Addiction: Inside The Addict’s Habits

What? Addict’s habits? How does that work? An addiction is a habit; how do we get any more inside of that? There’s more than meets the eye here. And when I get halfway through with this, you the reader, will be able to fill me in on more habits of your addicted loved ones than I can inform you.

I once watched a hand of a man holding a cigarette. I was sitting in my car and all that was in my view was his hand holding a cigarette as he was waiting to cross the parking lot away from where I was. He flicked and flicked the thing the whole time, at a constant rate. His habit.

I knew of a father and husband who went (and still does) to the same bar every day after work. The bar has changed names and owners several times over the years, but yet he goes. His habit.

I knew very well of a couple who, during the work week, did the whole American family thing. Work, kids, school, homework, baseball, etc. Sun through Friday. But every Friday and Saturday night they would snort grams of coccaine and play cards. Their habit.

Along with addiction comes the rituals and planning process. As agonizing as it was for me to hunt down the drugs I needed, it was also exhilarating at the same time. Kinda like going to thrift or antique stores looking for something in particular. That hope you have is a real desire. When you get what you were looking for, no replicas, it’s a great feeling.  It can become something you look forward to doing again just to repeat that conquering feeling.

Aside from the hunt, there’s the addict’s rituals. Examples: the favorite nostril to snort with, the favorite arm or leg for the needle, the favorite bar, or the favorite drink mixed only by so and so…the list goes on.

What I’m getting at here is when an addict comes to sobriety, those little quirks/rituals are taken away too. It can be hard for the sober addict’s mind to let go of those things. So instead of flicking the cigarette they may need to have a pencil in hand to twirl and flick. Or instead of that nightly drink, they may make themselves a soda and fruit juice drink to soothe that craving. We need to be compassionate and considerate when it comes time for our loved one to become sober. We need to give them grace and not look down our noses at some of the replacement techniques they may need to simply “get through.”

I’m curious of any other habits or quirks you’ve seen with yourself or loved ones. Also I’m curious about substitutions you may have used or seen being used. Leave in the comments section…

Here is a link to a post by JulieDibbles…How I Quit Drinking. She writes how she quit drinking-how God’s hand was the ultimate game changer, and how she overcame the rituals/habits she was accustomed to. I highly recommend you read it.

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