Addiction is a topic that draws a lot of opinions and ideas on how to address it. But the problem is much of that information is written, taught or spoken by people who aren’t experts in addiction. This often results in misinformation and the spread of addiction myths.
I can live with misinformation about some things, but NOT when it leads to a life of unnecessary misery. Some of the ideas being spread about addiction are flat out harmful and disruptive to the millions of people trying their best to help themselves. These bad plans and approaches can often make matters worse.
These harmful ideas leave major gaps in care you never even realize you’re missing. I get referrals for patients that come from those types of addiction treatments all the time.
There’s often a lot of reteaching what addiction is, and filling in those gaps in their care. And it’s not a rare thing.
Please don’t fall into the trap of misguided treatments based on addiction myths!
What Does Addiction Myth Look Like?
The addiction myths often show up in different ways. It might look like providers telling you how awful your decisions have been, only increasing your shame and guilt.
Sometimes it’s framed as if you just need to stop making better choices, as though you don’t already know what the better choice is!
Other times it gets reduced to a purely biological issue, with the focus on finding the next medication to “fix” your supposedly broken brain.
You may also hear that this is something you’ll have to fight forever, or that if you simply stop the substance – or whatever you’re addicted to – everything will magically go away.
And perhaps worst of all, it can sound like you’re being told you’re a bad person because of what you’ve done.
Want to learn more? Here are some articles where I unpack these myths:
- The Paradox of Willpower in Addiction
- Why Substances Don’t Cause Addiction
- Is Addiction a Choice? Not really
The Addiction Myth Does Not Belong in Recovery
No, no, and no! That’s harmful to your addiction and disrespectful to you as a person… all while you’re giving up your time and money. Too many treatments have success rates that are horribly low (like 5%!).
You can see why it’s so hard to find a full treatment. There are lots of steps involved, and each one needs to be done well. After all, this is your real life.
Dealing with Addiction Myths, and Looking For a Complete Recovery Solution
After working with countless people – both people who have and haven’t been to other treatments before – it became clear. Most people are not accessing the full addiction help they need.
Most people start by learning the harms of addiction. That’s fine, but that doesn’t begin to touch the depth needed to change.
Then people often learn coping skills to manage cravings. That’s also great, but leaves people fighting an endless battle forever.
After that, some people identify their triggers and learn to avoid and navigate around certain things. Another good step, but this falls short of living with any peace or confidence.
Some people make it to even fuller treatment and address the root causes of their suffering.
Dealing with emotional pain is nearly enough, but tends to become boring or unfulfilling after a while. This leaves people wondering if sobriety is even worth it.
True freedom only comes when we do all of those things, plus learn HEALTHY WAYS OF BEING. That’s the last key step to solidify health, find peace and content, and find the joy right beneath you each day.
It’s when relapsing sounds so disgusting that you shed away the constant fear of relapse.
Did You Recognize Some of the Reasons That Might Be Holding You Back From Asking for Help?
I saw the data (and the firsthand experience) that only 1 in 10 people get help for their addiction. Please don’t be the 9 in 10. It doesn’t need to be that way.
Maybe the things keeping you from taking the next step to change your life right now sound like this:
- the time it takes to change
- the stigma of entering an addiction treatment
- the shame or embarrassment from friends, coworkers or family
- the huge cost ($7,000-60,000 for rehabs)
- the time involved to either go away for over a month, or even just the time to leave work every week
- the difficulty in doing anything more than an already busy life with family, activities and responsibilities
- the uncertainty of whether it’s even going to help
- …and several other very valid concerns
With The Self Recovery Program, There Are No More Excuses
The Self Recovery program guides you step-by-step through every aspect of addiction so that there’s nowhere left for it to hide. You’ll go through an approach that systematically breaks down each part of the current (Emotional Pain > Craving > Addiction > False Pleasure), as well as develop a healthy way of being.
Our Full Online Addiction Program was created with all of that in mind. I wanted to create a program that could tear through all the barriers in our current system.
- Do it on demand, on your own schedule, from your own place (no driving back and forth anywhere).
- Fully private
- No stigma or judgements. You tell only the people you want to tell.
- You know you’re getting scientific, evidence-based help.
- No missing lessons or concepts that leave gaps in your care.
- Slowly change in the same environment you live in so that you learn and adapt to your real-life situations. No surprising adjustments with relapses.
- Affordable.
CLICK HERE to check out the Full Program
Please join me in finding a path to freedom from addiction. I would be honored to be your guide!
Treating addiction is my passion. To spread knowledge backed up by science, and to spread that knowledge as far as we can, to as many people as possible. That’s how we get rid of bad policies and needless judgements and stigma from society. Let’s grow a movement to address addiction in more helpful and humane ways.
