Cults and addiction; more similar than you might think?

Addiction Economy Thought For Today - This a tentative foray into the controversial end of our evolving thinking on addiction! But researching successful approaches to quitting addictions, like cigarettes, alcohol, gambling and vaping bears a resemblance to the issues with being in and getting out of cults.

An addiction, even a 'dependency' runs your life. It often offers a weird sense of comfort and belonging, perhaps to a group or a world view. Think of the smokers outside the office or the young kids taking up vaping because every else does it and they want to fit in. Others can't understand why you are letting something so obviously harmful derail your life, but you can't see your way out of it, you feel you don't just want it, but need it. (Which is part of the deliberate addictive design of the products).

But some of the successful approaches to quitting show that the psychological switch to realising you don't need it, it's not benefiting you and seeing your life without it as better and not worse, is the key to un-addiction and can happen in an instant. We are currently reading our way through all the many quitting books (cigs, vapes, drinking, smart phones and more) by the legendary Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking (a commercial group, but so successful it's now available on the NHS for smoking). Their 'cognitive rewiring' approach which takes you through a process of seeing your addiction differently, is astonishingly successful and inspires people to simply step away without a backward glance after reading the book or going to the one 6 hour session. Is this because our belief about our addiction is stronger than the chemical aspects which we feel are the reason we are hooked? A fascinating new area, looking forward to learning more.

But back to cults, as the article below says, the psychological pull is similar, and the respectful support of friends important and the cognitive switch makes the difference.

Maybe half of America can be gently but quickly cognitively rewired to step away from the cult of Trump!?