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Exploring the Origins of Our Addictions

When struggling with addiction, we sometimes can be so focused on the current painful manifestations of the illness, the symptoms, the tough circumstances in our lives, the obstacles we’re facing in recovery, that we aren’t ever able to gain a clear understanding of how our addictions originated in the first place. We’re so consumed with dealing with the day-to-day challenges, the ongoing logistics of recovery, and our complicated thoughts and emotions, that we aren’t able to give time to exploring why and how our addictions were able to take root. Exploring the origins of our addictions helps us to understand ourselves on a deeper level. It helps us to address the underlying issues driving our illnesses and gain more clarity on how to heal. It allows us to go beyond the ways in which we’re suffering to figure out why we’re suffering.

Many of us have never ventured that deep into our past to uncover the beginning stages of our addictions. We haven’t taken the time to look at the development of our addictive patterns and mental illnesses. To do this work, we may want to take advantage of the guidance and expertise of a therapist who can help us cope with all of the difficult emotions that might arise when we come to new realizations about ourselves and our pasts. We will want to ask ourselves some hard, revealing questions: When did my addictive patterns first start? What is my first recollection of using my drug of choice? Why was I using it, what was I trying to cope with or escape from? What traumas, fears of experiences might have caused me to need to develop this particular coping mechanism? Was there anyone involved in the development of my addiction? Did a particular person introduce me to my drug of choice, did I witness their usage, or did they impact me in a certain way that led to my usage? How old was I when I started? What thoughts, feelings, behaviors and experiences do I associate with that time in my life? What was going on in my life around that time?

Asking ourselves these questions can help us to uncover how our addictions developed in the ways they did, why we might have become dependent on our drug of choice, and what pain we might have been avoiding, trying to manage, or distracting ourselves from. This is extremely valuable work to do when recovering from addiction. It opens us up to increased understanding of ourselves and our lives. It helps us to reconnect with ourselves and can give us guidance on how to heal.

The Guest House is a welcoming and supportive recovery home where you will be met with open arms, wherever where you are on your journey, without judgment or expectation. Call 855-483-7800 today for more information.