MIZUKI PARK

Problem orientation must also be addressed in addition to these steps, and the efficacy of PST increases when problem orientation is addressed in addition to the other steps25,26. Your brain will attempt to resolve cognitive dissonance on its own — but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have any say over the process. It can be tough to recognize and address dissonance, but it’s an important step to improving your overall wellness. Over time, living out of integrity with our values begins to take its toll on our psychological well-being and mental health. Psychologists have developed multitudes of theories about why we do the things we do.

The Formation of Drug-Stimulus Associations

This tactic involves reducing the importance of the belief, attitude, or behavior that is creating conflict. If it causes feelings of discomfort, we will deem it less important so it reduces the feelings of cognitive dissonance. To relieve the discomfort caused by cognitive dissonance, people can either change their behaviors or their attitudes. We’ll start by taking a closer look at this psychological https://ecosoberhouse.com/ phenomenon so we can understand what causes it—and what we can do to minimize it. One way to deal with this internal conflict is to minimize all the potential problems that drinking and using drugs can cause. For instance, a substance abuser might justify their habit by saying that if they took steps to get sober, they’d deprive themselves of their primary way to relax and have fun.

Cognitive strategies in managing addictive behaviours

• Even though you value your health and generally try to follow a healthy lifestyle, you consistently stay up late and rarely get the recommended 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.
• It was a psychologist named Leon Festinger who first described cognitive dissonance and the role it played in attitude and behavior change.
• Cultural adaptation of therapeutic programmes developed in western are important.
• You can try to recognize these uncomfortable feelings when they arise and then look for effective and healthy ways to reduce conflict.

Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort a person feels when their behavior does not align with their values or beliefs. Other models of relapse prevention also draw upon the construct of self-efficacy34. Working with a variety of targets helps in generalization of gains, patients are helped in anticipating high risk situations33. The individual’s cognitive dissonance and addiction reactions to the lapse and their attributions (of a failure) regarding the cause of lapse determine the escalation of a lapse into a relapse. The abstinence violation effect is characterized by two key cognitive affective elements. Cognitive dissonance (conflict and guilt) and personal attribution effect (blaming self as cause for relapse).

• Relapse prevention programmes are based on social cognitive and cognitive behavioural principles.
• Still, they find substance abuse a more comfortable path because it blocks unwanted ideas, feelings, and responsibilities.
• Examples of cognitive dissonance in addiction include viewing non-abusers as boring, believing substance abuse is a sign of artistic life, and dismissing warnings about the dangers of substance abuse as propaganda.
• Third wave behaviour therapies are focused on improving building awareness, and distress tolerance skills using mindfulness practices.

How to improve adaptability skills

Drug addiction manifests clinically as compulsive drug seeking, drug use, and cravings that can persist and recur even after extended periods of abstinence. From a psychological and neurological perspective, addiction is a disorder of altered cognition. The brain regions and processes that underlie addiction overlap extensively with those that are involved in essential cognitive functions, including learning, memory, attention, reasoning, and impulse control.

When the inconsistency involves a personal core belief central to a person’s identity, they are more likely to experience discomfort to a higher degree. Even though you value your health and generally try to follow a healthy lifestyle, you consistently stay up late and rarely get the recommended 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. As a result, you find yourself feeling guilty about your poor sleep habits. Festinger suggested that people strive to maintain a state of internal consistency.

People tend to prefer it when their attitudes align with their perceptions. After all, it feels comfortable and reassuring when what we think matches up with what we see. But when these beliefs don’t match up to what we experience, it can leave us feeling uncomfortable and unsure. The fortunate ones eventually see through their denial and decide that they have had enough.