Why are addictions so hard to break?

Addictions are very hard to break because they're not only psychological, they're also biological. [UPBEAT MUSIC]

Most addictions start as a psychological addiction. Meaning, you get addicted to the process. So in what we call the process addictions,

gambling, food, sex, even though you're not ingesting a typically active substance like a drug

or alcohol, there is something about the process that will give you those same feel good chemicals in your brain.

The same is true for drugs or alcohol. However, we then have the biological addiction.

Meaning, you need more and more of the same substance to get the same results. That means you have tolerance and also you

will go through a period of withdrawal when you try to take this out of your life. Meaning, your body is now dependent.

When you combine the psychological with the biological piece, it is very hard to break. And human beings are creatures of habit.

So instead of focusing on, I need to rid myself of this habit, gradually start to add healthy habits to your everyday life.

Once that habit is formed, whether that habit is going to a 7:00 PM Tuesday yoga class or having a delicious salad for lunch

or going to a Sunday AA meeting, that will then become new habit, a new ritual

which will crowd out some of these negative habits or addictions.