Self-image and addiction

A lot of addiction recovery advice is founded upon the socially constructed idea of a person being an "addict". The idea is that the "addict" is fixed with a certain problem for life and that they should manage their addiction until the day they die. My personal experience and work with clients completely conflicts with this idea. The notion that people are destined to stay stuck, never being able to deal with their compulsive desires, is bullshit.

And the problem is that when working within the paradigm of the "addict for life" disease-based model, people continue to remove triggers and avoid urges. This just reinforces the self-image of an "addict" further and of course results in people relapsing when they inevitably do experience cravings. When you really break things down, an "addict" is just a person who has not been taught how to deal with compulsive desires, yet. Fortunately, people have two options. People can choose to live their life in fear of desires or people can learn how to deal with cravings directly and enjoy spending their life without any fear of relapse.

With options, comes power. You have more of a choice over your life than you may think.