Hi, I was wondering if any of the members of this group could give me advise on everyday coping skills they are using to deal with the aftermath of this addiction. I feel like my head is drowning in guilt and shame, and eventhough i talk with my family and therapist, I wonder how I am going to deal witht he guilt and shame of being a shoplifter.
The path this addiction has led me to is so destructive, and harmful I dont ever want to be on it again. It is amazing to me that an addcition can completely take over your way of thinking and cloud what you know is right. I joined this support group page in order to become a healthy person mentally. Hope that we as a group can help each other and support one another on a road to recovery. Thank you in advance to any one who responds to this post.
The thing you have to realize is that addiction is something that you have to learn how to overcome, but not in the way most people tell you. Behaviors like addiction cannot just be deleted (no behavior can be deleted) you must replace the negative addiction with a positive behavior or positive action. Every time you feel like you need that negative addictive thing, you must consciously replace that thought and that action with a new thing to focus on. Its difficult and it sucks and we all have times where we screw it up. Making yourself feel guilty or worthless because of the addiction is self-defeating: You have to be willing to accept that you cannot be perfect and that you will have bad days. Part of healing is realizing that you can make mistakes and still be a good person:
You can make mistakes and still be a good person.
I cannot say that enough because addiction tends to make you think in only black/white or good/bad terms. You have to find something to be passionate about in a good way, find a new thing to study, find a new hobby to delve into, find something that you may only be 'sorta' interested in right now but slowly transform that into a hobby or passion once you can embrace life again.
Its a hard road to recovery, but addictions are all essentially the same: a compulsion towards something destructive that must be actively replaced with positive action and self-love.
Thank you so much for your responce. i Have added support group meeting into my life and that will ehlp. I have also added journaling, and that gives me an outlt for the thoghts and feelings that run thru my head. The road to becomng shoplifting free will be a hard one, but with God's help and hard work I am worth the effort to better my life.