Addiction is a disease of the brain, and it’s not one that can be cured through willpower alone. While increased willpower isn’t going to pull you out of addiction, it can help you to avoid a relapse once you’ve gotten some help and started your recovery process. Cravings are part of recovery and willpower is needed to overcome them. Increasing your self-control can help you to manage cravings and other withdrawal symptoms.
Understanding Human Nature
One thing you need to know about willpower is that everyone struggles with it. No one is completely self-mastered all the time and everyone gives in at times. Willpower is like a mental muscle that gets tired when we wear it out. That’s why it’s so common for people to start out the day with a plan to eat healthy and to end it with a milkshake in bed. The more your willpower is tested, the more fatigued you become, but you can build up stamina and conserve mental energy.
Powered by Positive Rewards
Stimulating the reward center in your brain yields powerful results and it’s at the heart of addiction. Most addictive substances work by stimulating pleasure impulses. Cravings during recovery are your brain’s way of asking you to stimulate your reward center. Stimulating your reward center through healthy activity will lessen withdrawal symptoms and increase your willpower. Any high sensory or pleasurable experience can activate your reward center.
● Exercise: Releases endorphins that stimulate the reward center in your brain in a way that is very similar to addictive substances.
● Downtime: Relaxing, socializing, hanging out, taking a break: however you want to think about it, taking some time away from the stresses of life is a great reward for your brain.
● Cooking: Baking, BBQ and cooking are all full sensory experiences that light up your reward center through smell, taste, sight, and touch.
● Creative Outlets: Your brain loves thinking and it loves having new ideas. Reward it by engaging in some form of creativity.
Avoiding Fatigue
Willpower’s worst enemy is fatigue. The more you test your willpower, the less self-control you will have. Avoiding situations where you know your willpower will be tested will keep your reserves full for those unexpected surprises that come along. If you spend a lot of time with people, places, and situations that test your willpower, you’re guaranteed to run out at some point.
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