Originally posted by Liza
Why is it so hard to break a habit?
I'd say it is the security. We feel safe when we have established a pattern, which may be associated from something positive or negative that occurred in childhood. Now just deprogram yourself... lol... negative reinforcement and all. I saw this show once on this OCD stuff... when this lady was a little girl, she picked a hair strand off her head and everyone in class was very impressed with her. She associated that feeling good with the hair picking habit... this followed her into adulthood, and I could see she had bald spots.. it wasn't pretty. Had to wear a wig.
Let's say.... you want to quit smoking? I did it cold turkey, and would reward myself every day I was off the cigs. Positive reinforcement.. and I looked at disgusting pictures of what would happen with prolonged smoking... black lungs and all! I mixed in negative reinforcement with the positive reinforcement, and that worked for me. Just popped in Advils for those headaches... and I don't miss those cigs even today.
Eh, it's totally up to you, though... either stay in your old pattern, or break it consciously.. healthy, gradually, or so..