Addictions And Resolutions

It’s December 30th - and you’ve got a little over 24 hours to make up your mind. Will you make any resolutions?

What’s it going to be this year? The pressure is on.

Each year, thousands of us resolve to change our ways with the start of a new year. Amongst the many promises we make to ourselves is the one ‘but not until after midnight’.

It’s true, none of us are perfect and could use some improvement in more than one area of our life. What’s it going to be this year? Are you going to give something up or starting something new?

Smoking, drinking, drugs, gambling, bad food habits - these are the typical things to give up. These things can all be addicting. Not for everyone, but why take the chance. If you haven’t started any, why bother.

Addiction is and has been on the increase for some time. Whether we’re just hearing about it more or whether there are just more people in the world today available to drop into this slot - addiction is a part of many peoples lives. It drives them, it runs
their lives and sometimes ruins their lives.

This is how addiction works: the use of these addictive behaviors give us pleasure - a good feeling. It’s not an imagined thing - it’s chemical. When we experience something pleasurable, our brain releases a natural body chemical called dopamine.

We all have dopamine and our body chemistry intends for this to be released into our system naturally - through daily life activities.

But....abuse or excessive amounts of these and other addictive behaviors cause the body to release excessive amounts of dopamine. And this in itself is enough to want to repeat the behavior. The brain has to work harder to stabilize the body’s chemicals by developing tolerance to these unusual amounts. Continued addictive behavior requires more and more dopamine to continue providing the pleasure. Over time, the brain adapts by decreasing the amount of dopamine available. And that....is the reason we feel down or depressed when we don’t continue with our addictions.

A vicious circle of bad behavior for sure. This is one instance where more is not better.
It is a tough and pressured society we live in and it takes much effort to get through the daily grind sometimes.
Out of sight, out of mind? Sometimes it is easier to curb our bad behaviors simply by
concentrating on forming new habits that are good for us.
Typical new year resolutions include joining the gym, jogging or walking, eating better, self promises of being a better person.

Whether your resolution is proclaimed out loud (some people do this because they think the pressure from everyone who hears them will guilt them into success) or silent like our dreams, we all have them. Realizing that our personal behaviors affect the ones around us and determine the reflection in the mirror could be all the incentive we need..