I'm looking for good general information about addiction.

Hi folks,
I was wondering if anyone here has discovered any good resources on fighting addiction. Any recomendations would be appreciated. Thanks!

Well, really all depends..
What type of addiction are we talking about?

There are different ways to combat each different addiction..

No matter the addiction, ways for control will vary by the individual...

In my life I have done many drugs, tabacco and alcohol, being the hardest to quit... They are easily available at any gas station...

It is your desire, your will, that will determine your mindset and success.....

Patient: Doctor, I want to stop smoking...

Doctor: Well, what can I do to help?

Patient: I want to stop smoking, but not gain any weight... It is why I keep going back to smoking... once the weight starts, I start smoking again...

Doctor: Well, do you wan to suffer from possible (insert illness) from smoking? Or suffer from (insert illness) from eating too much?

Whatever you want to do, there will be excuses, there will be reasons to not stop... To continue your actions...

The Doctor told my dad you can exercise to loose weight from overeating.... Not much you can do to counter smoking....

No matter the object, over indulgence is dangerous... Even drinking too much water can hurt your body....

There are many forms of addiction from shopping to sex to substance, but I can tell you I have personal experience with substance addiction. I've vanquished cigarettes, alcohol and several other things. In my case it took almost twenty years. Don't let that number put you off. I learned a great deal about what does not work; that's far more important than many give credit for. I do know some things that do work and they may not be what you expect.

I can best give more specific information. PM me here or email me at
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I can say that apart from the physical withdrawal symptoms that happen with quitting some chemicals which should be done under medical supervision that the rest of it is not illness but habit. Yes, habit.

I'll get some rocks thrown at me for this but most of the time 12 Step programs do more harm than good. I am not saying that they've not worked for some people. I am not saying that support groups don't help and don't have a place sometime. I am saying that there are much better ways and one actually has a better chance of success by doing nothing than by buying into AA which is religion and a belief system. The hard facts about AA are this. In AA you'll have a 3% chance of lasting success. By doing nothing and hoping eventually for a spontaneous recovery you'll have a 5% chance. I expect questions about this so fire away.

You cannot quit a habit. You can replace a habit.

If I have more specific information I can give more and better information.

This is an area I want to expand here at The Order. So many good people have bad habits. It does not make them weak or bad persons.

Thank you for asking about this.

If you want, I can offer advice on how to address addictions with shamanic work. PM me if you're interested.

Ive had a few addictions over the years - some not so bad - others in hindsight dumb - so i'll list them and let others judge how bad each is in their own view. Just to note I have quit them all now.

Adrenaline (speed freak, dangerous sports)
Smoking
Video Games
Coffee (probably the hardest one for me to beat)
Sugar
Shopping

Some people call addiction an illness - I personally think it depends on the addiction but i'll admit its mainly a mental thing.

To beat it - you have to want to quit - and to want to win the fight because you are in for a fight, with yourself - and to win you have to want to win. There is a massive amount f truth in the first being admitting to oneself there is an issue - youve already taken this step (assuming it is you who has the xyz addiction).

Some things (eg video games) can be more easily resolved, cut off the head of the snake so to speak - so in my case I found new 'hobbies' and set myself restrictions on hours a day I can spend playing games.

Buying a console actually helped - sounds dumb at first but the fact was I played on pc mainly - these days a pc is for work and consoles for pleasure and I have to set up the console each time i want to use it (which is a chore in itself)

You can have family help in some cases, as well as friends, and of coiurse there are professionals to help too - if its something like drink, drugs, smoking etc, then a doctor will point you in the right direction as well as the various organisations such as alcoholics anon

Whatever the battle - good luck

I'd like to thank you all for your help. Much appreciated.