Connection Between Addiction And Stress

Stress is an unavoidable part of life. One reason the Twelve Step approach fails is its reliance on HALT, which stands for, "Don't get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired." Everyone gets too Hungry, too Angry, too Lonely, and too Tired. It's inescapable. But the unworkable HALT approach reveals something about addictive thinking: People who act addictively believe that addictive behavior is needed to relieve stress. In fact, addictive behavior *increases* stress. Breaking the connection between addiction and stress will diminish the overall tension in your life. It will make it easier for you to cope with anxiety because you won't be compounding your problems by adding addictive behavior.

In many cases, the addictive behavior causes more stress than the original problem. For instance, if you're bored, that can be stressful. If you act addictively to relieve the boredom, not only does the boredom eventually return, but you also compound the boredom with anxiety, guilt, and a sense of profound hopelessness about dealing with life.

If you act addictively under stress you worsen the stress because you hinder your ability to face your problems.