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Old Apr 16, 2012, 09:29 AM
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Perna Perna is offline
Pandita-in-training
 
Member Since: Sep 2006
Location: Maryland
Posts: 27,289
Start doing something to replace the addiction, where the addiction will get in the way. Presumably you are posting because you know you have to stop because. . .? Want whatever the because is. "Have to" give it up instead of waiting to want to.

Using my arm to take my blood pressure is extremely painful and the pain causes the blood pressure to go up astronomically and give an unusable reading (technically it's "correct" but the pain is elevating it so one does not get the pressure "at rest"). I have a wrist monitor that my doctor's office and I have calibrated with his machine to make sure it is accurate and now, I take my blood pressure 2-3 times a day over the course of a couple weeks before I go to the doctor's for my quarterly checkup. Otherwise, he starts pressuring me about high blood pressure meds, which I don't want.

I prefer the habit I've started of taking my blood pressure over the 10 days before I see my doctor 2-3 times a year to having to argue and remind and worry/think bad thoughts about myself. I've impressed upon myself that I "need" to do this for myself.

There are probably a few things in your life that you do because you feel "forced"/need to do them, some things you just won't give up that you associate with being "you" (kind of like some women who won't go out of the house without makeup :-) Look at the ones you have, that work for you, and see if you can figure out how to start an arrangement like those around your addiction. Use what you have and go toward that rather than trying to move away from the addition. It's easier to go along with something already in place than to "stop" something without anything else being there first.

When I was playing games on Facebook 24/7 I deleted my "game" friends (had over 1000), wrote my real world friends and relatives that I would not be coming to Facebook very often anymore and retreated to a health web site that I use and re-invested myself there, instead (and came here more often, etc.). Substitute something more healthy for the addiction.
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