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NLP and Hypnotherapy can achieve rapid and long term change with most bad habits...
At What Point Does Recreational Use of Marijuana Become an Addiction?
In this article I want to give you a different perspective on addictions and how you can use this understanding to help yourself and others make some positive changes. To start with there are two categories of addictions. There are those that work in your favour such as having an addition to a sporting activity like reading, studying for a qualification, surfing, football, dancing, etc. And if you have ever surfed then you will understand what I mean. When a surfer comes in from a good surf you can see the adrenaline look in their eyes - and if there is no surf for a few days – I tell you – surfers can go through extreme withdrawal symptoms – which is why it is not unusual for big wave surfers to become addicted to hard drugs.
Some people can also have an addiction to performing live on stage in front of an audience. Just think of the comedian Robin Williams. His style of performance compelled him to be spontaneous and put on a fantastic performance, each and every time that he went on stage. Any activity that is a challenge – that is a high risk and gets you into a flow state – the zone – is going to provoke the brain to produce highly addictive neurochemicals into your blood stream. And that includes those people who negotiate million dollar and billion dollar business deals. But it does not have to be extreme activities – it can be any activity which is a stretch for you as this will cause the brain to utilise the same neurological pathways.
And of course, most people at sometime in their life are addicted to sex. Lust is really just another word for sex addiction. The words that people use to describe the reasons why they are so highly motivated to engage in an activity may differ but all of us to some degree are addicts. Don’t believe me? Then just try not checking your mobile phone or social media account for a couple of days and you will begin to understand what I mean. Why do you think the mobile phone was created in such a way that you have to constantly tap and stroke the screen? This is much the same way that scientists had rats tap a bar so that they could be rewarded with a grain of food. And of course most social media platforms have you click a like or dislike button after assessing your emotional state.
Addictions are only a problem when they negatively impact a person’s life. And in saying that – it is only when the person actually has the realisation that the behaviour is having a negative impact upon themselves or other that they realise that something needs to change. For example, many people can spend an inordinate amount of time and money drinking alcohol, using drugs, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, gambling, overeating etc and yet not realise they have a problem. Too often they will make excuses for their behaviour such as saying that food cravings have a neurological basis or is the result of genetics.
Even though millions of people have an addiction to sugar, from my observations most will do almost anything else to try and lose weight except for cutting out the sugary foods. If you don’t think you are a sugar addict then try an experiment – just try cutting out all sugary foods and sweet foods for a week. Those people who are addicted to sugar won’t even try the experiment – coming us with dozens of reasons why they don’t need to make any changes. If you have already changed your diet and avoid sugar then a high five to you – you are one of the few who made a step in the right direction.
In my experience as an NLP Hypnotherapist people smoke cigarettes and marijuana, drink alcohol, gamble, over eat, binge on junk food etc because they are trying to deal with a negative emotion like boredom, loneliness, stress or anxiety – and on the other hand they are trying to bring in a positive state like confidence and relaxation. At other times they may be trying to give themselves something like love or nurturance. When they try and stop the behaviour they are left with the negative feelings so they go back to the behaviour.
The solution is the map out the structure and the process of how the person does the addictive behaviour – clear the underlying negative emotions using NLP and then build a communication channel with the unconscious mind using a simple hypnotic technique – and then invite the unconscious mind to stop the negative behaviour and access and mobile inner resources. And this is how I have consistently been able to help people resolve their addictive behaviour, sometimes in a matter of a few hours. Author: Abby Eagle (NLP Hypnotherapy Gold Coast Australia)
