As the graphic above illustrates, substance abuse causes profound changes in the brain, and not just when the addict or alcoholic is actually under the influence of the substance.  Over time, the brain "adapts" to the constant presence of the substance and the brain changes.  Luckily, the brain also has a certain amount of "elasticity," and will eventually recover to fairly normal functioning long-term.  But for the person actively using, or in early stages of recovery where cravings are still a major issue, common sense, logic and "normal" behavior are often hard to find.  So try to keep in mind that the person you're dealing with has made using and continuing to use the number one priority in their mind and in their life.  When looked at from that perspective, most of what they say and how they behave will make more sense.

The Purpose Of This "How To"

Thinking is the "grandfather" of action.  There is a direct connection between what and how we think, and how we act.  The purpose of this "How To" is to enable you to understand some of the types of dysfunctional thinking that can begin to make addiction look like an attractive vehicle for avoidance or "escape."  These are often the types of thinking that both precede addiction, and endure within the individual while they are still seeing through the "eyes" of active addiction.  As you will learn, once you understand the distorted and dysfunctional thinking, you begin to understand the distorted and dysfunctional behavior.

What Were They Thinking?

We see a newspaper article or television item about someone committing suicide and we struggle to understand.  We ask ourselves questions, "What was this poor soul thinking?"  "How did life become so bleak, so hopeless, that they had to end it this way?"  "How does someone arrive at that mind set - that kind of dark thinking?"

Or we see someone who has become a victim of addiction and it makes no sense.  We see a six foot tall, ninety-eight pound methamphetamine addict with open sores all over their face, who only two years earlier, was the star player on their high school football team and the envy of everyone.  And again we ask, "What were they thinking?"  "They had the world in the palm of their hand!"  "How could they throw it all away like that?"

Well the truth is, what they were "thinking" is entirely responsible for what happened to them.  That's because what we "think" has a tremendous bearing on how we perceive ourselves and the rest of the world, which in turn affects how we feel.  And to one degree or another, how we feel dictates the actions and directions we take in our lives.

Thinking In Addiction

So this All Positive Options "How To" is about the role "thinking" plays in addiction, and will illustrate that when our thinking is distorted, it has the power to make anything and everything in life look quite ugly and depressing.  It can make us feel that life is a waste of time, that life is unfair and that we're unworthy or incapable of having a good life.  In fact, it can create a picture of the world and a self-image of who we are, that's so distasteful, it can literally drive you to drink.  Or to drugs.  Or gambling, gaming, chatting - or whatever "medication" you decide to use to make the world seem better, or more tolerable for you.

Everything Begins With Thought

Everything in the entire world you see around you began with a thought.  Whether you're looking at an oil painting, a ninety story skyscraper, a crack addict, or a happy, fulfilled person with a positive attitude - what created them all was "thinking."  And that's exactly why "cognitive behavioral" therapy plays such a big role in addictions and mental health in general.  It's about identifying the flawed, invalid and distorted thinking that cause destructive actions and behaviors, and correcting what needs correcting.  As you will see, these "flaws" in our thinking don't just change the way the world looks to us, they actually dictate what directions we will take within that world.

So here are some examples of cognitive distortion and how that might affect what type of personality and person is created.  Undoubtedly, you will see types of thinking here that remind you a little, or a lot of someone you know, perhaps even yourself.

The "Toxic" Premise

A premise is a proposition or a belief from which conclusions or other beliefs are drawn.  And this is extremely important, because everything in life begins with a premise of one sort or another.  For example, a healthy premise would be that the world is in general, a safe place.  So based on that premise, we'll get up in the morning and go out into that world without any undue fear because our premise is that more or less, the world is a safe place.  And the premise dictates all ensuing decisions and choices.

So let's suppose our premise was that as a person, we're fairly capable of doing most things fairly well.  Not everything mind you, but most things that we put some effort into, we do pretty well.  So based on that premise, as new opportunities come along to do something new, we'll probably choose to give it a shot because our original premise is that we'll probably do fairly well at it.

But suppose somewhere along the road of life we bought into a false and "toxic" premise and came to hold it as a truth.  It can happen at any time, but it's usually when we're still very young and highly impressionable.  So let's suppose when we were first learning math, we were told and came to accept as a premise, that we were "hopeless" at math.

That premise might have been picked up through a teacher, or a parent, or from our peers, but the point is, if we began to believe it, it doesn't matter whether it was true or not, it will begin to profoundly affect our choices and decisions.  And why shouldn't we have believed it?  It was probably communicated to us at a time when we were struggling with math!

The Results Of The Toxic Premise

So now we are growing up under the false and toxic premise that we are "hopeless" at math.  Will that affect your choices in education?    Will that affect your choices in your career?  Will it affect your confidence to become financially wealthy or well-off, or your belief in your ability to run your personal finances?  Of course it will!  It will not just "affect" your decisions and choices, it will "dictate" them.

And here's the kicker.  Just because some person told you you were "hopeless" at math doesn't mean that you really were.  Maybe you were just struggling with math at some point like many people do, but instead of being encouraged, you were labeled "hopeless" and you believed it and adopted it as a premise.  Do you know who else struggled with math and actually failed some of his courses in it?  Albert Einstein!  - the man who went on to be the most brilliant mathematician in the history of mankind!

The Premise Is The Foundation

So if your premise is false or flawed, then every decision, every choice and any other conclusion you reach based on that false premise is to one degree or another, also false.  Look at it like the foundation of a building.  If you lay a ground floor foundation for a building that's tilting to the right by just one degree, by the time you've built the first floor on top of that foundation you're going to be out one degree plus a little more.  And by the time you get to the tenth floor, you're probably going to be out by perhaps ten degrees.  And if you keep building up, that original one degree of "fault" is going to keep multiplying until eventually, your building collapses.

And your belief systems, or your premises about life are no different.  If they're wrong to begin with, everything that follows after them is also a "little bit" wrong and it never gets better as you go along - it always gets worse.  So after we show you some examples of cognitive distortion, we're going to show you exactly how this plays out in addiction and recovery in combination with the faulty or flawed premise.  We begin on the next page by looking at types of thinking and what result they actually produce in the person.

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