# The mechanical method of recovering from an addiction

Unlike [the Twelve Step method](addiction-steps.md), there is a technical way to stop an addiction, but it requires a tremendous amount of [willpower](purpose.md) to directly do it.

## The symptoms of the substance

At the moment you have a craving, you are temporarily delusional.

- Your [feelings](mind-feelings.md) don't understand time, so your mind [believes](mind-understanding.md) that you will face that struggle forever.

At the moment, you'll feel like you have zero control over your impulses, which is entirely untrue.

- You could resist for another 5 minutes if you wanted.
- You could leave where the substance is and go somewhere else (or simply another part of the house).
- You could go for a walk, take a cold shower, or [do a workout](body-exercise.md).
- You could call [a friend](people-friends.md) and talk.

## Stay mindful of the truth

If you resist for long enough, the urge will subside.

- You can't lapse if you're asleep, so you'll be fine if you can make it to bedtime.

It will be amazing when you make it to a week, and then for a month, and so on.

When you lapse, you've basically gone right back to the addiction without any change.

## Setting goals

Your goal should be to never use that substance again.

- It's easy to aim for "social use" or "recreational use", but if you have an addiction that's simply your mind making excuses.

Avoid unchanging, time-bound goals.

- If you aim for a week, you'll likely relapse on the eighth day.
- Aim for goals you can find reasonably attainable, but that you also move a little farther every single time you get near them.

## When you encounter a real emergency

Practice [meditation](mind-awareness-meditation.md).

Find a recovery group and ask them for help.

Recall how much [shame](mind-feelings-shame.md) you felt the last time you lapsed.

## When you fail

Hold yourself accountable and tell someone every single time you fail.

There is a "chaser effect" where you will try another hit shortly after.

- A lapse is stumbling, but you will lose *all* your progress if you relapse.

Think about why you lapsed, and how you got yourself into that situation.

- Figure out a solution by finding a way to avoid that [trigger](habits.md) the next time.

## Phases of withdrawal

1: Urges

- Stay constantly distracted with something else.
  - Keep some sort of idea or project on your mind to focus on (preferably detailed enough that it needs plenty of forethought).
- Minimize times where you have nothing to focus on or do (e.g., in bed, toilet, shower).
- If you start fantasizing about the substance, shut the thoughts down immediately before they begin.
  - [Meditation](mind-awareness-meditation.md) can help immensely with this.
- If you fail and start fantasizing:
  - A fantasy is simply a vague idea and becomes more tangible as you explore it deliberately.
  - Since you probably won't be able to suppress it, don't focus on it and simply let it pass through your mind without much attention.
  - Resist the urge to dive into it, explore it, analyze it, or do anything else with it.
  - Increase your distractions, which may include some other substance if it becomes unbearable (preferably a healthier one).
  - If you know it may happen, make a plan ahead of time for what you will do.

2: Deadening

- If you fight through the urges, you'll feel miserable from a diminished dopamine supply.
- Since it's a sign of progress, learn to accept the misery as your mind healing.
- Do not play around near the substance, since that will still spike anticipation.
- To make it easier, aim for a different dopamine source (e.g., [exercise](body-exercise.md), [work](success-4_routine.md)), but be aware that that may *also* become a substance.
- This is the most likely time when you'll lapse, and the extremes in pleasure signals will always give a heavy rush if you do.
- After a few months, this abstinence will often represent as [depression](hardship-depression.md).
  - Often, the dopamine at the moment of the substance's release gave you a type of "brain fog", which created an apathy for life in general.
  - Once the brain fog lifts, you start caring about things a lot more, and every large problem could trigger depression or discouragement.
  - The only way around it is to [set goals](success-3_goals.md) and start fixing those problems.
- It's also possible that you may lose interest in a healthy, adjacent activity (e.g., visiting friends now that you're not drinking with friends).
  - This is typical, but will normalize again after a few days or weeks.

3: Success

- At this point, you're safe from further abuse.
- However, any lapse can bring back the old mental signals.
- It takes about 3-6 months of restraint until you no longer have cravings.
- Since it's easy to relapse heavily, you must consider yourself "weak" to that substance for a long time (at least years or decades).

## Managing willpower

Your willpower is a finite resource.

- To survive the heaviest cravings, you will need *all* your willpower.
- For you to prioritize this, you'll need to neglect other willpower-based activities.
  - Consider everything you don't feel like doing to be at-risk when trying to overcome the addiction.

Willpower is like a muscle, where it grows as you use it.

- However, like a muscle, using willpower too much without [having fun](fun.md) can cause you to fall apart on *everything*.
- Killing an addiction takes *massive* amounts of willpower, but it requires self-discipline.

The first month will take all your willpower, along with more than you realize you'll need.

- Once you have consistently done it for a week, you'll be able to carefully add some things that also take willpower as well.

Watch for triggering content:

- Avoid any entertainment or social media that includes that content.
  - You can often check parental reiews of things before consuming it.
- Use a website blocker to avoid any habitual websites connected to the substance.
- You can usually steer away from things you accidentally encounter, but will likely lapse with things you intentionally seek out.

## Mind games

After the first round or two of resistance, your subconscious mind will start playing games to get you to relent.

- Absolutely any excuse or reason is a complete and total [lie](people-lying.md).

There are many ridiculous lies that, upon a second glance, are utter nonsense.

- Never consuming that substance again won't adversely affect your health.
- Your friends doing it doesn't give you the freedom to do it too.
- "One more time" won't be just one more time.
- Your [religion](religion.md) may accommodate it, but will never condone it.
- Any physiological symptoms of withdrawal won't be permanent, and are often the body healing from the abuse.
- You can't "test your limits" by exploring a trigger.
- Having increased [stress](mind-feelings-happiness-stress.md) is natural, and the substance is not the answer to it.
- "Easing into" going abstinent is *not* better, and will more likely lead to a relapse.
- You don't need a holiday from it.
- Your increased pleasure from another hit will be the chaser effect.

Even when it seems perfectly logical, you know in yourself that it's [wrong](morality.md).

At some point, around 1-3 weeks, you'll ask why you're even persisting.

- Stay mindful that resetting your mind to a healthy state will lead to more [happiness](mind-feelings-happiness.md) and [success](success-1_why.md), as well as less apathy, for the rest of your life.

You may think about how hopeless and awful it may feel, and how it'll go forever.

- The self-discipline does go on forever, but that's what "normal people" do without thinking about it.
- In other words, *you're* the pathetic loser who isn't doing things correctly on this particular substance.