ADDICTION

I am no stranger to addiction. My Father was an alcoholic and when he committed suicide I too fell into the hopeless depression of addiction. I remember in rehab thinking “I do drugs because I am depressed”. Well I had a revelation while I was there, I was depressed because I did drugs. I believe many people fall into addiction because of life’s circumstances. I also believe that people can recover from addiction by learning healthy, better ways of dealing with what life throws at us. I believe depression and addiction are closely related. It is a “which came first, the chicken or the egg” scenario.

Family situations have again become very trying for me as my stepfather is dying, he is 91 and has been chronically ill for some time, and my family is having some differences of opinion. My family has never been one for “respectful dialogue”, each thinks their view is the only view and my Mother has always lived in a world of denial.

As a result, I have become depressed, and feeling worthless in the eyes of my family. Not a good place for me to say the least! I have revisited addiction after a very long time, luckily not with hard drugs but with coffee and cigarettes. I turned to them as the stress grew and became addicted once again. I now realize the coffee and cigarettes are causing my stress and anxiety more than my family situation. Back to that “which came first, the chicken or the egg”.

I went into nutrition to help those suffering from addiction. So now I have a chance to revisit all of the things that once helped me to overcome, and I want to share them with you.

Yes, eating a healthy diet is key to getting your body back into balance. Exercise, getting out in nature even if it is just a walk around the block. Taking time to honor myself and reflect also proved helpful. Meditation, Tai Chi and Yoga also did wonders for me. Most of all though I think gratitude for the wonderful life I have and staying in the present moment are my best recovery tool.

I am off the coffee now and that has done wonders for my anxiety level, not to mention my kidneys and I am down to a couple of cigarettes a day and soon to be free of those also.

I have hard work to do as my stepfather now has pneumonia and we are just letting nature take it’s course and hoping for his pain and suffering to come to an end peacefully. I will get through this and the ensuing interactions with my family and I will be a stronger person for it all………once again!

Submitted by Tricia @ Nutrition by Tricia