In The Addictive Personality, Craig Nakken writes:

“There have been, over the years, many different ways of describing addiction. To cite a few examples, addiction has been described as a moral weakness, a lack of willpower, an inability to face the world, a physical sickness, and a spiritual illness. If you are a family member or a friend of a practicing addict, you may have more colorful ways of describing what addiction is. Nearly all descriptions have elements of truth about the nature of addiction.”

“Addiction must be viewed as a process that is progressive. Addiction must be seen as an illness that undergoes continuous development from a definite, though often unclear, beginning toward an end point.”

“Although there are many kinds of addictions, no matter what the addiction is, every addict engages in a relationship with an object or event in order to produce the desired mood change.”

In Facing the Shadow Workbook, Patrick Carnes, Ph.D., writes:

“Addiction is an illness of escape. Its goal is to obliterate, medicate, or ignore reality. It is an alternative to letting oneself feel hurt, betrayal, worry, and – most painful of all – loneliness.”

“The hardest challenge for some addicts is acknowledging that they have a problem. Addiction cripples the core ability to know what is real – our most essential skill – because addicts weave a string of rationalizations and delusions that make it impossible to cope with details like jobs or families.”

“Addiction often begins simply; reality becomes too much to bear, so we try to escape through drugs, alcohol, or sex. Escaping reality for even the briefest time brings some relief. But when escaping becomes habitual, we have a mental health illness know as addiction. If mental health can be defined, as M. Scott Peck says, as a commitment to reality no matter what the cost, addiction can be defined as its most direct opposite: evading reality no matter the cost – though it may even bring death.”

Addiction has a strong negative influence on our self-esteem, self-confidence, relationships, and lifestyle choices. Breaking the cycle is challenging and a lot of hard work. However, the recovery process puts us on a road to personal, emotional, and spiritual hope and freedom.

The goal of addiction treatment at New Leaf Center is to help clients establish a strong recovery system that supports physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being, and leads to more positive, fulfilling relationships with friends, families, and significant others.