Freedom From Addiction - Joe Griffin & Ivan Tyrrell
I have found the book 'Freedom from Addiction by Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell very useful, though clearly I still have some way to go. Below are some passages of text that I have found particularly inspiring and useful. I hope they help you too....
'She was in the grip of black and white thinking, which stops us from seeing that there are many ways to respond to difficult situations. It is the thinking style of what is known as the emotional brain, a primitive part of the brain originally concerned just with danger. Should we fight or should we flee? Should we eat or would it make us sick? When there is danger, we need to act fast, not deliberate over all the possibilities. But when we get overly emotionally aroused and we aren't in any danger, that thinking style stops us from seeing the wider picture.'
'The more passionate and curious people are about life, the greater their vulnerability to addiction, because they are always open to something new and are keen to experience as much as possible, as strongly as they can. But alas, addiction is the cheating high, the quick fix, the blind Alley that leads nowhere, and all that passion and curiosity is wasted.'
'One does not mean one or once when addiction is talking. It means one after the other or again and again!'
'Illicit shopping trips, binges and bouts of gambling, sex or solvent abuse are accompanies by 'downer' doses of guilt'
'Your EXPECTATION is that something really rewarding is going to happen. But we just repeat the same activity over and over and over again! And although it doesn't deliver the reward or satisfaction that is sought, the amount of dopamine that is generated when we crave an addictive activity, deceives us into expecting that we will experience the satisfaction we want, if only we do enough of it.'
'So addiction derives from something very natural, the desire for the high that nature gives us when we master something new. Indeed the more passionate and curious people are about life, the greater their vulnerability to addiction, because they are always open to something new and are keen to experience as much as possible, as strongly as they can. But, alas, addiction is the cheating high, the quick fix, the blind alley that leads nowhere, and all that passion and curiosity is wasted.
We are protected from addiction when our lives are fulfilling. All addiction results from important needs not being met.
People who stop suddenly and successfully are those who have been through the wheel of change and reach the point where they really feel that their addiction is doing them more harm than good, and change their lives so that their needs are met in truly satisfying ways.
Wolfie.... "The irony is that I call it visual meth because after the first time you do it, you''l be spending the rest of your life looking for the same high, to no avail. "
'She was in the grip of black and white thinking, which stops us from seeing that there are many ways to respond to difficult situations. It is the thinking style of what is known as the emotional brain, a primitive part of the brain originally concerned just with danger. Should we fight or should we flee? Should we eat or would it make us sick? When there is danger, we need to act fast, not deliberate over all the possibilities. But when we get overly emotionally aroused and we aren't in any danger, that thinking style stops us from seeing the wider picture.'
'The more passionate and curious people are about life, the greater their vulnerability to addiction, because they are always open to something new and are keen to experience as much as possible, as strongly as they can. But alas, addiction is the cheating high, the quick fix, the blind Alley that leads nowhere, and all that passion and curiosity is wasted.'
'One does not mean one or once when addiction is talking. It means one after the other or again and again!'
'Illicit shopping trips, binges and bouts of gambling, sex or solvent abuse are accompanies by 'downer' doses of guilt'
'Your EXPECTATION is that something really rewarding is going to happen. But we just repeat the same activity over and over and over again! And although it doesn't deliver the reward or satisfaction that is sought, the amount of dopamine that is generated when we crave an addictive activity, deceives us into expecting that we will experience the satisfaction we want, if only we do enough of it.'
'So addiction derives from something very natural, the desire for the high that nature gives us when we master something new. Indeed the more passionate and curious people are about life, the greater their vulnerability to addiction, because they are always open to something new and are keen to experience as much as possible, as strongly as they can. But, alas, addiction is the cheating high, the quick fix, the blind alley that leads nowhere, and all that passion and curiosity is wasted.
We are protected from addiction when our lives are fulfilling. All addiction results from important needs not being met.
People who stop suddenly and successfully are those who have been through the wheel of change and reach the point where they really feel that their addiction is doing them more harm than good, and change their lives so that their needs are met in truly satisfying ways.
Wolfie.... "The irony is that I call it visual meth because after the first time you do it, you''l be spending the rest of your life looking for the same high, to no avail. "
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