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Addiction
www.hgi.org.uk 
To find out more about how addiction can be beaten, see the following book by Joe Griffin and IvanTyrrell: Freedom from Addiction: The secret behind successful addiction busting 
For more indepth information about addiction see the MindFields College seminar:Understanding and stopping addictive behaviour  
For training in how to stop addictive behaviour in others, see the MindFields Collegeworkshop:Brief therapy skills for stopping addictionsVast numbers of us do things to excess, or have the feeling that it might be difficult to stop doingsomething, or sometimes wonder why on earth we have just done something that seemed attractive before we did it.Over 25% of all Britons smoke, for example, a behaviour that costs tens of thousands of pounds inthe course of an average lifetime, and not only shortens that life but makes it unpleasant for othersand often dreadful for the smoker. However, a proper understanding of the givens of human naturecould change all that.Addiction spreads to every kind of pleasurable behaviour: drinking, surfing (wave and internet),sex, food, and so on. Some activities or substances can generate a feeling that is so powerful thatlife without that feeling may never seem worthwhile again. For example, many gamblers have a bigwin early in their career and then spend the rest of their life chasing that buzz.Why do addictions seem so hard to beat?So what is it that makes addictions so easy to acquire and so difficult for most people to shake off?The answer lies in the chemical reward mechanisms that the human brain uses to motivate itself toact and learn.The excitement we get when we are keen to do something is produced by dopamine, a natural brainchemical, very like cocaine in its effect, that raises our emotional level so we want to take action.And the warm feelings of satisfaction we get after doing something — eating, laughing, having sex,or achieving some new understanding or skill — are produced by endorphin, another naturalsubstance (which is similar to heroin). Working together these chemicals keep us interested in doingthe biological functions that preserve the species, and stretch each one of us to learn and achieve.In a well-balanced life, a reasonable amount of natural reward is felt by the human every day, but ina life where essential emotional needs are not met and abilities are not stretched, the rewards do notcome and life feels flat and meaningless.This kind of life is rich territory for addictions to target, as every addictive substance or behaviour either stimulates a reward mechanism or provides a chemical reward directly. Dangerous activitiesstimulate production of dopamine, generating a feeling of exhilaration; injecting heroin gives awarm, cosy feeling like the natural feelings of satisfaction you might get after fulfilling any biologically necessary function.
Addiction can be beaten
Addiction can be beaten by many people without necessarily becoming dependent on a recovery
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