The Powerful Role of Cognitive Thinking Errors in Addiction

To learn more about how to start your healing journey at Impact Recovery, get in touch with a member of our team here. When someone struggles with this distortion, they’ll be on a constant pursuit to put others on trial to prove that their opinions and actions are correct. To someone with this struggle, being wrong is unthinkable, and will go to any length to demonstrate their rightness. Here, someone expects that other people will change to suit them if they pressure them enough. They’re the ones that need to change others because their hopes depend on them.

Emotional Reasoning

Also understand, when I talk about issues and challenges, these behaviors and thought processes we struggle with, most of the time these are early sobriety challenges. Like, I don’t struggle with many of these things at this stage of the game. I have a lot of years of practice, a lot of years of sobriety or actually it’s more a lot of years of recovery where I have actively participated in understanding myself and healing myself. Because for the addicted brain to fire all of those things, the situation has to be bigger and more dramatic.

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Further, the intensity of withdrawal depends on the amount of drug usually taken and the duration of its effects. Withdrawal from such drugs as heroin, painkillers, alcohol, and benzodiazepine tranquilizers can be life-threatening, and medical supervision is generally advised. Physiological dependence can occur with many different kinds of substances, including common medications. Tolerance and withdrawal are not universal features of substance use disorder; hallucinogens, for example, do not create tolerance or withdrawal symptoms. While the best-known signs of addiction may be physical changes in a person—weight loss to the point of emaciation, the red face of problem drinkers—those occur late in the course of substance use.

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It is difficult to discern if someone may have an addiction, even if some obvious signs are observed. A healthcare provider or mental health professional can help identify if addiction exists, also providing guidance for treatment options. Sometimes it is a person’s behaviors that cause us to worry about whether they may be facing a drug or alcohol addiction. Or they may engage in behaviors that suggest a possible addiction to certain actions, such as having an addiction to gambling, shopping, or sex. Addiction can affect a person in several ways, leaving « clues » or signs that an issue may exist. These signs may appear in the form of engaging in certain behaviors, some are physical signs or symptoms, and others are present in one’s emotional or mental states.

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20 common thinking errors of addicts

For example, a person may think that if they abstain from drugs or alcohol for a day or two, they will believe they are no longer suffering from a substance use or alcohol use problem. Psychologists use the term “cognitive distortions” https://thebostondigest.com/top-5-advantages-of-staying-in-a-sober-living-house/ to describe irrational, inflated thoughts or beliefs that distort a person’s perception of reality, usually in a negative way. Cognitive distortions are common but can be hard to recognize if you don’t know what to look for.

20 common thinking errors of addicts

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  • Since addiction is a progressive disease, getting help will always be harder in the future, so it’s better not to wait for the perfect time.
  • For someone in addiction recovery, these common negative thinking patterns can increase their anxiety, often triggering depression and relapse episodes.

Overgeneralizing, or the thinking that leads you to making sweeping over-generalizations about yourself, others or life based on a small amount of evidence, usually a single event. John A. Smith is a Senior Psychotherapist at The Dawn and an internationally accredited Addiction Treatment Professional (ISSUP), Certified Life and NLP Coach. He is highly experienced in working with young adults and utilises a range of evidence-based therapies, including SMART Recovery, to help his clients achieve their goals.

20 common thinking errors of addicts

Symptoms of withdrawal range from sweatiness, shakiness, tremors, and seizures to upset stomach, diarrhea, and vomiting. Irritability, agitation, restlessness, and sleep disruption are common withdrawal symptoms for many drugs as are muscle cramps, headaches, and changes in blood pressure and heart rate. Drug cravings can be fierce, and fear of withdrawal symptoms often drives continued drug use. Those who become addicted are usually acutely aware of their own behavioral shifts and especially how they are disappointing others, even as they rationalize away their behavioral anomalies.

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This is an especially malignant distortion since it can facilitate the continuation of negative thought patterns even in the face of strong evidence to the contrary. While there are clearly many honors, awards, and achievements Beck may be known for, perhaps his greatest contribution to the field of psychology is his role in the development of cognitive therapy. As with many skills and abilities Sober House in life, some are far better at this than others–but with practice, you can improve your ability to recognize and respond to these distortions. An interview with Vasavi Kumar and Jyoti Chand on substance abuse in the South Asian community, and barriers to getting help. You devote increasing amounts of time planning to get drugs or worrying about where your next dose is coming from.

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