If you have been attending 12-step meetings for your particular addiction, you must continue to do so. If you have not been participating, now’s the time to do so. Without the encouragement and support of others who are in recovery like you, people who have gone through exactly what you are now experiencing, you don’t have a prayer of beating this new addiction. You may even relapse to your former bad habits with alcohol or drugs.
The point is that you need people around you who can relate to your situation. They will be able to listen without judgment, offer their caring support and encouragement, and even provide solutions that have worked for them. How many meetings does it take? The answer depends on how much the substitute addiction is affecting your life and your relationships. It may be once a week, or twice, or even more in times of crisis.
There is more that you can do to deal with substitute addictions. You need to get your family members involved. Encourage your spouse or partner and older children to attend the family component of the 12-step meetings. In fact, there is a family group component for almost every 12-step fellowship. All you need to do is perform a search, either for the 12-step group or for the family component. It may be best to start with the 12-step group main website and find the family component within site.
Here are some suggestions to help you deal with substitute addictions:
- Do a thorough personal inventory to identify recent behavior that has become compulsive.
- Rid your home, office, car, or other areas of any items that are either the addictive substance or remind you of the addictive behavior (triggers).
- When you find yourself obsessing over the substitute addiction, utilize your coping strategies immediately.
- Call your 12-step sponsor or fellow group member and talk it over. You may find that the cravings have passed by the end of your conversation.
- Go to a 12-step meeting.
- Get involved in rigorous physical activity on a regular basis – hiking, exercising, sports, recreational pursuits, and the like.
- Tend to your physical and mental health.
- Ensure that your nutritional needs are met by eating healthy and well-balanced meals.
- Get adequate sleep each night.
- Make time to be with family members.
- Alleviate stress and tension with relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, deep breathing exercises, or Pilates.
- Pay attention to your spiritual needs as well. Whether you pray or concentrate on the goodness of the human spirit doesn’t matter as long as you nourish your spiritual side.
- Do something to help others. This could be your elderly or sickly neighbor, someone at work, a fellow 12-step group member, your child, a friend, or even a stranger. By helping others in need, you are getting outside your own problems, moving away from an obsession over an addiction.
- Distract yourself with puzzles, word games, counting, physically rearranging things in the house, or cleaning.
You need to keep a daily schedule that you adhere to, not allowing extra idle time to give your mind the opportunity to dwell on cravings and urges for your past addictions.
