Drugs

Many people begin taking drugs casually to have a fun night with friends. Then after a while you find that you need drugs to relax and enjoy yourself and it gradually becomes something you need more of.

What started as just a bit of fun can often become something that begins to control you. If  you are struggling with then you are not alone – many people struggle with this, men, women, young, old, married, unmarried, those who believe in a God and those who don’t. Drugs have a power of their own which we need to wrestle back from them.

It would be great to chat with you about things that will help you to beat this drug addiction.

You are more than just a physical body, you also have feelings, emotions and a spiritual side to you. You really need to think about how to help the whole of you and not just your physical body. 

Why do you take drugs? 

It is good to think about why you do it and why you want to stop doing it. What is it that you feel you are missing that drives you to drugs and the desire for a high, is there something you are trying to mask or cover up, something you are trying to run from or forget?

It is also really helpful to think about why you want to stop – what is motivating you to want to break free?

Motivation is important in breaking free from any addiction – why do you want to be free? Are you just trying to stop for you? For someone else? For God? The stronger our motivation, and the more it isn’t just about you the more the motivation will help.

How? Where? When?

Think about how you often purchase the drugs – is it at a bar, at a friends house, in the street? Do you plan to buy drugs, or just see them and buy them because they are there?

Think about where and when? Is it normally at night when you are alone or when you are with a certain group of friends? Is it during the day when nobody is watching?

Avoid places

Once you have noticed the times and places when you find it hard to say no to the temptation to take drugs you can begin to think about avoiding these places, or making sure you are not alone at these times.

If you are with someone who knows you want to stop taking drugs then they can be an extra outside influence to keep you from buying or using at those times when you have noticed you are weakest.

Change friends

Sometimes we find it particularly hard to break out of a pattern of taking drugs together with friends – every time you meet up you get high together, and it’s so hard not to when they are still happy to carry on. If you are really serious about stopping you will need to explain this to your friends and even ask for their help – if they laugh and mock you and won’t join in the battle with you then you need to think of some different people to spend time with. A church could be a good place to find new friends with a different aim in life – one where drugs aren’t the focus.

Think about the spiritual you

Do you believe there is a God? Have you ever spent time trying to learn about who Jesus is, what he did and why he did it?

When you believe that Jesus loves you and is deeply interested in you it gives you a different picture of the world around you and of what your life is all about. It gives you a new hope and a new focus outside of yourself.

The more you get to know the real Jesus of the Bible, the more you will want to live to make Him happy and this will also then become a great motivation to saying no to the thing you are addicted to.

Give yourself a new focus

Find something new to fill your free time, spend time with other people, start a new hobby, keep yourself busy, volunteer at something. Find new, rewarding things to do and people to make a difference to – the more the focus is moved away from you and onto others, or God, the better. The less “spare” time you have the less opportunities you will have to give into the temptation to drink.

Positive rewards

Set yourself small achievable goals – 24 hrs free, 48hrs, 3 days, 1 week. Keep something that you enjoy to do, read or eat – and when you reach these goals give yourself the reward! Positive motivation is so important in wining the battle to say no to your addiction.