Addiction isn't simple. If it were a simple problem you probably already would have dealt with it. Complex problems are always at least two sided and the sides push against each other to keep you in the equilibrium you're in.
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When you temporarily ramp up the force of one side the other side also ramps up to match it, because you're a homeostatic being. The simplest two sides are your attraction and aversion circuity, so deep it pre-dates being a mammal.
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So you need to address both, and not in an adversarial way but in a way that really addresses their core problems and needs. On the aversion side, well, you're avoiding something.
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The addiction acts as a means of holding off some feeling that you don't want to feel. Helplessness, hopelessness, worthlessness, emptiness. A feeling that your system has an *absolutely not* reaction left over from when you were young and couldn't handle the situation.
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If you haven't confronted that you haven't worked with one of the roots of your addiction. Now the other side, attraction.
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You also use the addictive behavior as a poor substitute for something that you desperately want but don't think you can get, and confronting that directly would be painful, so you get a tiny drop of it from the addiction.
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Replying to
oh this is a really nice synthesis, thank you. i have an old addiction thread that only discusses the aversion but threading in pica on the attraction side snaps things together for me nicely