SubConscious – Addictions
Notes from the book The Power of your Sub-Conscious Mind by Joseph Murphy PhD in relation to Addictions.
Example: Alcohol Addiction
Cause of alcoholism
The real cause of alcoholism is negative and destructive thinking; for as a man thinketh, so is he. The alcoholic has a deep sense of inferiority, inadequacy, defeat, and frustration, usually accompanied by a deep inner hostility. He has countless alibis as to his reason for drinking, but the sole reason is in his thought life.
Your disease is instability, an inner fear. You are refusing to face life, and so you try to escape your responsibilities through the bottle.
As an alcoholic you have no free will, although you think you have, and you may even boast about your will power. If you are a habitual drunkard and say bravely, “I will not touch it anymore,” you have no power to make this assertion come true, because you do not know where to locate the power.
You are living in a psychological prison of your own making, and you are bound by your beliefs, opinions, training, and environmental influences. Like most people, you are a creature of habit. You are conditioned to react the way you do.
Greater Desire
If you have a keen desire to free yourself from any destructive habit, you are fifty-one percent healed already.
When you have a greater desire to give up the bad habit than to continue it, you will not experience too much difficulty in gaining complete freedom. If you engage the mind on the concept of freedom and keep it focused on this new direction of attention, you generate feelings and emotions, which gradually emotionalize the concept of freedom and peace. Whatever idea you emotionalize is accepted by your subconscious and brought to pass.
Realize that something good can come out of your suffering. You have not suffered in vain. It is foolish however to continue to suffer. If you continue as an alcoholic, it will bring about mental and physical deterioration and decay. Even though you may be seized with melancholia (deep sadness/gloom/depression/fears), you should begin to imagine the joy of freedom that is in store for you.
Three magic steps
The first step:
Get still; quiet the wheels of the mind. Enter into a sleepy, drowsy state. In this relaxed, peaceful, receptive state, you are preparing for the second step.
The second step:
Take a brief phrase, which can readily be graven on the memory, and repeat it over and over as a lullaby. Use the phrase, “Sobriety and peace of mind are mine now, and I give thanks.” To prevent the mind from wandering, repeat it aloud or sketch its pronunciation with the lips and tongue as you say it mentally. This helps its entry into the subconscious mind. Do this for five minutes or more. You will find a deep emotional response.
The third step:
Just before going to sleep. Imagine a friend/child or a loved one in front of you. Your eyes are closed, you are relaxed and at peace. The loved one or friend is subjectively present, and is saying to you, “Congratulations!” You see the smile; you hear the voice. You mentally touch the hand; it is all real and vivid. The word congratulations imply complete freedom. Hear it over and over again until you get the subconscious reaction, which satisfies.
Excessive drinking is an unconscious desire to escape.
The cure is to think of freedom, sobriety, and perfection, and to feel the thrill of accomplishment.
Admission
If you are an alcoholic or drug addict, admit it. Do not dodge the issue. Many people remain alcoholics because they refuse to admit it.
Many people remain alcoholics because they refuse to admit it. When you affirm positively that you are going to master your fears, and you come to a definite decision in your conscious mind, you release the power of the subconscious, which flows in response to the nature of your thought.
See also Other Notes from this great book:-
- The Power of your Subconscious Mind
- The Power of your Subconscious Mind – Health
- The Power of your Subconscious Mind – Wealth & Success
- The Power of your Subconscious Mind – Addictions
- The Power of your Subconscious Mind – Conflict, Decisions
- The Power of your Subconscious Mind – People & Relationships