Amber Hollingsworth argues that addictive behaviors often serve as 'firefighting' defense mechanisms — ways people cope with or avoid dealing with difficult experiences. She normalizes such coping (distracting, numbing) as sometimes necessary rather than purely pathological.
If you have an addictive behavior, it is most likely some kind of firefighting defense mechanism. Right. Some kind of way that you're trying to cope with something difficult, or some kind of way you're trying not to cope with something difficult. Maybe that's even a better way to say it. And that's an okay thing. That's a good thing. If you don't have those. If you don't have the ability to just distract and numb out and just get through a difficult time, that's not a good thing. We all have to have that ability. So it's not about pushing it away, necessarily, or ignoring it or suppressing it. It's.
Addiction Turns “Me vs. Drinking” Into “Me vs. You” #addictionrecovery #addictionawareness
They Admit Everything Except the Addiction #addictionrecovery #addictionawareness
Stop Trying to Make Them Admit the Truth #addictionrecovery #addictionawareness
