Dr. Phil's Thoughts on Addiction

I was sick several days last week and got to just veg out in front of the tv for hours every day. I was channel surfing and came across Dr. Phil's program. I don't see it very much anymore, but when I saw that the show was on addictions I had to tape it. I always learn from listening to people's struggles with addiction and I remember when I was deep in my addictions too.

One of the addicted individuals on the show was a man who couldn't stop spending money he didn't have. Dr. Phil wanted to start getting to the root of the problem. Dr. Phil said:

"Addictions serve a purpose;
Addictions serve a need;
They don't meet the need,
They don't serve the need,
They just hold it off and push it down."

Then Dr. Phil asked the man---"What are you running from? You're using your addictions to avoid getting real about some things. What are they?"

What a great, direct question. Dr. Phil asked the best question to get to the root of the problem. This man had just thought he had a money problem, when in fact, it was that he didn't feel good about his weight and he didn't feel like he was much of a man. So THOSE were the reasons why he was addicted to spending money, not for the sake of just spending money.

I, too, know from my experiences being addicted...it was never about the alcohol, food or cigarettes...it's always something much deeper.

But the good news is, you can quit your addiction no matter what your problems are. You can get stuck in your problems and blame your addictions on your problems, or just decide that you're going to quit your addictions and move on.

I would always choose the latter.....