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Verified by Psychology Today. Marijuana takes a long time to recover from. A man in recovery from marijuana addiction spoke at an addiction conference I attended some years ago. In part this is due to the complex nature of the drug itself, in part how long it takes one's brain to be able to rewire itself, correcting whatever unfortunate changes the pot managed to make. Every person is unique in multiple ways, and differences show up in personality , traits, and susceptibility to addiction, meaning how fast you become addicted, and how fast your brain rewires itself post-addiction.
In my own practice I've seen it take three years to recover from marijuana, but not always. Negotiating the rather wild waters of recovery depends upon what damage regular pot used made in your life—your social and economic life, your relationships, your spiritual life if that is important to you. The next part of recovery—getting over the problems drug use caused in your life-—is not physiological per se, it is more dependent upon cognitive and behavioral habits, psychological factors, and therefore more under your direct control in terms of setting things right again, picking up the broken pieces etc.
I have seen people make progress more easily when they are able to get involved in a step recovery program like AA Alcoholics Anonymous or NA Narcotics Anonymous or if there are meetings close to where they live, MA Marijuana Anonymous. What going to AA etc. In the ordinary day in the lives of ordinary people, they may walk into an ordinary store with drugs on prominent display—different strengths, different flavors, different colors, but right out there, our legal drug alcohol.
People using drugs ordinarily hang out with others who are using drugs, and recovery can mean the end of a whole social circle for the recovering addict. So if it is possible you would be wise to find a local AA or NA or MA meeting and go every day, or as often as there are meetings. If that is not possible, try to find another social group that is not based on drinking or drug use. If your drug use isolated you socially, you definitely need to head out to find social groups with whom to interact. This is so difficult to do while you are depressed, but you can do it slowly but surely.
In early recovery paranoid ideas, obsessions, fears, worries are hum-drum, common. Another source of support in early recover. This includes psychotherapists, counselors, social workers, or community peer counselors. In a 12 step program it is advised that people in early recovery get a "sponsor" who serves as that person—in fact, people often recover more quickly when they have both an AA sponsor AND some kind of individual therapist who can support their continuing abstinence as well as their involvement in AA.
A cognitive-behavioral therapist CBT may be helpful, although you might also make good use of a general "talk therapist" who knows cognitive behavioral techniques. CBT and talk therapy that uses techniques from CBT have been empirically studied as treatment for depression, and they have been found effective.
These things really make a difference, both to the course of a depression, and to recovery from drug addiction. Using an anti-depressant is also an excellent idea—it will help your brain begin to make proteins "Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor" or BDNF that will lead to it producing new neurons in a process known as "neurogenesis. Ask your doctor to start you on a low dose, and increase your dose very slowly.
Make use of every possible kind of support. Begin a program of meditation right now, today. It is not hard to learn, try it today. Simply sit down somewhere and for three or four minutes, partly shut your eyes or shut them completely if that is easier and try to pay attention to your breath, breathing in and breathing out.
You don't have to breathe particularly deeply, just breathe your normal way. You can count each breath with each exhalation. Or you can say silently, to yourself "I's breathing in, I'm breathing out. Eventually you will be able to do it for longer. Don't worry about all the thoughts that come into your mind and drag your attention away from your breath—when you notice them, simply go back to paying attention to your breathing.
Being dragged away by thoughts is entirely normal, it's how our minds work. Doing this for very short periods of time in the beginning is much better than trying to meditate for a longer time that might get uncomfortable. You want to love your time meditating. I have written some simple instructions in how to meditate that I plan to post on my blog in Psychology Today. Daily meditation will rewire your brain. It will help regulate your emotions. That hyper-sensitivity to negative comments, to feeling rejected, will change.
You'll become more resiliant. Start taking walks every day, the longer the better. Any physical activity or exercise you even half enjoy will help you. And exercise has been demonstrated to help rewire your brain more efficiently. Like anti-depressants, it kicks your brain into gear so that it begins making more BDNF. Educate yourself about addiction disease. There are many books out there about it, many of which are written by recovering addicts just like you. Read their stories, learn about this disease that is as they say in AA "cunning, baffling and powerful.
You mentioned having drug dreams —where marijuana made an appearance. This is normal for people who are withdrawing from drugs. You also mentioned light drinking on occasion. Drugs often work to drop inhibitions, drugs interfere with decision-making. Using alcohol at all is likely to end up a problem.
Being around people who recreate by drinking is a problem, because your recreational drug has been marijuana. As said above, find people who know how to relax and recreate while drug-free. You can do this. Cut yourself some slack. Whatever "bad" or "stupid" things you did in your addiction are NOT your fault, they are the fault of the disease of addiction. Addiction highjacks the brain. It highjacks the part of the brain responsible for making decisions. It highjacks the pleasure center in the brain. These problems will be corrected with time off mind-altering drugs and by this I do not mean antidepressants.
What you do now, in your recovery, is your responsibility. But what happened in the past, put that aside. You will make amends if you need to, later. For now try to dump all the feelings of guilt, all your worries about other people. Try to take these steps I've suggested, even if you are weighed down by depression. The ups and downs of pot withdrawal are difficult, but they will diminish slowly but surely, and you will recover completely. If only there was a guidebook: There is an amazing program, "Al-Anon" which is for loved ones of addicts and alcoholics --and it's great, it tells you over and over to stop focusing on the addict and instead focus on yourself.
While that is good advice for everyone, there is the parent's sense of responsibility to at least be aware of the condition their children are in, no matter how old they are. Many say this is an "overly-enmeshed" mother or father but I don't quite agree with that perspective. Parents often but not always the mother don't want to spend all their time worrying --they do it when something is really wrong, when their child --young or adult-- is sick.
So your concern and heart break is quite normal, it's signaling you that you son is in trouble. That said, there is probably little you can do with him directly but have faith in him that he will pull through this. Obviously you've been a concerned and involved parent, you've loved him and somehow int he end, that means more than you can imagine. While I'm saying I don't think there is anything you can do directly with your son, there are a few things you can do for yourself and your household.
First, if anyone is "using" any mind altering substances in your household and that includes alcohol tell them to stop, not to do it in your home. This brings a very powerful message to adult children. Second, go to Al-Anon and really do your own program. If anyone tells you you're "worrying to much" ignore him or her. Find a sponsor who has gone through this with her children.
You have to worry, its normal. But when a parent goes into Al-Anon something amazing happens in the whole family --its like bringing the message of recovery to every family member. It has some kind of domino effect and i've seen this so often. Your son will see you change, however that goes --maybe less anxiety, maybe you'll get less depressed and worried, but working a program changes people, it just works. I think this is by far the most powerful thing you can do. Try it and see what happens --its free, it definitely can't harm you, and if you live in a community where there are no Al-Anon meetings, they now have them and lots of them online.
I hope this helps you at least a little. You can of course also seek out a counselor or psychotherapist who knows something about drugs, if that interests you although it can be quite costly. And there is nothing like hearing the stories from people who have gone what you're going through. This is really how AA and NA work as well. So these are my suggestions --there is no guide book, every person, every "case" and every addict is different, so how you do this is going to be specific to you, but try to get to Al-anon and talk to people, and see what happens!
First, I would like to say thank you so much to Dr. O'Connor for writing articles about marijuana addiction. I've spent the past year trying to quit after smoking daily for 14 years. Which has seen me relapse twice. Next, to Leanne, I think the best avenue is to be supportive and offer help. Maybe take your son to AA or MA meetings, to see a professional, or just talk to a former addict. I can speak from experience that ignoring the problem is a terrible thing to do.
When my mother found me smoking weed back when I was a teenager, she did not offer help, in fact she kicked me out the house. Even after making amends she still ignored my drug problem like the rest of my family.
If I would have received counseling or therapy or analysis for depression, things may have been different. Sometimes people are wary of letting other people take control of their lives. One of the main reasons I liked smoking was because it let be choose how I felt instead of any circumstances outside of myself. So it's important for you to show your son that he is the one who makes the active decision to quit and that you will be supportive but not intrusive.
Thanks for your response to me and to Leanne. As you'll see from my reply above, I suggest that rather than Leanne try to take her son to a meeting, she get into Al-Anon herself --I have seen this be the most effective thing a parent or partner or other loved one can do. It is so hard to stop smoking marijuana --Its far more addictive than people realize, and the tricky thing is that some people can really smoke once in a while and then leave it alone for a long time, whereas other people can't do that, they become addicted. I think you are right that Leanne's son would not like her to tell him what to do, but by her going into recovery in Al-Anon, she is sending a powerful message.
If your family had done that, you wouldn't have felt so alone with your marijuana addiction. You show enormous strength in how you've been hanging in there while struggling with this drug. And know that marijuana withdrawal has physical symptoms --they seem all emotional, but really they are physical and represent neurological changes.
For example when recovering addict had a huge craving for their drug --well it turns out that their body temperature has just dropped, right before or as the craving comes on. The person is not aware of it, but that's how physical this disease of addiction really is. Keep on keeping on, I know how hard it is to get off and stay off marijuana --but it sound like you are really doing it!
Hallo Lynn First of all, this has been helpful, so thank you ; My comment is about the drop in body temperature. I have tried and failed to give up many times, I am 46 years old and have been a smoker for 30 years, daily for I have been using an Indian herb called Neem , to help cure a nail fungus which has plagued me for a couple of years. Neem naturally raises the body temperature, and I'm just wondering if that has helped to make this attempt to quit easier than before? The cravings don't feel as intense, and I feel calmer I don't know , it's just a thought, but it may be helpful.
Neem is a wonderful herb, but it tastes very bitter, so people might not like it. Good luck to everyone who is trying to stop. Ok, a couple of things. Grammar is spelled "grammar. Try harder, or follow your own advice and study up on "grammer. My story for those that are interested… I smoked, spotted, bonged and consumed marijuana from around age 17 until I was 36 years old. When I say normal I mean in the sense that my mental state is normal. I partied just like everyone else, just that I was always was around weed.
The only time I refrained was while I was in another country for a couple of years. Anyway through all this time I did function normally, got a degree, a good high paying job, got married and had kids. The reasons I stopped was 3 fold. At times of heavy use it was like I was in a fog. I had some dark times. I had some weird things happen. This caused time to slip by and also caused me to miss chances that would have made my life better.
Relationships with other people can be slightly different because of pot. That could then miss you an opportunity that they could have offered. Life just went by one day to the next. Now I also spend heaps of time with my kids and now find them most enjoyable to be around. I think pot took away a certain drive. Having said all this, it does offer other things like relaxation and creativity but it does have to be taken in moderation, just like alcohol. And of course different people will be different. I have an addictive personality and smoked nearly every day.
Would I do things differently if I had my time again? Thank you for the wonderful description of your years of marijuana addiction. You perfectly describe "amotivational syndrome" that happens to many who smoke pot regularly. It is subtle but it wrecks lives. It sounds like you managed to "get through" but of course not as well as you might have, had you not been smoking pot.
Pot addiction is pernicious because marijuana addicts often don't realize they're hooked, nor do they see the way it's screwing up their lives. They lack insight, which you've regained through living without it. I suggest you hang i there --at some point you may realize that much as you believe you "liked it so much" --well that's your addiction talking, not your sensible cognitive apparatus. I worked with someone who insisted --I think for 4 years or so-- after quitting, that he could write "better" on pot. A problem with marijuana -differing from other substances-- is the subtlety of the ramifications, it's sneaky.
Congratulations for quitting and thank for describing your experience so eloquently here. I am so glad that I read your story. Today makes day 2 without. I've been smoking basically everyday for the past 17 years. I'm going to be turning 34 and I as I look back at my life, there is so many things that I have missed out on, because I wanted to get high or felt as I needed it.
I've tried to quit before, but gave in easily. I think this is the time that I make it. I want to feel like I'm not in that fog anymore and have that motivation that I miss so much. I'll keep this updated as I move forward. Hope you're still clean!
How are things going with your addiction? I hope you are beating this and wish you the best! I am also 34 and smoked daily for 21 years. I've been clean now for 30 days. I am confident this is the time I beat this horrible addiction. It has destroyed all my relationships, mucked up my career and has held me in the fog for as long as I can remember.
Confident it has increased my depression too which I've been battling my entire life starting around the time I began smoking at Just lost the love of my life and my view on smoking has suddwnly done a because of this. I've never before been repulsed by the smell of pot. This time feels different. Trying to take this experience with positive momentum. Losing someone truly special was the breaking point for me. She finally threw in the towel because of my consistent relapses. I am beyond crushed and have vowed to beat this at all costs. I can't bare to be emotionally devastated ever again by losing a special lady.
She was beyond beautiful. Counseling has definitely been helping and setting new goals such as getting back in peak physical shape has been critical at this time. I pray we can beat this together brother. Stay strong, you can do it! Thank you so much for your words of inspiration.
Getting 30 days is a fantastic milestone! And reaching out to help others who are just beginning this really hard sometimes hair-raising process is the best thing you can do; it's the most important way to stay clean. So again, thank you for telling the story of your recovery. But isn't using anti-depressants just replacing one addiction with another? Aren't anti-depressants as harmful?
They make one dependent as much as Marijuana. Using marijuana or any other recreational drug, including alcohol is definitely not the same as taking an antidepressant medication. For starters, anti-depressants don't hit the "reward center" which in the case of recreational drugs, condition people to crave the experience "again and again. Most drugs of abuse flood the reward center with dopamine and that "feels good" reported by drug addicted people.
And on the level of the social: If people come from a situation that provides no hopeful image of he future, that is constrained by poverty and discrimination, they may take on drug use as something "cool" they do with their friends, who are equally unemployed and bored. The socio-economic reality combined with genetic inheritance and recreational drug use spells the disaster of addiction.
Anti-depressant drugs don't flood the pleasure center with dopamine. They don't offer that "feel good" experience, there's no immediate reward. Therefore the conditioning to take "more" and "more simply isn't there. Furthermore, anti-depressant drugs are not addictive. Of course when you take any drug or almost any drug, there are exceptions your body --mainly your brain in the case of mind-altering substances, and those we think of as "recreational"-- gets used to it, and changes some in response.
But with anti-depressants there is no "tolerance. Another important difference --it is possible to get off of anti-depressants without a withdrawal --that is if people get off of them slowly enough. The stories about horrible experiences getting off antidepressants are all coming from people who got off them much too quickly. Because one's physiology gets accustomed to the drug effects and is altered some, it is important to get off anti-depressant drugs in tiny increments, going down exceedingly slowly.
In my clinical experience meaning this is anecdotal data , withdrawal symptoms simply indicate that a person is coming off the anti-depressant too quickly. A very very slow withdrawal is indicated, and then there is nothing remotely like a withdrawal as we know it, as in the case of recreational drugs. So --antidepressant drugs are nothing like recreational drugs and don't promote addiction. Starting on an antidepressant is not in any way replacing one addiction for another.
I tried both Lexapro and Wellbutrin this year for my depression and both messed me up. In fact, I had a horrible allergic reaction to Wellbutrin recently. It's now been one month since stopping wellbutrin after only 12 days of use and my blood pressure is still high always had been exceptional before taking , I have horrible headaches, high pitched ringing in my ears which is unbearable often, nasty anxiety, and more.
Before taking I suffered only from moderate anxiety and depression. Will this go away? I have always had a sensitive nervous system but even for me I thought it would be gone by now being 30 days since stopping. Can it take more than 30 days for my body to kick the wellbutrin out of my system? I need some peace of mind. My doctor hasn't instilled any confidence in me that it will go away.
It's beyond hard to deal with. I don't know enough about any individual's reaction to Wellbutrin to directly respond to your problem --but everyone is different, and what works for one person may be awful for someone else. This is common and why, when you start a new mind-altering drug, its wise to stay in close touch with a medical doctor --either a GP General Practitioner or if you feel your GP isn't answering your questions, then a psychiatrist or psychopharmacologist.
If you were getting an antidepressant because you were depressed in the wake of getting off pot or any other recreational drug --you may be experiencing drug withdrawal. Drug withdrawal often involves numerous biological symptoms. It may only seem like it was Wellbutrin because it happened at the same time as you were quitting drugs.
An MD should be able to help you figure this out, and a specialist in mind-altering medicines will certainly have some answers.
Anti-depressant drugs don't flood the pleasure center with dopamine. Any physical activity or exercise you even half enjoy will help you. One of the best ways to build your inner resilience is by looking outward for support. I found no energy, lethargic and irritated. I knew from experience that quitting meant I'd remember more of my dreams. And please let me know how you're doing!
You will get over the effects of quitting drugs, and you'll get over any effects of Wellbutrin. Try not to panic, you will recover. You might benefit from going to AA; if you go to meetings you will probably meet people who have had all kinds of reactions to getting off recreational drugs --and also antidepressants, both good and bad. And chances are, they all recovered. Getting off drugs is often very frightening, and can include numerous physical symptoms.
So hang in there, see a physician, and you will get better. Many antidepressants do have serotonergic mechanisms -- by the way, THC is primarily serotonergic -- and many do have rebound symptoms. Shame on you for contributing to the credibility gap created by the pharmaceutical industry and the war on drugs. Honestly, as someone who is earnestly trying to gather actionable information on what I should do about my marijuana addiction, please just stop writing. Your encouraging the use of SSRI depressants in this article is negligent and dangerous.
Your liberalized advice should be disregarded and ignored by any intelligent person. There have been hundreds of cases of suicide and suicide attempts by people taking SSRI drugs. Apparently, you are not willing to disclose that well known fact. There have been hundreds of documented cases of suicide induced by SSRI drugs. The possible negative ramifications of SSRI drugs far outweighs the negative aspects of cannabis use.
To make SSRI drugs look "sexy" to someone wanting to come off cannabis is to take advantage of a person in a vulnerable situation, someone who needs to led as far away from the pharmaceutical industry as possible for a solution to the simple behavior of using cannabis regularly or often. An addictive personality will manifest addiction- consciousness in every aspect of their lives, work, relationships, food, hobbies, and so many other areas. You are a bit overreactive to the substance of cannabis, in my opinion.
Your article has the tone of a witch hunt consciousness in back of it. What is your personal issue with cannabis? Whatever it is, it is hyper-exaggerated. You should have disclosed that cannabis is not physically addictive. It is emotionally and psychologically habit forming, and yes, there are some potential side effects in withdrawal, but they are less severe than severe caffeine and tobacco addictions. Jamie you are out of your mind bonkers- weed is definitely physically addicting u are nuts!!
It ruins ur appetite and sleep, you cannot heal if you cannot sleep, it causes anxiety and depression and lung damage any smoke causes lung damage regardless of medium in fact new evidence has shown cannabis second hand smoke to be just as harmful if not more than tobacco I have the freaking lungs to prove it-and vaping pffffff- to say that cannabis is safer than SSRIs is completely false and a very misleading dangerous statement.
Thank you Jamie for putting some sense into this madness - no pun- and having the guts to speak out. From my personal history I actually was self-medicating myself since the SSRIs made me numb, zombie like and I felt my synapses and dendrites were being trimmed and snipped. When I brought it out to my doctor they would ALWAYS hand wave it in a sentiment as that of "yeah yeah they act as weights but you get used to it".
The fact is psychiatrists are in cahoots with Big Pharma and will literally do anything and everything to shove and push medicines. One doctor didn't even look at my face and handed out whole buncha frikkin adderalls. Blogs like these and the ones by so called "addiction and recovery" oriented ones does more damage than good. For instance, just like psychiatrists who disempower their patients regularly with doom and gloom, blogs like these make it apparent that weaning off cannabis is akin to frikkin heroin withdrawal. Are you sin me? Going back to my story.
About two years ago, I stopped meds cold turkey, got rid of those poisons, did enormous bunch of positive thinking, affirmations, gratitude and healthy dosage of exercises. Diet and sleep, I am still working on. And I still smoke sometimes. But the thing is the reason why it is ingrained in me as a habit is because precisely of that.. The meds were literally destroying my life and reduced me to utter dust and despair.
I found no energy, lethargic and irritated. Since SSRIs act as serotonin reuptake inhibitor cuz you are broken and have some schizo-sh And thus the pattern stuck. Any wonder why there is so much spate of sudden positive psychology growth and self-help? We want the carrot not the stick. We are goal oriented, success oriented and growth oriented. Ways to reset brain: Unfortunately they were too laborious and I had to grind it out in an uphill battle and constantly putting my mind to think of something else burned me out and hence..
Which is of course a frikkin ridiculous term. Sure weed is not addictive physiologically and strains are stronger than your "grandma smoked" but when a paper-certified "authority" figures like the author and several others in "addiction websites" come out and writes how difficult is the withdrawal it doesn't help either. So I quit by reducing caffeine intake.
Caffeine make me felt anxious and irritated. Also I noticed I only craved dopamine in form of weed at certain times of the day due to my circadian rhythm and influx of cortisol. When you ride your biological clock and not let it control you, the game is won halfway. Also ketosis helps to cut down sugar which raises cortisol and makes you antsy and anxious. But disempowering articles like these which makes it seem like weed is like heroin or something is absolutely contrary to medical ethics.
Finally, it is good to be informed. Know you WILL have severe withdrawal syndrome such as irritability and insomnia and the best way to avoid them is to cut caffeine and sleep at night only. There is always a solution for everything. And finally, so what you smoked for 20 years or still do. There is so much worse going on in this world and at least be happy and grateful you are only dependent on weed and not anything detrimental. I don't agree with your opinion that anti depressants are non addictive.
If they were not, there would be no reason to ease off of them gradually. Also, why is it that there are patches and cessation aids for nicotene, but no equivalent aids for the marijuana addict? Perhaps that explains why those who try to quit cannabis end up failing so often. The existing mantra that cannabis abusers must quit "cold turkey" really is not supported by the high rate of relapse. Incidentally, I quit smoking cannabis 28 days ago -- voluntarily.
Perhaps my choice not to join the cult of recovery aka 12 step groups is an unwise one, but I will choose my own path, and do this independently this time. I also believe that your concerns about cannabis use and abuse seem to be somewhat over-stated. Humans have used cannabis for thousands of years, but the prohibition hysteria prevalent in contemporary society is largely a by-product of fear, misinformation, and greed on the part of businesses who stand to lose revenues if cannabis were to be descheduled.
I have tried to get off Prozac by tapering. When I did it was the most terrifying five days of my life. After three days I felt more awful than I ever have, swinging between depression and fear like a switch. I originally took prozac because of social anxiety. Even though I immediately started back on the usual full dose of prozac it took a week of total misery to feel normal again.
Prozac is an evil drug. As for pot, what about medical users? Are they "drug addicts" caught in a vicious circle? I seriously doubt that. I am now forced to research whether I can get free of the prozac curse with pot. In other words, I'm looking into turning to a far less potent and problematic drug to get off one that has been linked to causing suicide and worse in a percentage of the population! Hi Steve, I suggest finding an alternative physician who can help you come off the Prozac. There are medical doctors, such as the staff at VRP.
You can even request them to request supplements that will relieve your social anxiety and I am sure they can help. Many of the staff are trained medical doctors with a specialization in nutritional medicine. This woman who wrote this article is a total jerk. SSRI anti-depressants are not only potentially harmful, but potentially lethal. They recirculate serotonin in the brain, which can be extremely dangerous. Their quiet accrual are difficult to keep track of due to the invisible way serotonin builds up.
Also, there is such common prescription based negligence in the allopathic medical community, an insufficient follow up program with patients who are on SSRI anti-depressants, that fatalities occur and keep on occurring. According to various internet blogs and comments I've read, many people in need of additional serotonin take L-Tryptophan, a safe and natural amino acid, which produces fresh serotonin.
It does not build up in the brain by a recirculation process as do SSRI's. I know this can be so hard. People who care about you can give you the mirror you need to see your problematic behaviors for what they are. Once you've decided you want to change, convince yourself that you are able to achieve your change goals. You need to strengthen your sense of self-efficacy , or belief that you can accomplish what you want. Seeing other people change successfully is inspiring, but you need to see yourself as having what it takes to make those changes in yourself.
As you go through Steps , you'll build your self-efficacy and become even more likely to succeed. Once you figure out your inner motives and the external incentives that are driving your bad habits, you'll go a long way toward changing them. Take a good hard look at the situations that lead you to commit your bad habit. If it's lateness, as Galanes suggested, you may be trying to control the lives of others by setting the times that you not they want to meet. It's also possible that your behavior is motivated by a kind of self-defeating need to undo yourself, or what psychoanalysts might call " neurotic behavior.
Do you fail to engage in good health habits because you don't think your body deserves to be treated properly? Are your addictions perhaps motivated in part by some need that you have to fail or shorten your life? These sorts of inner motivations may interact with influences that are acquired through specific experiences. Everyone responds to reinforcements-- the rewards that strengthen our behaviors. Some bad habits just feel good, so we keep repeating them. They may also make our other problems, such as stress , temporarily go away, and this relief becomes another source of reinforcement.
Social rewards add to the mix. If your friends don't complain when you're late, act in overbearing ways, or commit social improprieties, you don't see any real reason to change. In fact, the behavior of other people might keep your bad habits going. You're late to a meeting, and everyone rushes to fill you in on what you missed. Now you've gotten some attention for your movie-star like dramatic entrance.
By figuring out what's causing the bad habit, you can also work on deciding how to manipulate the outcomes of your behavior. Take the outcomes that are reinforcing the bad habit attention, pleasure, excitement and then use them to reward you for the behavior you want to acquire. Do you savor the attention of being late? Figure out other ways to be noticed. Does that fried food just taste too good to give up?
Find ways to get satisfaction from healthy eating. Even Bill Clinton, a well-known gourmand in his younger days, says he feels better than ever on his new vegan diet. Your bad habits have taken years to establish themselves. You're not going to throw them off in an instant. Decide on a realistic schedule that will work for you based on goals that you believe you can meet. Overcoming your sedentary lifestyle is a good example of how you can proceed through this step. In the first place, don't think that you can readily go from zero days of exercise a week to seven.
You'll be bound to fail and then use your failure as proof that you can't change. Instead, work out a schedule of times to go to the gym or on a run that will readily fit into your existing schedule. Start off slow two or three times a week , and gradually increase until you're at the level recommended for your age, gender , and family history. When it comes to a social behavior such as being chronically tardy, your ultimate goal of never being late may also be hard to achieve in one step. If you're typically running 20 or 30 minutes late for your appointments, set a preliminary goal of "only" being 10 minutes late still annoying to other people but not quite as much.
It's unlikely you can change completely right away if this is an ingrained habit reinforced by others and caused by some self-defeating tendencies. Cutting the tardiness factor by half is a good start. If you're going to reach your ultimate goal, you'll need to know how well you're doing on achieving the reasonable goals you've set as first steps.
This means that you have to keep a diary or journal. In the case of exercise and weight control, for example, you can take advantage of online recording programs that also give you tips that adapt to your record of progress. There are certainly "apps for that" which can make your record-keeping easy and perhaps reinforcing in their own right.
When it comes to chronic tardiness, you should write in your calendar virtual or paper when you arrived at your meeting or social gathering, or when you submitted your assigned work. See if the times start to creep closer and closer to hitting the punctuality mark. Your motivation to change will be fired up in part by the rewards you get from your new behaviors. However, even the people most dedicated and determined to change will suffer an occasional relapse.
If you use that slip as "proof" that you can never change, you will in fact not be able to change. Instead, try to figure out why you slipped. Perhaps your reinforcement system didn't work and the pleasure of engaging in the habit outweighed the pain of changing the habit.
Record these incidents in your diary, but if they keep happening, you may need to tinker with your reward system or move to Step 5. One of the best ways to build your inner resilience is by looking outward for support. If you're having trouble making these changes on your own, reach out to your friends, family, or perhaps your supervisors, teachers, or mentors.
Group exercise programs may also be more motivating than going it on your own. Formalized support programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Weight Watchers are built on the assumption that it's tough to go it alone, which is why sponsors are such a key part of their approach.
Entrenched or change-resistant habits may also require psychotherapy. If you're afraid that reaching out to a mental health professional will be time-consuming, costly, or just not worthwhile, you may be surprised to learn about psychotherapy's proven track record. Newer psychotherapy methods are shorter and more focused than old-style psychoanalysis.
Needing help doesn't mean you've failed. It just means that the change is going to require more resources than you initially anticipated. By breaking down the change process into measurable goals, rewarding your success, and reaching out when you need help, you'll be on your way to a longer and more fulfilling life. Check out my website, www. For more information, read the " Weekly Focus " containing more background to this posting and additional tips.
Page 3 of 4 - Dirk Hall, 21, fine review was dismissed. Caine Lammers, 21, fine review was dismissed. Jorge Antnnez, 37, no proof of liability insurance citation was dismissed. Corey Deshaun Joyner, 32, no proof of liability insurance citation was dismissed. Whitney Dianne Robinson, 24, third-degree battery charge was dismissed with conditions.
Whitney Dianne Robinson, 24, disorderly conduct charge was dismissed with conditions. Nikki Davis, 39, fine review was dismissed.
Scottie O Neal, 37, received a day jail sentence during a fine review. Jessica Childers, 29, received a day jail sentence during a fine review. Supporters of the freeze are seeking to distinguish it from an ordinary ceasefire. For example, occasional shooting wouldn t violate the freeze, they say, as long as each side continues to steadily reduce violence. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo always trash-talked. Up to 15 percent of the contents of cheaper and frozen meats can actually be water or stock.
When it comes to chicken, Smith-Ransome adds that the higher priced chicken is probably a younger chicken. We knew we could rely on him whenever. Which ESPN channel are there puppies dressed up like ducks playing with squeaky footballs? Rated good or excellent for seven years.