Why is addiction so painful? It all comes down to cognitive dissonance. Start reading for free today by visiting www.thisnakedm....
Join Annie Grace, author of This Naked Mind: Alcohol Exposed as she explores the role of Cognitive Dissonance (internal disagreement) in addiction.
Cognitive Dissonance - I believe, and in fact my work and book is based on this premise, that you have an internal conflict that is responsible for the difficulty we have around both wanting to stop drinking / smoking and wanting to drink/ smoke at the same time. (This is cognitive dissonance in a nutshell.)
Most people are pretty aware that we have two different ways of thinking - conscious and unconscious (or subconscious)
Conscious - uses language and intentional thought. It is your conscious mind that is deciding that you would be better off and happier if you didn’t drink as much.
Your subconscious doesn’t use language. This is the part of the mind that keeps your heart beating you breathing etc. Stuff happens in this part of your mind without your being aware of it.
You may not know that your subconscious is responsible for your desires. Your desires come from conditioning - which we are constantly exposed to. For example you don’t just decide to fall in love. That happens below your conscious awareness.
The premise of This Naked Mind is that while you consciously want to make a change in your life (like to stop drinking alone) your far more powerful and controlling subconscious mind- which again is responsible for your desires - has not gotten that memo.
Cognitive dissonance is the disconnect between the two. Disagreeing with yourself. It’s painful enough to see conflict but when we are doing something we hate ourselves for doing we rip ourselves apart. It is one of the most painful things I’ve experienced. Healing the rift in my mind and heart was profound in my confidence and self esteem.
12 сен 2024
