Men fighting relapse, read this ;
You relapse to porn, alcohol or cigarettes not because you are of weak will. It's because you are denied access to your willpower. Your decision-making is hijacked by the mid-brain and you are left with an emotional, impulsive self that wants just one thing - the next hit.
Addiction is a brain disease of learning and memory. Over time your brain has morphed and changed into something that is always going to pick the substance over you. It is not your friend now. You need to learn how to tame this beast before you befriend it again. Remember this.
You relapse when you restart your old addiction neural circuitry. This is immediate. Just before full-blown relapse, there is the abstinence violation. It is the first hit, the first encounter with a dopamine burst fire. This is the restart of the addiction engine.
There are always 3 stages to a relapse,
1) Emotional relapse, when you are neglecting self-care
2) Mental relapse, Thinking about using and rationalizing it
3) Physical relapse, You finally give in
All of them are your fault. Taking responsibility is crucial for recovery.
1) Emotional relapse, when you are neglecting self-care
2) Mental relapse, Thinking about using and rationalizing it
3) Physical relapse, You finally give in
All of them are your fault. Taking responsibility is crucial for recovery.
You have baseline dopamine levels. It is necessary for reward and pleasure mechanisms. When you indulge in alcohol, porn, nicotine.. gives out lot of dopamine. the brain course corrects by reducing naturally available receptors. This puts you in a loop of cravings & relapse
You relapse because you rely on willpower. Your will is weak. It's untrained. Relying on it is a mistake. You will pay for it with constant relapsing. To beat a habit you need structure, systems and routines. You need to understand yourself, your behaviour and your brain.
You relapse over and over because of sensitization. Repeated exposure & burst fire of dopamine creates increased pathway activity in the dopamine DA and Glutamate GLU circuitry. Over time, you like the drug the same amount but desire it more every day. This will eat you up.
You are vulnerable to relapse due to genetics, environment and changes in your brain. Genetics are out of your hands. You can modulate your environment to eliminate all triggers. The brain changes are what you need to focus on. You can fix this with the right systems in weeks
Stress is the number 1 cause for relapse. Chronic stress triggers your hypothalamus to release CRF (corticotropin-releasing factor) which recreates the exact conditions of a dopamine deficit. This means more cravings and eventually relapse. Managing stress is key to recovery.
To prevent relapse, reduce inflammation. Rats that were bred to drink like alcoholics (equivalent of 1 bottle of vodka per day for a human) cut their voluntary drinking by 80-90% within 48 hours after being injected with human stem cells that reduced brain inflammation
Your frontal cortex is your conscious brain. Your self-control & willpower reside here. Morals, ethics.. whatever you need to say NO, exists here. Midbrain is primitive and you have no control over it. ALL of your habits and addictions directly work by stimulating the mid-brain.
You relapse when you give in to dopamine cravings in the midbrain. This is automatic, you don't have much control. However, what you can do is prevent the midbrain from taking over in the first place. This needs frontal cortex activation to keep your logical mind active
To fight off relapse, Quiet the midbrain and let it sleep. Then keep the frontal cortex awake. You need lifestyle changes, behaviour modifications and practice coping techniques to do this effectively. Quiet the midbrain with abstinence, train frontal cortex with lifestyle change
To prevent relapse you need 3 things a) Get your dopamine levels to baseline & stop cravings b) Keep the frontal cortex, your logical mind active & willpower switched ON c) Awareness training to interrupt your brain from switching over to the emotional midbrain. You need systems.
You need 12 weeks to get your dopamine levels to baseline. 32+ if you are an extreme case. This is how long you need to stay away from the substance. Remember addiction pathways never disappear. You need to learn coping skills that will last you a lifetime
Training your awareness is crucial to recovery. Meditation twice a day is the absolute basic. It will help you identify when you switch over to automatic relapse response. Now you interrupt and deploy a few systems to keep your logical mind intact. This is how you fight relapse.
Relapse is painful. Relapse is draining and all-consuming. You feel nothing but darkness around you. You end up at the bottom of the pit and the long climb up will make you nauseous. It need not be so. With the right understanding, this time you can do better. Systems are key.
If you're a working professional looking to,
> Break any addiction
> Optimize your brain chemistry
> Recover from dopamine abuse
> Beat procrastination & learn focus
> Completely transform your life
Apply on Projectphalanx.co
Guaranteed results or don't pay
> Break any addiction
> Optimize your brain chemistry
> Recover from dopamine abuse
> Beat procrastination & learn focus
> Completely transform your life
Apply on Projectphalanx.co
Guaranteed results or don't pay
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