Instant Relief from Cravings in 3 Simple Steps

And hello everyone, Dr. Dallas Bragg here. Welcome to our channel where I talk about recovery from crystal meth for men who have sex with men. Today I want to address a common question I receive, which is, how can I control my cravings to use meth? A sub-question of that is, when will my cravings go away? Did you know that men think about sex an average of 19 times per day? For those recovering from meth addiction, this translates into 19 potential cravings a day. So why? Because meth use and sex often become neurologically fused in the brain. Meth causes the highest level of dopamine spike our brain can ever experience. And in that state, it's imprinting, almost etching into our brain. So when we have sex while high, the two get fused or paired. What fires together wires together. So this makes meth addiction recovery unique. When you quit meth, You're not just giving up the drug, you're potentially facing a dramatic drop in your libido. This period of low sex drive is what I call the incubation period. It's a crucial time for laying the foundation of recovery. If that sounds familiar to you, I want you to know that I do help men break free from crystal meth and take control of their lives. My one-on-one coaching program is open for 2 new clients every month. If you're interested, click in the description. The link in the description and submit an application. So here's the thing, cravings don't come from your conscious thoughts. So the first piece of advice I give is to cease calling them my cravings because that attaches your identity to them. This gives you ownership of them, and they're not yours. So this leads to shame and it leads to guilt because you think you caused your cravings. They're generated by Your subconscious. That animalistic, instinctual part of your brain, otherwise known as the lizard brain. An alternative to begin shifting this perspective is to call them the cravings. This separates them from you so that you can observe them. They're separate from you. So think of your subconscious as an algorithm. It's lifeless and possesses one mission. Another way to frame this is thinking of like a dog that's tasted human food. Once that boundary is crossed, that dog's going to relentlessly pursue that human food for the rest of its life. Your subconscious works the same way with meth cravings. It doesn't take breaks. It's always wanting more, and it's always wanting it, and it's always going to find little cracks and little ways to find it. And it doesn't understand reason. But remember, while you can't control when cravings appear, you can control how you respond. So I'm gonna talk about a tool I use in my one-on-one coaching program called Recovery Alchemy. Again, if you're interested in applying to work with me in my 6-month program, click the link in the video description. This model is called the Cravings Management Model, and it involves 3 key steps. But before we talk about those steps, I want you to take a look at this illustration to help understand where I'm coming from regarding these cravings. All right, so if you can see here, here's you, here's your brain. What's out of your control is when the craving hits. So it comes from your subconscious. The subconscious is craving what you told it you wanted, just like an algorithm. Whatever you click on, you're going to get more of, right? So that craving comes up. When it crosses over the threshold and you have it there, that's when it's in your control. So you have a choice at that point. You can follow it or you can finish it. When you follow, The craving, that's when you add a thought to it in the direction of pleasure. So when you have a craving to use meth and then you think about how hot that would be, you think about— the euphoric recall kicks in when you think about the great times that you had before. And is that guy available? And you go on that route. You have attached to it, you're following it out, and you're going to follow it to relapse. Maybe. Most likely. Or you can finish the craving. When you finish the craving, you attach a negative association to it— the pain. So in addiction, you want to get to a place where using meth is more painful than it is pleasurable. So when you finish it out, you attach— you go back and you remember how guilty, how shameful, how How low, what the comedown was like the last time you used. Or you remember the horrible times that you've had on this drug. And I know that you've got to have some. But you, you go in, or you play the tape forward, and you think about what life is going to be if you do use it, remembering what you have faced in the past. You might lose 2 weeks out of your life, maybe your life. Your job's on the line. You have relationships who have said, one more time and you're out. That's playing the tape forward, or you can play the tape backward. Either one, you are finishing it out with a negative reaction, and that is going to kill it. That's going to finish it. It's done, and you can move on. Okay, so number 1 is the powerful pause. So in that illustration we just saw, it's not going to be as effective if you don't know how to pause. This is the ability to suspend Spin thoughts or actions only for a split second so you can make a decision. You are in control. You know what it's like when you've used crystal meth. You go into autopilot or default mode and you're doing things. Your body's moving without you even telling it to move. This powerful pause puts you in the driver's seat. So it's like hitting a mental pause button. And is this pausing your thoughts? No. You literally cannot pause your thoughts. You can, however, observe them. This is putting you— that is the essence of meditation, is observing your thoughts. When you become the observer of them, you become more of your true self. Because if you can observe your thoughts, they aren't yours, right? Here's the trick I've learned. And to practice observing your thoughts, because in that time when that craving is given to you, you want to be able to observe your thoughts. It's like, it's kind of like The Matrix when everything freezes or whatever in the air. A trick to this is you can get in a meditative state, sit down somewhere comfortable, close your eyes, and imagine you're sitting by a river. The river's going this way, right? Every thought that comes in your mind, imagine taking it out, putting it in the water, and watching it leave. And then you turn back. The next thought comes. So this is, again, this is not following the thought. This is just putting it in the water and letting it go. You begin to get in the practice of observing thoughts without Adding to them. You're not adding the energy to them. You're not adding momentum to them. You're just observing them. And they do slow down a little bit when you're doing this, but that's the essence of meditation. You don't have to do aums and you don't have to stop thought. You just have to observe them without following them. And the more you practice that, the better it's going to— more effective it's going to be when you get a craving. So number 2, again back to following or finishing. So after the pause, that's when you decide whether to follow the craving By indulging in positive associations, or you finish it by focusing on the negative consequences. So in this illustration that we just saw is where we take control and you step into your power when it comes to cravings and your addiction. We aren't at the mercy of our thoughts anymore. We aren't switching into autopilot by allowing our thoughts to be taken over by a craving. You're in charge. The cravings are not in charge. They are the cravings. They're not yours. How to You know that autopilot moment that I mentioned earlier when you're driving to the party and you seem like you're a puppet? Your body's moving, but you don't seem to be in control. That's because you haven't learned to take the driver's seat in your psyche. You haven't learned to observe your thoughts. You become the compassionate observer. Number 3, somatic surfing. Somatic is in the body, right? This involves working with your body to ride out the cravings. This is, this is a quick 5-step process. Breathe deeply in and out for 5 seconds, longer and deeper than you normally would breathe. In through the nose, out through the mouth. You can only do it once if you want. Do it as many times as you want. When you breathe deeply, then number 2 is you focus on the bodily sensations. Where does that craving show up in your body? Where is it housed? Cravings are energy just like anything else, and they're going to be found in your body. It's a good practice to observe your bodily sensations. Where do you feel that craving? For me, I always felt it right in my belly. Observe without judgment. So when you observe the craving, you observe the bodily function. You do not go into, oh no, I have a craving, or there's a craving, I'm going to relapse, or I can't believe I have a craving again. Why am I not this far? And you know, all those defeating thoughts that come up. That's gone. You just observe it. Witness it. Allow the craving to crest like a wave. It's the next step. So craving will come. And if you don't follow it, it's going to crest. It's going to get to a peak. Now this will be uncomfortable at first. You might be shaking. Your heart might be beating fast. Whatever. But then it subsides and it goes away if you can wait it out. It's usually like 5 to 10 seconds if you don't follow it. Last phase, her last step is to journal about the experience. Journal it. As addicts, we become disconnected from others, but especially ourselves. So this technique is helpful in reconnecting you with your physical body and also being able to observe cravings as feelings, which again separates our identities from them and we begin to control them. So, you know, if you followed me for any amount of time, you know how important journaling is to me and how important I feel it is to successful sobriety. So when it comes to cravings, it holds a very special importance. Writing down your experience with cravings allows you to observe and assess the experience. It also gives you an opportunity to practice that finishing process through your writing so that the subconscious is reprogrammed. So how to do this is, you know, take yourself back to that craving moment in your writing and then write out how you would finish the craving. Like how you— what thoughts you would bring up, what emotions you would bring up. What is it? Maybe there is a specific like really bad time you've had after relapse or during active addiction that really takes you back to remembering just how terrible this drug is. Whatever it is, practice writing the process of finishing that craving over and over in your journal. And what that does, it speaks to your subconscious. And when that craving comes up again, your automatic, your autopilot is that. Your autopilot becomes what you've trained it and programmed it to do. Because, you know, in the other sense, when we go into autopilot, we've trained it that we want to party. We want to use meth. We've done it over and over and over. We've repeatedly, repeatedly fed the algorithm. This time, now with journaling, you're feeding the algorithm in a new way. All right. You know what? Recovery from meth addiction is challenging, but it is possible. I am living proof. Over six years now without crystal meth. By understanding the unique relationship, though, between sex drive and meth cravings, and by using tools like mine, the cravings management model, you can take control of your recovery journey. But remember, you are not alone in this fight. There are resources and people ready to support you. I do have a Facebook group, the After Meth Facebook group. I have a podcast called the After Meth. I have TikTok channels and all kinds of other social media channels where people gather to support one another. So I want you to follow me, follow this page, like, share, subscribe, all the good stuff. And remember that I help men break free from crystal meth and take control of their lives. My one-on-one coaching program is open for 2 new clients every month. If you're interested, click the link in the description, submit an application. I'd like to hear from you. If you have questions or I didn't explain something well enough, or if you have other tactics that's worked for you, tell me in the comments. I'd love to hear about it. All right, see you guys later.