You may hear frequently that a person is addicted to something, but are they really addicted? Or are they just saying that to make a point that they are overindulging in whatever they are doing. Within addiction, it is fairly common to replace one addiction with another in hopes of producing the same feeling that the other addiction generated. You can go from food to alcohol, to cigarettes, to exercise, to love and so on to create a never-ending cycle of addiction. Addiction replacement is not necessarily about the substance anymore, but more about having a dependence on fulfilling the emotional high.
You may be more susceptible to other addictions if you are already addicted to something. Transferring addiction to something else that is considered a health choice, may turn into an unhealthy addiction if you become compulsive about it. Exercising, volunteering, or even going to 12-Step meetings can become an addiction to substitute for the original addiction. You tell yourself that you are making positive changes to your life, but if you have uncontrollable urges to do these things in access when they are not conducive to your current recovery, you may be trading one addiction for another
Addictions that stimulate the brain’s pleasure center, such as food, alcohol, drugs, smoking, sex, and gambling, can be considered the most dangerous for your health. The brain can be tricked into thinking that switching to one of these other addictions will make things better, but it will actually exacerbate the addiction even more.
One of the concerns of switching to another addiction is causing alarm for relapse to occur more freely. If you are misusing even something as innocent as an energy drink, it could lead you to believe that you can handle things that are addictive to you. A domino effect of addiction can coerce you right back to where you came from. Although the addiction has changed, the behaviors that surround the addiction may stay the same. The preoccupation and the dishonesty in addiction replacement can fester in the addict to get the ball rolling towards a relapse which can happen easier than you might think within the mind of an addict This is the reason why it is important to be active in recovery and monitor when you have replaced one addiction for another with rigorous honesty.
Take part in your recovery by determining if you are enjoying something or if you are switching addictions to compensate for pleasure in the brain. If you are participating in your recovery, use the people around you to gauge where your intentions really lie.
Contact us today if you or a loved one is ready to reach out for help. We can start the healing process in addiction today and start you on the road to recovery. Pick up the phone and call us: 844-720-6847
