You have a bad habit. You know it, you don’t want it, and yet you cannot stop. While for some people, that habit could be an annoyance, such as biting your nails or eating ice cream at night, for others, it’s a life-changing habit, such as using alcohol and drugs at excessive rates. Understanding the science behind what makes habits hard to break could help you learn how to overcome them and, ultimately, put you on the path to recovery.
Why Bad Habits Are Hard To Break
Not all habits are bad. Many encourage us to do what we need to do to maintain health, such as wake up, showering, and brushing our teeth. They help foster repetition, and when those are good things, like flossing every day, your body benefits from them.
In these situations, the behaviors become automatic. That helps your brain function. Instead of thinking about doing something and remembering to do so, your brain automatically follows those routines. Your brain is then able to focus its function on other areas.
The problem is that habits develop through repetition, whether good or bad. When we engage in things time and time again, it triggers the reward center of the brain – the area that encourages us to do things that are perceived as being good for us and that will create a positive experience.
If you engage in any activity that stimulates this reward center, such as watching a funny movie, that will teach the brain to continue to seek out those actions. The same applies to less desirable habits, such as using alcohol or drugs. These substances trigger the reward center of your brain, and as they do, they “teach” your brain to keep doing those things.
Habits form because of this desire to seek out feel-good experiences. Sometimes, those actions are unhealthy and can lead to the risk of addiction and dependency.
How To Break a Bad Habit
Just as you can train your brain to engage in those habits, you can also teach it to form new ones. There are several steps to changing habits, steps that you can do, along with addiction treatment, to help you make better decisions. Remember, too, that you decide what those “better decisions” are instead of your brain automatically seeking a substance to control how you feel.
- Identify cues: What triggers the habit? We call these cues. For many with addiction-related habits, stress is a big factor. Understand what is behind the reason the habit gets put into motion.
- Disrupt: The next step is to disrupt what happens when that cue occurs. For example, when stress begins to build, you recognize that and take that moment to change your path. You disrupt what you normally would do – such as reaching for a drink – by doing something else, such as going outside.
- Replace: Next, replace the bad with the good. A new behavior will interfere with the old habit, preventing your brain from engaging with the automatic behavior. You stepped outside in that stressful situation, and now you’ll go for a run instead of using alcohol.
- Keep it simple: It’s easy to become overwhelmed with habit-changing, trying to make big changes happen fast. However, habits are automatic, and that means the behaviors need to be simplified. Keep things as simple as possible.
- Focus on long-term objectives: Habits give you a short-term boost of feel-good hormones. However, you encourage your brain to heal by realizing this, not engaging in bad habits, and aiming for long-term improvement.
- Persist: Yes, it’s tough. Your brain wants to do what’s comfortable, but breaking through established habits could allow you to replace them with those that are good for you.
Good habits are not just boring habits. They are things that matter to you. You may be able to break through alcohol and drug addiction’s hold so that you can build your family or just not worry about legal problems. You may be able to finally explore a lifestyle that’s important to you. All of these good habits and experiences are trapped behind those bad habits.
Let Our Team Guide You Through Your Bad Habits
If you are struggling with addiction, seek out the guidance of our team at Iron Bridge Recovery Center today. You don’t have to wait for help. We offer a wide range of treatment programs that empower you to create new habits – ones you want to explore. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do to help you. Let’s talk about what your first year in recovery really will be like without bad habits to hold you back!
