelry at http://www.styleinstone.com

Why a Life Coach Was Needed For Addiction Help

Being the author of a book called "Simply Quit Drinking", I have been approached by people with alcohol addiction looking for help. I thought of all the different things I did to quit drinking. The problem was, I realized that all I had to offer was how to stop drinking. Many times the reason people have an addiction to a chemical, alcohol or other drug or behavior, just like me, is because there are deeper issues to address. I had been an alcoholic for reasons of anxiety and depression, which stemmed from even deeper issues.

I discussed how to respond with my husband and Life Coach, Joseph F. Price. I knew I didn't have the skills, knowledge, or techniques, to even begin to be able to help beyond quitting drinking. Life Coaches are trained to be able to listen well and focus in on little clues that hide beneath the surface of a person. Upon reading one example email, Joseph had picked out several important clues that I did not.

A good life coach has a background in human behavior study or personal development. Personal Development, as a field of study, and often referred to as Personal Growth and the learning revolves around improving oneself often by changing the way you think.

Personal Development is the conscious effort to improve on your life perspective and learn ways to grow your mind. When your mind grows with "tools" that you didn't know of or use before, you begin to be able to change your perspective on life or even particular issues or challenges, whether it's in your relationships, career, or other areas.

Why does someone need to actually learn personal development, doesn't it just happen as we grow up? Unfortunately, no, it doesn't naturally come as part of our individual growth by learning to relate to the world around us. Personal Development, and Personal Growth, are actually the way to create the "user's manual" for you. No one else knows you better, and with the right coaching, being the expert on "you" and applying basic personal development, you enable yourself to make your life change to your own plan. Personal Development is about making a commitment to improve yourself.

A personal growth life coach for personal development teaches you ways to identify and adopt empowering habits. They also teach you how to replace negative habits that you don't even know are holding you back. Learning to understand what is getting in the way of your success and overcoming those challenges is paramount. Most important, personal growth coaches teach you how to create an environment around you that supports your purpose.

Here are a couple simple examples. Today, or for a day, remove these words from your vocabulary: try, can't, should. Not to be too funny, but notice that in the sentence prior I didn't say "try to remove"! Now you get the idea? Put that practice to work and find out just a little about Personal Development. If you learn something positive, then learn more with a personal development life coach.

Karen Gregg Price
http://www.ReachingPeak.com
Reaching Peak LLC
karen@reachingpeak.com

Drug Rehab Center - A New Life For Drug Addicted Persons

In the twenty first century, almost every youngster is an extrovert and wants to live life on his own whether or not they are capable of understanding the goods and the bad. The addiction is one of the habits that are popular among younger generation and the intake of drugs is very regular. Drugs are actually illegal, yet are the second most common thing used in the world. It is the only thing that destroys a person to the point of losing their home, family and friends. The addiction is the powerful force in lacking the power to perform and also gives untreated mental and physical pain.

For an addicted person the brain chemistry is actually altered to the point where the unavailability of drug becomes extremely uncomfortable and painful. This compelling force to use addiction become more and more powerful, and also interferes in someone else work, relationships, and health. Wrongly used prescribed drug is just as dangerous as regular drug use.

Today only one thing that can help an addicted person is a drug rehab center. The rehab treatment is given to people from all over the word that helps them to recover from addiction. The rehabs are the most important and difficult decisions for drug-addicted person but it benefits for lifetime and can change the life completely. Drug addiction recovery is possible with the right medical help and social support. Though so many hospitals are giving treatment to the drug addicted persons, yet a rehab center has the perfect ambiance for the treatment of every drug addict. They have a kind of treatment that makes him feel the fresh air again.

Drug rehab center can be double diagnosis oriented. A person with a dual diagnosis that is both drug and alcohol suffers from chemical dependence and has a psychiatric diagnosis such as depression or some kind of disorder. In both the situations, these rehabs will be addressed. In these Drug addiction rehab, one may have various types of psychiatric medications and the opportunity to speak and share your depression with a psychiatrist. A rehab center encourages healing and begins a new chapter in your life. These key attributes of the rehab centers let you familiarize yourself so that you can focus your energy on what matters the most that is getting rid from drugs addiction.

For more information about drug rehab treatment please go to, http://www.oasistropical1.com/

Addictions and Personality Disorders - 9 Signs Your Partner's Addiction May Be a Piece of a Puzzle

Addiction is a painful and difficult experience for everyone involved. If you are the partner of an addict, and wonder why your partner continues to behave in compulsive, callous, and destructive ways, you may have more questions than answers. The truth is there may be many reasons for the problem. An addict may have more issues than just the compulsion to use the substance of choice. A segment of the population is afflicted with a personality disorder like sociopathy/psychopathy. There are several traits that can point to this issue, and addictive behavior may be a part of that bigger picture. While only a licensed mental health professional can diagnose a personality disorder, it can be helpful to know what signs to look for. Keeping in mind that an addict who is actively using can exhibit some of these traits due to the substance abuse, here are 9 signs of sociopathy/psychopathy:

1. Lack of guilt and remorse. Your partner may be sorry to be caught for hurtful behavior, but the true emotional guilt response, the conscience most of us take for granted, is absent. Your partner may even feel as if the victim "asked for it" by being weak.

2. Poor behavioral and impulse control. Your partner may have difficulty delaying gratification, leading to compulsive behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, or sexual compulsivity.

3. A tendency toward boredom and risk taking behaviors. Your partner may do risky things regardless of the potential consequences to self or others.

4. Consistent irresponsibility. Your partner may have difficulty holding a steady job, paying bills on time, or honoring commitments.

5. Failure to conform to social norms. Your partner may feel as if the rules of society do not really apply to him or her and behave accordingly.

6. Manipulation, conning, and compulsive lying. Your partner may lie about anything and everything, and/or fleece others out of what they can get without hesitation.

7. An exaggerated sense of self worth. Your partner may feel a sense of superiority over others. Often this leads to a sense of entitlement and an expectation of preferential treatment.

8. Shallow emotions and charisma. Your partner may have an outward gregariousness and be able to motivate and charm others, but without underlying emotional depth.

9. A tendency toward aggressive behavior, as evidenced by fistfights or other aggression.

Are you interested in addressing your life challenges from a holistic standpoint, assessing the physical, emotional, and relationship components?

For a free copy of my ebook, "Natural Methods To Fight Depression", click here: http://www.stoptoxicrelationships.com/gifts-naturalmethodstofightdepression.html

Shannon Cook is a personal growth and relationship expert who has written a number of informative articles and ebooks on the topic of toxic relationships and holistic personal growth, including physical, emotional and relationship health.

Factors of Drug Addiction - Communication Breakdown

Looking into the circumstances which surround drug addiction it becomes easy to recognize certain patterns. These patterns can then lead us to further our understanding of what is happening to and with the addict. One of the most pronounced and first attributes we find in the drug addicted person is a break-down in their communication. They begin to ignore and avoid communication from various sources.

Mainly:

1. Family and friends

2. People in their environment

3. Themselves.

Let's take a look at these phenomena.

The first area in which communication breaks down is with family and friends. There are several major reasons for this. First and foremost, it is painful to keep disappointing the people they love the most.

All the time they are growing up in the family, they talk of the future and how great it is going to be..."I am going to be a fireman when I am a man!" For girls it is not much different..."I will be a pilot", or, "When I am a grown-up I will buy you a great big house!"

Parents and friends might be the toughest people in the world to disappoint. Gaining approval from them is one of the first goals a kid might have. 'Drug addict' was never on the list of things to be, and it is impossible to hide from the addict the pain the parents or friends feel at seeing what they have become. So the communication breaks down.

People in the environment are also cut off by the drug addict. The addict's actions are reprehensible and they know this whether they admit it or not. So they become sullen and strangers are avoided as well as casual acquaintances. Because they are attempting to hide their activities, everyone becomes a potential threat. So they just retreat into themselves.

In the end, they even cut off communication from themselves. Ever lie to yourself? They are also disappointing themselves, so there are excuses, reasons, excuses and justifications for failures and broken promises they made alone, just to themselves. Soon, the reasons are reinforced and they even start to believe it themselves. This is a painful situation. Just getting out of bed in the morning is tough because the lies start as soon as they look into the mirror.

Well, drugs can kill this pain. Before long, getting drunk or stoned earlier and earlier in the day becomes a necessity. This person is surrounding him or herself with either strangers or drugged-up friends who accept them completely because they themselves are in the same situation.

A drug detox rehab program must address this issue of communication completely if there is to be any real hope of recovery. Bringing the ex-addict back into touch with those around him or her must be part of any successful drug addiction treatment facility.

Not every drug program deals with this communication factor and so a vital part of the addict's recovery is never addressed.

To bring a person truly out of the hole of drug addiction, it is absolutely essential that they learn to communicate and live life in a way that does not require constant hiding and cover-ups.

Tony Bylsma CCDC, is a rehabilitation counselor and drug prevention speaker in Los Angeles

tony@TheRoadOut.org
http://www.TheRoadOut.org

Can Online Counseling for Drug and Alcohol Addiction Problems Be Effective

The answer to the question in the title of this article is: "Yes, but with the need to understand the limits of online help."

Definitions

The words "alcohol dependence" or "addiction" are often used without definition. So, let's first define some terms. As used in this article, alcohol or drug addiction means that a person's alcohol or other drug use has reached the point that the person cannot use without loss of control over use of the substance and/or cannot use without producing adverse consequences in significant life areas. The addicted person has developed a psychological and/or physical dependence upon the substance. An addicted person will continue to use the substance in the face of adverse consequences.

The term alcohol or drug dependence is often used interchangeably with addiction, but here I use the term dependence to mean physical dependence on a substance, meaning that stopping use of the substance will result in withdrawal symptoms. A person can develop dependence on a substance without developing addiction; the best example of this physical dependence would be the person who takes a narcotic analgesic (pain killer such as oxycodone or morphine) as prescribed by a doctor long enough to be physically dependent on the drug, a natural, inevitable consequence of chronic use of such a drug. Under these circumstances, abruptly stopping use of the substance will result in the withdrawal syndrome typical for the class of substance involved. Most persons with addiction (for ex., alcoholism) are NOT physically dependent on their drug and will not experience the full blown physical withdrawal for the substance. They will, however, experience cravings, sleeplessness, and other symptoms caused by their psychological dependence on the drug.

Diagnosis

Alcohol or other drug problems fall within two diagnostic categories: abuse or addiction (as I said, often called dependence). Abuse basically means the person has developed a pattern of use of the substance in the face of adverse consequences in significant life areas (medically, financially, legally, problems in relationships). Addiction is summarized in the first paragraph of this article.

Treatment

Alcoholism and other drug addictions are devastating disorders which negatively impact affected individuals and all who care about them, physically, emotionally and mentally, and spiritually. For persons diagnosed with full blown addiction, I favor an abstinence based treatment model, meaning a model whose basic ultimate (it may take a while to get there) goal is abstinence from use of alcohol or other drugs. This model should include education, cognitive behavioral counseling, and use of Twelve Step (for ex., AA) spiritually based principles. Online addiction treatment can be helpful in itself and/or as part of a comprehensive treatment program that includes traditional face-to-face counseling and other treatment interventions.

Treatment of Severe Addiction

Successful treatment of persons with full blown alcohol or other drug addiction may require a comprehensive treatment program, with services provided by professionals face-to-face. This treatment would be beyond that offered by online addiction treatment. Such a comprehensive program should be staffed by helping professionals from many disciplines. Staff should include physicians to address medical issues such as withdrawal, mental health professionals such as psychiatrists or psychologists, to treat co- or pre-existing psychiatric disorders that may be present, and last but not least, certified, licensed addiction counselors, preferably a significant number of whom are in recovery themselves. Such a Treatment Program should also provide individual and group counseling, educational groups, and, as important as any of the treatments, access to Twelve Step self-help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon and Nar-Anon (for loved ones), and ACOA (Adult Children of Alcoholics), to name but a few.

An evaluation will reveal the extent of the treatment required. This evaluation can be performed online by a qualified addictions counselor.

Online Treatment or Counseling

Online help for persons with full blown addiction problems can be helpful, but the comprehensive programs outlined under Treatment of Severe Addiction may be necessary depending upon the seriousness of the problem. A comprehensive evaluation of the addicted person is needed. Such an evaluation can be done online, leading to recommendations for the appropriate treatment.

Persons who are already involved in any stage (intensive outpatient, continuing care, aftercare) of traditional treatment programs can use online services as a supplement to their treatment and to Twelve Step Program attendance. Persons who have completed traditional treatment can also benefit from these services.

Loved Ones of an Addicted Person

Spouses, lovers, friends, co-workers, parents, brothers, sisters, and sons and daughters, to name a few, can be concerned that the person they care about may have an alcohol or other drug problem. When adult children are concerned about use by a parent, the term "Adult Child of an Alcoholic or Addict" (ACOA) may apply. Persons close to an individual with a drug or alcohol need help for their natural feelings of confusion, hurt, anger, and loneliness. Online services can provide support, education, and recommendations for these concerned persons.

Cautions

Persons with serious emotional or psychiatric conditions (such as, but not limited to, eating disorder, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia), not stabilized through traditional treatment by a qualified mental health professional are not appropriate for the help offered online and should seek help from such professionals before accessing online services. These patients can, when stabilized by appropriate treatment, benefit from online counseling.

Persons who are depressed and thinking of harming themselves or others are also not appropriate for online help and should get help immediately by calling a crisis line, going to the Emergency Room of a hospital, or seeking other immediate help. These patients can, when stabilized by appropriate treatment, also benefit from online counseling

Persons who have a pattern of using addictive substances on a daily or almost daily basis need to access face-to-face evaluation and treatment service providers to address possible medical and other problems associated with withdrawal that may accompany physical dependence, before using online services available here.

Limitations

1. By its nature, internet counseling can be interrupted by technological difficulties beyond the control of either the counselor or the client. Before services are provided, the client will be given suggestions for alternative methods for contacting the counselor should disruptions in the client's service occur (for ex., a public library). The counselor should pledge that should technical difficulties result from his/her personal computer or other internet access, the counselor will have alternative internet access readily available.

2. The visual and auditory cues available during face-to-face counseling are, of course, not available in internet counseling. Therefore, it is vital that both the client and the counselor be diligent in seeking clarification of any communications, as needed.

3. The addictions counselor must at the outset of the counseling relationship help the client to identify local therapists and other treatment providers, including crisis services.

4. The addictions counselor must include safeguards to keep client information confidential and protected from unauthorized access. Client information, including history, diagnosis, treatment recommendations, and progress notes, should be for the counselor's eyes only. No one else must have access to this information. The information should be retained on a safeguarded CD for one year after the counseling relationship has ended, or for a longer or shorter period of time dictated by the client.

Under the circumstances outlined in this article, online counseling of persons with drug or alcohol abuse or addictions can be effective.

In addition to his law degree, Jan Edward Williams has a Master of Science degree in pastoral counseling, and is a licensed clinical alcohol and drug counselor. He has personal and professional experience to aid him in helping persons with alcohol and other drug problems. He is in recovery himself, with over 29 years of continuous sobriety, and has been working in the drug and alcohol field for 27 years. Recently Jan has developed an online drug and alcohol abuse counseling service, called AlcoholDrugSOS Services. This service is aimed at helping persons with drug abuse or addiction problems or alcohol abuse or addiction (alcoholism) problems. His web site is www.alcoholdrugsos.com/, and his e-mail is jwilliams@alcoholdrugsos.com.