Dallas Bragg says men struggling with meth addiction often talk to themselves with harsh criticism, calling themselves stupid and blaming themselves for mistakes. The first step toward recovery is noticing this inner voice and replacing it with self-compassion, reframing relapse as a learning opportunity instead of failure.
If you reach out to me for crystal meth addiction help, the first thing I'm going to listen for and read for is how you talk about yourself. Because what I see are men coming to me saying how stupid it is, how they should have been done with this by now, why do they keep making these mistakes, you know, all of these really mean things that they're saying to themselves. What that says to me is that probably they have heard that from someone in their past. Or they're used to always listening to this inner critic in their head. If you want to know what the first step is toward recovery from crystal meth, it's being mindful of how you speak about and to yourself. Self-compassion turns a relapse from a stumbling block to a stepping stone. Self-compassion takes you from a place of loathing yourself to loving yourself. Say, I am currently experiencing addiction. But I'm on my way out, and I am willing to see this differently.
