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How Cutting Back Leads To Cravings #recoveryjourney #addictionrecovery #gettingsober

7 Jul 2025 · 1 min

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In this monologue, Amber Hollingsworth explains why attempting to "cut back" on an addictive behavior typically fails. She describes two key mechanisms: first, re‑engaging in the behavior initiates a cascade of psychological processes that quickly lead to a desire to resume full use; second, chronic addiction raises tolerance so that even small amounts are insufficient to satisfy the brain, and any re‑exposure reignites intense cravings. She emphasizes that this pattern applies across substances and behaviors such as drugs, gambling, or shopping.

Chapters

When you think about this whole cutting it back thing, the reason it doesn't work is because when you engage in the addictive behavior, it triggers the whole psychological process. The dominoes start falling and then you want to go all in. So that's part of it, right? So keep that in your mind. The other part is, as you've developed an addiction, your tolerance for whatever this thing or behavior is has gone through the roof. So a little bit early isn't going to do anything for you. Let's be real. Whether that's a substance, whether that's gambling, shopping, whatever it is, a little bit's probably not going to work for you because your tolerance is really high. And so when you reengage in that, it just triggers the whole craving process to set off.