Gaining Control
Kicking bad habits means taking control of your own choices.
A method of kicking bad habits that is used in some professional therapy approaches is a form of Behavioral Modification Therapy. For example, Habit Reversal Therapy[1], involves keeping track of the cues that cause you to think of doing something—and then replacing the bad habit with something else (a competing, less troublesome action, possibly something that’s good for you).
Another approach used in therapy is Motivational Interviewing[2], in which the therapist works with the client to reposition the habit.
You may find that just understanding these psychological approaches can help, but the most effective way of quitting is to work with a therapist.
Your family doctor can help. For some people there are non-addictive prescription medications that can help[3], and your family doctor should be able to advise on other therapies that are appropriate for you.[4]
It always helps to get the support and co-operation of friends and family. Tell them what you are doing and ask them to commit to helping and supporting you.
For some people, kicking the worst of their bad habits will be, perhaps, the most difficult step. For others, the timing might be perfect. Perhaps, they’ve been psychologically ready to make the change, but they just needed the push. Either way, it’s possible to close this chapter in your life on a positive note. You can make the healthy living choice you know you need to make. Whether you achieve it alone or with professional help, you’ll feel a sense of pride and accomplishment for leaving behind a seriously damaging bad habit.
[1]. Habit Reversal Therapy: ; https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/07/17/the-golden-rule-of-habit-change/
[2]. Motivational Interviewing: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/05/150504101258.htm
[3]. Medications to help reduce alcohol consumption: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/09/26/495491533/medications-can-help-people-stop-abusing-alcohol-but-many-dont-know. Medications to help stop smoking: https://smokefree.gov/tools-tips/medications-can-help-you-quit
[4]. Ways to stop smoking: https://smokefree.gov/tools-tips/explore-quit-methods; tips to reduce alcohol consumption: https://www.rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/Thinking-about-a-change/Strategies-for-cutting-down/Tips-To-Try.aspx
Dependencies and Addictions
Sometimes a bad habit is bad enough to become a dependency or addiction and seriously damage your life, not just your health. The Age Later program is not intended to help fix these problems of dependency and addiction, although the program would be useful as part of a well-structured course of rehabilitation.
Drugs, Prescription or Otherwise
All drug dependencies are bad for you long term. It is much easier to avoid a dependency than to get rid of one. Even drugs regarded as mild can do damage if used consistently over long periods.
It is not part of the Age Later program to help cure drug dependencies and addictions. Some of the worst culprits are listed here because it is certain that routine over-use of these substances will eliminate most of the benefits of the program.
If you have any drug dependencies, get help. Your usual family doctor can help get started. It is possible that a combination of medications and structured support can produce results if the addicted person is willing and motivated to change. But detailing these programs is outside the scope of this book.
Alcohol is a drug. Alcohol can be almost harmless in small quantities but in excess, alcohol affects every part of your body and increases your risk of liver disease, cardiovascular disease, cancers, neurological disorders and immune system dysfunction. Note that these risks arise at way below the level that a person might be diagnosed as an alcoholic. Excess alcohol consumption (heavy drinking) is generally regarded as being more than 15 drinks per week for men, more than around 8 drinks a week for women, although in the book I recommended lower levels. When alcohol dependency reaches the level of use that becomes addictive, it falls into the same category of other drugs, as specialist help might be needed.
Opioid painkillersare addictive. There are many opioid drugs, including heroin, codeine, oxycontin and a whole set of other opium derivatives or chemical equivalents. They are all addictive. These substances should only be used for acute short-term pain to aid healing and not for any long-term pain problems. If you suffer from chronic pain, you should only use non-addictive painkillers and in conjunction with meditation and stress-relief techniques that have been shown to be effective.
You can find more information about alternative approaches to handling chronic pain in the Age Later book.
Abuse of opioids can lead to mental health problems, depression, suicide and accidental death. I might be justified in assuming that people who take the time to read a book called Age Later would not have problems like this, but this epidemic is now so widespread that it’s still worth mentioning. If you do have an addiction problem, all the other advice in Age Later becomes irrelevant unless you kick the habit.
Marijuana may now be legal in many locations, but it’s still not good for you. There’s nothing unusual in that: alcohol and cigarettes are legal too, and in some respects, it can be argued that marijuana isn’t much worse. Nevertheless there is some evidence that regular marijuana might affect cognition, adversely affecting learning ability, attention, memory and concentration[ii].
Other hard drugs are all bad for your health too, and regular use will ensure that you die younger. Different drugs vary in their impact but common features of abuse of these drugs are: brain damage, cardiovascular illness, immune system dysfunction, liver failure and strokes[iii].
Smartphone Addiction and Internet Addiction
The modern addictions to smartphones and internet use in various forms suck up time and energy, prevent people from having a balanced social life, get in the way of healthy physical activity and exercise, promote bad eating habits and narrow the scope of mental activity. They disrupt sleep patterns and add to stress in our everyday life.
In other words, these addictions work directly against everything you should be trying to achieve in following the Age Later program.
Too much time on one or more social networks, an obsession with online or computer-based games, inability to stop reading news feeds or other information pushed to your phone, a willingness to actually read every advertisement that pops up, or simply surfing aimlessly can all be symptoms of this kind of addiction.
Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) is a real thing. [iv]. Formal diagnostic criteria are still being discussed within the psychology community[v], so as a disorder it is not yet “official”. Current thinking is that if a person spends more than twenty hours a week on the Internet (in addition to time spent using the Internet for legitimate work purposes[vi]) then that is generally regarded as a cause for concern. Remember this should include the total of all Internet time on your smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. Although time is one way of measuring the extent of the problem, it’s not just about time, it’s about your attitude to the activity, and how that activity might, in some ways, damage your life.
If you are at all concerned about the time you spend on the Internet and your ability to manage that time healthily then you should try some self-assessment tests to indicate your level of dependency. (It’s ironic that the easiest way of accessing an Internet dependency assessment tool is via the Internet.) Please note that these online questionnaires are not intended to replace professional diagnosis or consultation; they can possible provide some insights and an indication of the possible presence of a problem, but not much more. If you are seriously concerned, obtain professional advice.
There are a number of diagnostic tests available, including one called the Internet Addiction Test (IAT)[vii], another called Pathological Internet Use test[viii]which gives a slightly different perspective but naturally takes into account some common factors. There is a also a widely used test specifically for smartphone addiction[ix].
From the Age Later perspective, twenty hours a week spent on non-work activity on the Internet represents at least ten hours a week that could be diverted to improved skin care, healthy eating, and age-defying exercise.
Many people who are on the borderline between normal and obsessive use of the Internet need to recognize the reality of their situation. That knowledge of their dependence could perhaps drive them towards a more measured and less damaging use of the Internet.
There is a rapidly increasing number of treatment centers, rehab centers and clinics for Internet Addiction treatment. Unfortunately there is no easy way to compare the effectiveness of different intervention regimes. A visit to your family doctor may provide some help, as doctors do share information (with patients and other doctors) about treatment facilities that have been proven to be effective for their own patients.
But for many of us, the solution is not so difficult. Dispassionately look at the hours you spend on Internet-related stuff. How does that stack up against time spent with friends, in acquiring real knowledge, in building your own resources: a healthy body and healthy mind? How does it compare with the time investment you need to make in the Age Later program? Then ask yourself if all that online time is really worth it.
Gambling
Many people can gamble lightly, perhaps on vacation, and then they stop. Others are professional gamblers, who know how to treat gambling essentially as a job of work. Neither of these categories will consider gambling to be interfering with their lives, and diminishing their futures.
For some humans, though, gambling is an obsession, eating time, money and mental resources. If you feel that you spend so much time on gambling that you would likely be unable to follow the entire Age Later program, then gambling compulsion could prove to get in the way of success in the program.
If you are concerned that time or money spent gambling might be spent more usefully, yet feel compelled to keep gambling anyway, you might have a gambling compulsion that needs attention. If there have been times when gambling has caused disruption in the family, then you clearly need to do something about it.
As a start you could usefully complete the online assessment provided by Gamblers Anonymous[x]As with other behavioral addictions, it is quite possible that simply learning about the scale and characteristics of your compulsion is enough to reverse behavior. But many people just can’t stop. If that applies to you, you should seek professional help. Some gambling problems are linked to other psychological conditions, and so accurate diagnosis is important.
A good first step is to contact your family doctor who will be able to refer you to a specialist in this area. Do not be embarrassed to do that: you will not be the first person to seek help for a gambling problem[xi].
Notes and Useful Links
[i]. Ten health risks of heavy drinking: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/297734.php
[ii]. Health risks of marijuana: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/10/07/what-20-years-of-research-has-taught-us-about-the-chronic-effects-of-marijuana/#7818081d17be
[iii]. Effects of Drug Abuse and Addiction: https://recovergateway.org/substance-abuse-resources/drug-addiction-effects/
[iv]. Internet Addiction Disorder: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3480687/and https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/apa-blog/2016/07/can-you-be-addicted-to-the-internet
[v]. IAD Diagnosis: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929664614001041
[vi]. Many people earn their living running Internet websites, or doing Internet research as part of their jobs. That is generally not considered to be pathological use of the Internet, but if your working life is spent online and you spend a lot of recreational time online too, then you might have a problem.
[vii]. Internet Addiction Test: https://psychcentral.com/quizzes/netaddiction.htm
[viii]. Pathological Internet Use: http://www.psytoolkit.org/cgi-bin/psy2.3.2/survey?s=x9GaK
[ix]. Smartphone addiction: https://www.helpguide.org/articles/addictions/smartphone-addiction.htm
[x]. Compulsive Gamblers self-assessment: http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga/content/20-questionsPlease note that this online questionnaire is not intended to replace professional diagnosis or consultation; it can possibly provide some insights and an indication of the possible presence of a problem. If you are seriously concerned, obtain professional advice.
[xi]. Problem Gambling statistics: https://rehab-international.org/gambling-addiction/gambling-addiction-statistics
Dr. Marc Ronert - Age Later 