Addiction

This exercise is designed to help you experience some of the feelings/thoughts that addicted individuals experience when they quit their substance or behavior of choice.  This exercise requires you to select one addiction (e.g., nicotine, caffeine, or alcohol) or behavior (e.g., Internet use, eating sweets, playing video/computer games, watching television, social media, sweets, shopping, cell-phone usage, etc) from your life containing some compulsive or excessive engagement and give it up for a period of 6 weeks, without causing undue harm to yourself or others. I am going to give up caffeine, as I use it daily and it has psychological dependency and withdrawal. This blog should be written in first person. 

Note: The blog does not have to be in APA format.  

Week 1 – Part I

1. Identify the addiction/behavior you will be abstinent from and write an introductory letter to your addiction/behavior. Caffeine.
   1. In the letter provide a short background of yourself (age, ethnic/cultural background, demographics data, occupation, family history, etc). Age 42, white, male, gay, upper middle class, family history of alcoholism and drug use, married, dogs, social worker.
   2. Describe how the addiction/behavior became part of your life. Love the taste of coffee and tea, need it to wake up pretty much every day. Will get a bad headache if don’t get my coffee and will become moody and agitated until I get my coffee.
   3. Give the addiction/behavior a name (i.e., (drug) green eyed monster, (sweets) sweet seduction, (gambling) pobre baller, etc) Coffee Beans
   4. Where on this addicted journey you are at? Just starting.
   5. How it has hinder you in life? I don’t like feeling dependent on anything
   6. Why do you want to give up the addiction/behavior? It’s the closest “drug” that I do where I feel I will go through a bunch of psychological and physical dependency issues.
   7. What pros and cons you can foresee in giving up the addiction/behavior. Feel free to make that up.
2. Based on your reading from week one on the 12 step program, identify during week one which step you see yourself starting at. Admitting powerlessness over the addiction

   Week 1 – Part 2

1. In the blog describe your experience; what challenges/barriers you encountered and ways you worked to navigate them. Headaches, grumpiness, tiredness, and this gets worse as the day goes on. Ways I have combated this: exercise, Advil, and taking a nap.
   1. Discuss your feelings and reactions during this time period, especially focusing on times you “lapse” or experience temptation. Haven’t lapsed, but worry it will be harder to say that as time goes on.
   2. It is especially important to indicate times when it was both difficult and easy to abstain, as well as those specific circumstances during which you “slipped” (birthdays, holidays, and weekends seem especially difficult). I do a lot of my homework at the local coffee shop, so I am going to have another place to work. Also, my husband still drinks coffee daily, I have to smell it and be around it.
2. Each week address what stages of change you identify with and the rationale for it.  Too early one to comment.