by Anne Fields
Knowing When You’re Ready to Overcome Addiction
Knowing when you’re ready to breakthrough your addictive behaviors and overcome your 
addiction can be difficult. Many individuals experience an epiphany: a moment of clarity that their addictive behaviors are problematic and need to change. However for many people that moment of clarity never comes, but that doesn’t mean that you aren’t ready to overcome your addiction and start a new life with a new healthier, and more fulfilling, path. Here are just some signs that you’re ready to stop your addictive behaviors, change your life and finally experience true freedom:
You Want to Change For Yourself
The fact is that very few addicts run into recovery ready to embrace it with their arms wide open. Recovery is hard, painful, and forces you to face emotional and psychological truths that you are likely to wish you could avoid. But if you want to change your addictive behaviors for yourself, because you want to live a new kind of life, then you are far more likely to succeed than if you approach rehabilitation because a loved one, family member, or friend has asked you to. No matter how much you love someone, that isn’t a strong enough motivation to undergo rehabilitation and overcome an addiction. The desire for change has to come from deep inside yourself in order to be truly successful.
Your Health is Affected
Addiction can have a serious and negative impact on both your physical and emotional health. Continued use of both illegal drugs and alcohol can lead to an increased chance of suffering from cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis and mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and other mental health problems. What’s more, addicts often suffer from malnutrition and the health problems associated with that because the desire to fuel your addiction often overcomes and masks the need to eat a healthy and balanced diet. When you are sober it is likely that you will feel unwell, disorientated, and both physically and emotionally out of control. If you feel that your health is being negatively affected by your addiction then it is important to seek help as soon as possible, before any damage becomes irreversible.
You’ve Lost Control of Your Finances
Addiction is almost always a hugely expensive pursuit. Huge debts can be run up in a surprisingly short period of time when you are driven to purchase drugs or alcohol in huge quantities every day. If your finances are spiraling out of control, and you can recognize that this is a problem that makes you feel upset and emotional, then this could be a good sign that you have the motivation you need to enter rehabilitation and give up your addiction. The sooner you can seek the help you need, the easier it will be to get your finances back into check once you are free from addiction.
You Dream About a Future Free From Addiction
It’s likely that you spend much of your time and physical and emotional efforts, thinking about where your next fix will come from: whether your addiction to drugs or alcohol, finding the money for that next drink or next score is generally a time consuming process. If your dreams revolve solely around fueling your addiction then you may not be ready to quit. However if you spend your downtime dreaming about a life where you are sober, a weekend where you don’t wake up with a hangover, or a future where your family are proud of your continued sobriety then this is a sure sign that you’re ready to enter rehabilitation, and pursue a life free from drugs.
References
“Recovery roadblock: Overcoming your resistance to change”, Recovery,org, http://
“What to do if your adult friend or loved one has a problem with drugs”, National Institute of Drug Abuse, https://www.drugabuse.
“Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) teaches family and friends effective strategies for helping their loved one to change and for feeling better themselves. CRAFT works to affect the loved one’s behavior by changing the way the family interacts with him or her. ” http://motivationandchange.com/outpatient-treatment/for-families/craft-overview/
“Deciding to quit drinking alcohol”, Medline Plus, https://medlineplus.gov/
