• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
info@aplaceofhope.com 1-888-771-5166

The Center • A Place of HOPE

Header Right

Menu
  • Who We Help
    • Depression Treatment
      • Causes & Symptoms of Depression
      • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for depression
      • Bipolar Disorder
      • Resources
    • Anxiety Treatment
      • Anxiety Symptoms
      • The Causes Of Anxiety
      • Types of Anxiety
      • Anxiety With Depression
      • Anger Management
      • Anxiety FAQs
    • Eating Disorder Treatment
      • Anorexia Treatment
      • Bulimia Treatment
      • Binge Eating Treatment
      • Male Eating Disorders
      • The Causes Of Eating Disorders
      • Eating Disorder FAQs
      • Eating Disorder Resources
      • Eating Disorder Books
      • Assessment
    • PTSD Treatment
      • PTSD Symptoms
      • PTSD FAQs
    • OCD
      • Types of OCD
      • OCD Behaviors
      • OCD Treatment
      • OCD FAQs
      • OCD Evaluation
    • Addiction
      • Internet Addiction
      • Digital Addiction
      • Gambling Addiction Treatment
      • Prescription Drugs
      • Sexual Addiction
      • Treatment Programs
      • Alcohol Addiction
      • Chemical Addiction
    • Other
      • Abusive Relationships
      • Spiritual Renewal
      • Relationship Healing
      • Stress Reduction
      • High Profile Privacy Program
      • Professional Health and Wellness Program
      • Canadian Program
  • Depression Test
  • About Us
    • Center Information
      • Our Founder
      • The Center Facts
      • Facilities & Amenities
      • Location
      • What To Bring
      • Financing
    • Testimonials
      • Video Testimonials
      • Client Testimonials
      • Professional Endorsements
      • Testimonial Snippets
      • Testimonial Archives
    • Helpful Resources
      • FAQs
      • Video Library
      • We are a top 10 mental health treatment facility in the United States
      • Information For Depression Hotlines
    • Contact
      • Newsletter Sign-Up
      • Employment Opportunities
  • Get Help Now!
    • Depression Help
    • Get Started Now
    • Referrals
      • I Would Like to Admit a Client or Patient
      • Checking on a Referred Patient
      • Professional Visit and Tour
  • Alumni
    • Alumni Portal
  • Blog & News
    • Depression
    • Anger
    • Anxiety
    • Eating disorders
    • Mental Health
    • Stress
    • Relationships
    • Addictions
Menu
  • Who We Help
    • Depression Treatment
      • Causes & Symptoms of Depression
      • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for depression
      • Bipolar Disorder
      • Resources
    • Anxiety Treatment
      • Anxiety Symptoms
      • The Causes Of Anxiety
      • Types of Anxiety
      • Anxiety With Depression
      • Anger Management
      • Anxiety FAQs
    • Eating Disorder Treatment
      • Anorexia Treatment
      • Bulimia Treatment
      • Binge Eating Treatment
      • Male Eating Disorders
      • The Causes Of Eating Disorders
      • Eating Disorder FAQs
      • Eating Disorder Resources
      • Eating Disorder Books
      • Assessment
    • PTSD Treatment
      • PTSD Symptoms
      • PTSD FAQs
    • OCD
      • Types of OCD
      • OCD Behaviors
      • OCD Treatment
      • OCD FAQs
      • OCD Evaluation
    • Addiction
      • Internet Addiction
      • Digital Addiction
      • Gambling Addiction Treatment
      • Prescription Drugs
      • Sexual Addiction
      • Treatment Programs
      • Alcohol Addiction
      • Chemical Addiction
    • Other
      • Abusive Relationships
      • Spiritual Renewal
      • Relationship Healing
      • Stress Reduction
      • High Profile Privacy Program
      • Professional Health and Wellness Program
      • Canadian Program
  • Depression Test
  • About Us
    • Center Information
      • Our Founder
      • The Center Facts
      • Facilities & Amenities
      • Location
      • What To Bring
      • Financing
    • Testimonials
      • Video Testimonials
      • Client Testimonials
      • Professional Endorsements
      • Testimonial Snippets
      • Testimonial Archives
    • Helpful Resources
      • FAQs
      • Video Library
      • We are a top 10 mental health treatment facility in the United States
      • Information For Depression Hotlines
    • Contact
      • Newsletter Sign-Up
      • Employment Opportunities
  • Get Help Now!
    • Depression Help
    • Get Started Now
    • Referrals
      • I Would Like to Admit a Client or Patient
      • Checking on a Referred Patient
      • Professional Visit and Tour
  • Alumni
    • Alumni Portal
  • Blog & News
    • Depression
    • Anger
    • Anxiety
    • Eating disorders
    • Mental Health
    • Stress
    • Relationships
    • Addictions
Menu
  • Who We Help
    • Depression Treatment
      • Causes & Symptoms of Depression
      • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for depression
      • Bipolar Disorder
      • Resources
    • Anxiety Treatment
      • Anxiety Symptoms
      • The Causes Of Anxiety
      • Types of Anxiety
      • Anxiety With Depression
      • Anger Management
      • Anxiety FAQs
    • Eating Disorder Treatment
      • Anorexia Treatment
      • Bulimia Treatment
      • Binge Eating Treatment
      • Male Eating Disorders
      • The Causes Of Eating Disorders
      • Eating Disorder FAQs
      • Eating Disorder Resources
      • Eating Disorder Books
      • Assessment
    • PTSD Treatment
      • PTSD Symptoms
      • PTSD FAQs
    • OCD
      • Types of OCD
      • OCD Behaviors
      • OCD Treatment
      • OCD FAQs
      • OCD Evaluation
    • Addiction
      • Internet Addiction
      • Digital Addiction
      • Gambling Addiction Treatment
      • Prescription Drugs
      • Sexual Addiction
      • Treatment Programs
      • Alcohol Addiction
      • Chemical Addiction
    • Other
      • Abusive Relationships
      • Spiritual Renewal
      • Relationship Healing
      • Stress Reduction
      • High Profile Privacy Program
      • Professional Health and Wellness Program
      • Canadian Program
  • Depression Test
  • About Us
    • Center Information
      • Our Founder
      • The Center Facts
      • Facilities & Amenities
      • Location
      • What To Bring
      • Financing
    • Testimonials
      • Video Testimonials
      • Client Testimonials
      • Professional Endorsements
      • Testimonial Snippets
      • Testimonial Archives
    • Helpful Resources
      • FAQs
      • Video Library
      • We are a top 10 mental health treatment facility in the United States
      • Information For Depression Hotlines
    • Contact
      • Newsletter Sign-Up
      • Employment Opportunities
  • Get Help Now!
    • Depression Help
    • Get Started Now
    • Referrals
      • I Would Like to Admit a Client or Patient
      • Checking on a Referred Patient
      • Professional Visit and Tour
  • Alumni
    • Alumni Portal
  • Blog & News
    • Depression
    • Anger
    • Anxiety
    • Eating disorders
    • Mental Health
    • Stress
    • Relationships
    • Addictions

Are You Minimizing or Maximizing Your Addiction?

by Dr. Gregg Jantz | October 22, 2018

  • Addictions
  • Alcohol
  • Causes
  • Eating disorders

I encourage you to consider your truth. Are you able to recognize it? Has it become obscured by denial, shrouded in secrecy, deflated by minimization,or inflated by maximization?

October 22, 2018 By //  by Dr. Gregg Jantz Leave a Comment

by Dr. Gregg Jantz | October 22, 2018

  • Addictions
  • Alcohol
  • Causes
  • Eating disorders

A dictionary definition of addiction is simple: “a strong compulsion to have or do something harmful.” Simple, or is it? Who defines what is harmful? And to whom? Addiction throws up barriers to answering those questions about what is harmful.

I encourage you to consider your truth.  Are you able to recognize it?  Has it become obscured by denial, shrouded in secrecy, deflated by minimization,or inflated by maximization?

The Barrier of Minimizing

Madison alternated between “things are so bad” she didn’t want me to tell her parents and “things aren’t so bad,” so there was no need to tell her parents. We had to wrestle for a while before she could see that the goal in both of those opposites was not to tell her parents. Her life was broken and she wanted to keep the damage from them, through either outright secrecy or obscuring the truth by trying to minimize it.

When the thing you broke as a kid was invariably discovered, you could no longer keep the damage secret. Your only option was to minimize the damage, to make it seem less than it was. “We have plenty of glasses.” “No one will notice the scratch if I turn the lamp this way.” You used any reason you could come up with to try to avoid the consequences, which experience taught you were going to be negative.

Addiction doesn’t travel far from those youthful minimizations. The consequences you’re trying to minimize, however, can be much more severe than a broken glass or a scratched lamp. Unfortunately, as you get older, addiction can cause more destruction, but addicts can become more adept at minimizing the destruction.

Minimizing cannot be allowed to answer what is harmful.

The Barrier of Maximizing

Minimizing is an attempt to make the addiction seem less than it is. Maximizing is an attempt to make the addiction seem more than it is—more powerful, more inevitable. Maximizing is also called catastrophic thinking. From Psychology Today: “Catastrophic thinking can be defined as ruminating about irrational worst-case outcomes. Needless to say, it can increase anxiety and prevent people from taking action in a situation where action is required.”[1]

In the defeatist thinking of maximizing, the addiction is so big that it’s already won and attempting to change is a lost cause. The future becomes defined in failure, with success no longer up for grabs. “This is just the way I am” becomes the rationale for stay- ing trapped within the addiction, which becomes the new normal.

After the power of the addiction has been maximized and deemed inevitable, I’ve seen something odd happen—the maximized is flipped into the minimized. What was so huge and terrible and inevitable becomes “just the way things are” and takes on a sense of normalcy. Normal has a way of seeming less terrible. When terrible becomes normal, the definition of terrible is downgraded. Maximization morphs into minimization.

Maximizing cannot be allowed to answer what is harmful.

If you or someone you know suffers from addiction, it is beneficial to understand the causes of these conditions. Contact The Center • A Place of HOPE today at 1-888-771-5166 and begin the healing process.

[1] Ron Breazeale, “Catastrophic Thinking,” Psychology Today, March 25, 2011, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-the-face-adversity/201103 /catastrophic-thinking.

Share this...
Email this to someone
email
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest

Filed Under: Addictions, Alcohol, Causes, Eating disorders Tagged With: addiction, addiction recovery, eating disorder, help for addiction, seeking truth

Previous Post: « Whole Person Care
Next Post: Abuse and Parental Authority »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Free Initial Consultation

We encourage you to visit with our team of professionals regarding depression treatment services. You may reach us by filling out the form below or by calling
1-888-771-5166Financing is available.

Free Initial Consultation

LET US HELP YOU

GET STARTED TODAY!

For over 30 years, The Center • A Place of HOPE has been helping people change their lives for good. Let us help you reclaim, restore and reconnect to a healthy life.

CONNECT WITH AN

ADMISSIONS SPECIALIST TODAY

For over 30 years, The Center • A Place of HOPE has been helping people change their lives for good. Let us help you reclaim, restore and reconnect to a healthy life.

 

Recent Posts

  • Looking for Self Improvement? Try Self-Compassion
  • Strengthen Your Willpower by Mindfulness
  • The Link Between Sleep Patterns and Depression
  • Do You Struggle to Feel Content?
  • Healing Begins in Your Head

Footer

Newsletter signup

Get recent news and updates from a place of hope

 
 

Mailing Address

The Center • A Place of HOPE
547 Dayton Street Edmonds, WA 98020
www.aplaceofhope.com
www.drgregoryjantz.com

Store

  • Books
  • Best Sellers
  • Special Deals
  • DVDs
  • Supplements

Recent Posts

  • Looking for Self Improvement? Try Self-Compassion
  • Strengthen Your Willpower by Mindfulness
  • The Link Between Sleep Patterns and Depression
  • Do You Struggle to Feel Content?
  • Healing Begins in Your Head
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • instagram

Get Help Now

Call 1-888-771-5166

Copyright © 2021 · The Center • A Place of HOPE | All Rights Reserved | Employment Opportunities | Notice of Privacy Practices