Our lives are a reflection of our thoughts and without thoughts then we would not be human. If we think mainly about negative thoughts we manifest negativism in our lives. Conversely, positive thinking would manifest positive result in our lives. And when our thoughts get out of control our whole lives go out of balance.

Peter R. Martin, MD, Chief of Psychiatry and Pharmacology as well as the director of the Addiction Program at Vanderbilt University states that an "addiction is not having balance in a person's life". Too much of anything, a substance, thought, emotion or behavior throws anyone's mental, emotional and physical balance off. We can be out of balance for minutes, days, weeks or even years. 

I guess I should not be surprised when I get more information about how thought addiction (TA) is a real addiction. For those who are new to this concept a thought addiction is the development of an unhealthy habitual thinking pattern to one thought or set of thoughts which consumes his or her mind and doesn't serve the person. TA is where a person will mentally lock onto a distorted, illogical, unrealistic or negative thought and keep hashing over or looping the thought looking for rational answer.  

I was reminded of the importance of thought addiction when I received a phone call recently from a woman who was a survivor and had been in many different substance addictions. She recounted to me what she had experienced.  She stated that she had become sober from years of dependence on alcohol and that she had begun to live again when suddenly she began having flashbacks.   The message she said she received from the flashbacks was that she was "not good enough and deserved nothing". She stated that these thoughts invaded her thinking and that she could not stop thinking this about herself. "Soon my whole day was devoted to why am I not a good or deserving person. My self esteem drained away and I push all my relationships away. My moods fluctuated constantly and I cried most of everyday. I was acting outing in so many ways." She went on to say "I almost lost my job because I couldn't focus on anything else. Those thoughts became my life. Even though I knew deep inside that I was a good and deserving person, the thoughts became more and more real. The more I attempt to control or ignore these thoughts the more intense they became. I need help." Knowing that she was in the midst of a thought addiction, I told her she was not crazy or defective and that her problem was due to a skill deficiency, and that her problem could be corrected quickly. I taught her a new skill and asked her to practice that skill every morning for 30 days and then call me back.

Thirty days later she called again. Low and behold the thoughts were gone. She said "30 days ago I thought I was helpless and that you were crazy. I really thought the skill you taught me would not work. In the first 7 days the task was so hard to complete but I saw a real reduction in the amount of time I spent each day on those thoughts. By the last 7 days I was a real pro at it.  Yes it was a lot of work but the skill saved my life."

All of us get caught up in thought looping but when those thoughts run rampant our lives spiral completely out of balance.