By Tom Horvath, PhD
I was recently contacted by a website putting together a list of 50 very brief accounts, including before and after pictures, about individuals resolving addictive problems. I was pleased that they included a few quotes from me, about the process of change.
https://www.boredpanda.com/best-all-times-before-after-addicts-transformation/
Perhaps the most important fact to know about significant addictive problems is that most individuals fully or mostly resolve them. So often the stories we see are focused on problems, not success.
The process of change often takes more effort and more time than we would like, but nevertheless it happens! The results of the change process are quite different from individual to individual. The lengthy time needed to change can in part be determining exactly what each individual needs to do.
The pictures in this story are compelling. You might not even read much! Several stories are about individuals who could easily have died because their problems had become so severe. All stories were drawn from The Addict’s Diary Instagram account. Some stories are summaries, some are first person accounts.
Why might we find inspiration through the success of others? If you solved your addictive problems in a try or a few, you may not be drawn to these stories. But many of us have struggled at length, and may often have felt, if not hopeless, then growing resigned to having these problems for the rest of our lives. It is very encouraging and a great source of inspiration to see others who were pretty far down, and who managed to find what was needed to change.
Although every success story is unique, there are common themes worth revisiting. At some point we may have crossed a boundary we thought we would never cross. We may realize that, however much I like this addictive experience, there are some aspects of life even more important to me. We may decide that “this is not who I am.” Maybe some other aspect of life changed, and our entire view of life changed with it. To generalize even more, perhaps at some point the benefits of the addictive behavior started to be overshadowed by the costs and losses. One way to say this is that I used to think “I can’t live without it” and now I think “I can live better without it.”
Wherever you are in your journey(s) of change (you might have several, for different substances and activities), I hope you find those pictures meaningful.
Feeling a bit of inspiration to see if treatment is right for you? Our outpatient services could be a good fit. Reach out today – you don’t have to do it alone!
