Addiction & Bad Habits - Tips
"Now new evidence that suggests a way to make their efforts easier: exercise. In a study involving 233 teens aged 14 to 19 in West Virginia (which has one of the highest smoking rates in the country, at more than 22%), teens who participated in a smoking cessation program combined with exercise were on average up to three times more likely to quit smoking than those who were provided only minimal stop-smoking counseling. - Time Healthland (Sept 2011)
"Aerobic exercise may protect against binge-like patterns of cocaine use, suggests a new study. Rats allowed access to running wheels self-administered less cocaine than did rats that were not." - Science Daily (Nov 2010)
"They had stimulant abusers repeatedly perform a working memory task, "exercising" their brains in a way that promoted the functional enhancement of the underlying cognitive circuits. They found that this type of training improved working memory and also reduced their discounting of delayed rewards." - Science Daily (Jan 2011)
"Working memory, housed in the prefrontal cortex, is strongly related to executive control. People with less working memory have poor executive functioning and training working memory improves executive control. Because of this, Katrijn Houben and her colleagues at Maastricht University in the Netherlands set out to test whether strengthening people's working memory might help them control their impulses." - Psychology Today (July 2011)
"The researchers suggest a different take - that social bonds may reduce the risk of addiction, especially the supportive bonds found in long-term relationships. This is consistent with previous human research, which has shown that both perceived social support and adult attachment style - how secure you feel in close relationships- predict lifetime prevalence of substance abuse. The less social support and less relationship security, the greater the risk of addiction." - Psychology Today (June 2011)
"I don't feel drawn to abstinence from my gut, but I can name one good reason it works. When you do choose abstinence rather than moderation, you shift from a framework of "how much" behaviors to "yes/no" behaviors. Some behaviors, which I'm calling "how much" behaviors here, demand a small-scale internal debate each time they pop up. Examples include "How much should I eat for breakfast?" and "How much time should I work on my novel today?" The privately conducted debates behind these questions can give you a sense of freedom. Here you get to tinker with how you act, with what you ingest, with what you produce. You can feel liberated from external rules. But the fact is that these "how much" questions also tax us. - Psychology Today Blog (July 2009)
"The bottom line: when you're trying to make a difficult change, save your strength for what matters most. If both a cigarette and candy bar are calling your name, let the candy bar sweet talk you into indulgence. You can kick that habit later." - Psychology Today Blog (July 2009)
"People who grow up in stimulating, engaging surroundings are protected against addiction, Volkow believes, even if they don't have a naturally responsive dopamine system. If you connect to the world in a meaningful way, and have more chances to get excited about natural stimuli, you're less likely to need an artificial boost." - Psychology Today Blog (Nov 2004)
"Falling off the wagon—whether by bakery binge or drug bender—doesn't mean total defeat. In fact, relapse is the best teacher on the road to recovery." - Psychology Today Blog (July 2010)
"7 Essential Steps to Mastering Temptation" - Psychology Today Blog (Nov 2010)
"The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) blew the whistle on these deeply held notions with its official release of a new document defining addiction as a chronic neurological disorder involving many brain functions, most notably a devastating imbalance in the so-called reward circuitry. This fundamental impairment in the experience of pleasure literally compels the addict to chase the chemical highs produced by substances like drugs and alcohol and obsessive behaviors like sex, food and gambling." - Alternet (Aug 2011)
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