Addicts in recovery, along with their loved ones, close friends, and co-workers, often wonder if the recovering individual will develop new or substitute addictions, once treatment has been completed for the initial addiction. In other words, how likely is it that the person who received treatment for alcohol addiction or drug addiction will move on to another type of addiction? In order to better understand what could possibly happen, it’s important to take a look at substitute addictions – how to recognize and deal with them.

Definition of Substitute Addiction

A substitute addiction, by definition, is substituting one form of addiction for another. It isn’t really the substance that’s the problem, however, but the behavior that is the root cause.

Let’s take the example of an individual who entered treatment for alcohol dependency or addiction. After going through the treatment, during which the addict learned about coping mechanisms, practiced how to steer clear of triggers and deal with stress, he or she generally felt comfortable enough to resume daily living at the conclusion of treatment.

Things go along okay for the first couple of weeks, during which the person in recovery goes back to work and settles in again with the family at home. Then, the stress begins to build. Anxiety develops. The person can’t sleep, or starts to feel depressed or incapable of dealing with even minor frustrations and everyday situations. He or she may start to smoke cigarettes, or increase the frequency if already a smoker. Fearing relapse for alcohol addiction, he or she may resort to smoking marijuana to calm the nerves, to mellow out. Prescription medication, especially sedatives, tranquilizers or painkillers, taken for nonmedical purposes, may also ensue. This is classic substitute addiction.

How to Recognize a Substitute Addiction

If you are the addict in recovery – or the loved one or caring individual of the addict – you need to understand when your behavior veers from healthy into addictive. Again, it’s the behavior that’s the problem, rather than just the substance. Addiction can transfer from one substance to another, like from alcohol to drugs, or to addictive forms of gambling, compulsive sex, compulsive overeating, compulsive overwork, and compulsive spending.

When you find yourself obsessing over how long it will be until you can have your next cigarette, or take another pill, or go to the casino – and your every waking moment becomes a matter of figuring out how you can satisfy this craving – you have crossed over into substitute addiction.

Another warning sign is when addicts in recovery develop a codependent relationship with another person, or they begin to recognize the codependency in a relationship they already have. If you haven’t changed your behavior, and the other person in the relationship hasn’t changed theirs, things are going to go right back to the unhealthy and addictive codependency that existed before you went through treatment. In fact, family therapy is highly recommended for the loved ones of those in active treatment. How can the family members encourage and support the loved one on his or her return home if they aren’t able to recognize their contribution to codependency – and what to do about it?

What’s Wrong with Substitute Addiction?

Someone who’s an alcoholic and has remained clean and sober following treatment may feel that going to the casino might be an innocent way of escaping problems and alleviating stress. Or, using the example of smoking a joint or popping a powerful painkiller or tranquilizer to calm the nerves and ease tension and stress, the addict in recovery may feel that this is behavior that’s only occasional, something that can be handled, and isn’t dangerous or threatening.

This is a mistake. Again, it gets back to the behavior that’s the problem. Substituting another addiction for one you’ve given up only means you’ve switched substances or addictive activity. You’re still engaging in compulsive behavior – and that’s bound to have negative repercussions down the road.

You think you can handle it by limiting your exposure? How’d that work out when you tried to cut down on drinking or drug use in the past? If you were a gambler and now take up drinking, do you think you can safely set limits and abide by them? The truth of the matter is, as you learned during treatment, there is no such thing as “just once.” You have to quit and stay away from addictive substances and behavior – and the people, places and things that trigger urges and cravings to use.

What about throwing yourself into work as a way to avoid indulging in what others consider addictive behavior (drinking, doing drugs, gambling, etc.)? Work is the Puritan ethic, right? Hard work never hurt anybody. Wrong, again. While it is true that work can help occupy your mind and get you intellectually and physically involved in projects, too much work can cause problems for you as well. The key is how compulsively you approach your work. If you start to bring it home and devote nights and weekends to work instead of interacting with the family, if you constantly have to return messages, emails, are accessible day and night via text and chat, refuse to take vacations with the family, ignore personal health, give up recreational and entertainment, or avoid all social situations unless they are connected with work, guess what? You have substituted your previous addiction with an addiction to work.

This is just one example of a substitute addiction. There are many more. For a more in-depth look at work addiction, see the excellent resources available to you in Workaholics Anonymous. Especially see the Twenty Questions to determine if you are a workaholic, the Workaholics Book of Recovery, and other resources.

Dealing with Substitute Addictions

If you’ve been honest with yourself, you’ll know pretty quickly if you have developed a substitute addiction – or if you are going down the path toward doing so. Look at what you’ve been doing in the past several weeks. You should notice a pattern of consistency with respect to a substitute addiction.

If you can’t bear to run out of cigarettes and will go out at all hours of the night to buy a pack or a carton – that’s a substitute addiction. It’s the compulsion that you absolutely have to have that nicotine in order to feel calm, or you believe that you’ll suffer withdrawal without your stash of tobacco that makes it addictive.

If you find yourself staying up all night working on various projects – night after night – you’re into workaholism.
You get the idea. Anything that you do that’s compulsive, that you can’t live without, that you do despite the consequences that ensue, that endangers your health, destroys your finances, damages your reputation – that’s a substitute addiction.

Let’s say that you’ve identified what you’ve substituted for alcohol (or drugs, gambling, etc.). Now, what do you do about it? You certainly don’t have the time or money to go back into treatment. That’s out of the question.

Well, it depends on how long you’ve been involved in the new addiction, how chronic it’s become, how frequently you engage in it, and the consequences that have started to add up. If you substituted OxyContin for alcohol as a way to take a flyer from responsibility or alleviate pain, you’ll need to go through medically supervised detox in order to get off the powerful opiate. But just detoxing won’t be enough. You’ll need to get at the behavior by changing your unhealthy behavior to behavior that is healthy and appropriate. This is best accomplished by getting additional counseling in the form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). If you have aftercare or continuing care as part of your overall treatment program, this is a good place to start. If not, you can probably get a referral from the treatment facility to a therapist that practices CBT. If finances are a problem, look for low-cost or programs that are underwritten by various federal, state or local agencies. Again, your treatment facility can help you with this.
There is another avenue for you to deal with substitute addictions. If you have been attending 12-step meetings for your particular addiction (such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous or Marijuana Anonymous, and so on), continue to do so. If you have not been participating, now’s the time to do so. Without the encouragement and support of others who are in recovery like you, people who’ve gone through exactly what you’re now experiencing, you don’t have a prayer of beating this new addiction. You may even relapse to your former bad habits with alcohol or drugs.

The point is that you need people around you who can relate to your situation. They will be able to listen without judgment, offer their caring support and encouragement, and even provide solutions that have worked for them. How many meetings does it take? The answer depends on how much the substitute addiction is affecting your life and your relationships. It may be once a week, or twice, or even more in times of crisis.

But there’s more that you can do to deal with substitute addictions. You need to get your family members involved. Encourage your spouse or partner and older children to attend the family component of the 12-step meeting. There’s Al-Anon/Alateen, the counterpart of Alcoholics Anonymous. Nar-Anon is the family component of Narcotics Anonymous. Gam-Anon is the offshoot of Gamblers Anonymous for family members. Co-Anon is a fellowship of men and women who are family members of a cocaine addict (who is a member of Cocaine Anonymous). In fact, there’s a family group component for almost every 12-step fellowship. All you need to do is perform a Google search, either for the 12-step group or for the family component. It may be best to start with the 12-step group main website, and find the family component within the site.

Other Helpful Tips to Dealing with Substitute Addictions

How else can you deal with substitute addictions? Here are some suggestions:

• Do a thorough personal inventory to identify recent behavior that has become compulsive.

• Rid your home, office, car or other areas of any items that are either the addictive substance or remind you of the addictive behavior (triggers).

• When you find yourself obsessing over the substitute addiction, utilize your coping strategies immediately.

• Call your 12-step sponsor or fellow group member and talk it over. You may find that the cravings have passed by the end of your conversation.

• Go to a 12-step meeting.

• Get involved in rigorous physical activity on a regular basis – hiking, exercising, sports, recreational pursuits and the like.

• Tend to your physical and mental health.

• Ensure that your nutritional needs are met by eating healthy and well-balanced meals.

• Get adequate sleep each night.

• Make time to be with family members.

• Alleviate stress and tension with relaxation techniques such as yoga, meditation, deep breathing exercises, or Pilates.

• Pay attention to your spiritual needs as well. Whether you pray or concentrate on the goodness of the human spirit doesn’t matter as long as you nourish your spiritual side.

• Do something to help others. This could be your elderly or sickly neighbor, someone at work, a fellow 12-step group member, your child, a friend or even a stranger. By helping others in need you are getting outside your own problems, moving away from an obsession over an addiction.

• Distract yourself with puzzles, word games, counting, physically rearranging things in the house or cleaning.

• Keep a daily schedule that you adhere to, not allowing extra idle time to give your mind opportunity to dwell on cravings and urges.

How Long Will It Take?

Just as treatment for addiction is unique to each individual, so, too, is the amount of time it may take for you to successfully overcome a substitute addiction. The quicker you recognize the addictive pattern of behavior for what it is and do something to deal with it, the sooner you will be able to feel comfortable recognizing the triggers and stresses that precede the cravings and urges – and successfully navigate them.

How long it takes isn’t the question you should ask yourself. It’s more a matter of: Am I willing to commit to being free of substitute addictions? If the answer is yes, you will find the resources, support and encouragement you need to overcome them.