Health for a Lifetime

Freedom From Habits That Hurt

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Don Mackintosh (Host), Vicki Griffin

Home

Series Code: HFAL

Program Code: HFAL000199


00:01 The following program presents principles designed
00:03 to promote good health and is not intended to take
00:06 the place of personalized professional care.
00:09 The opinions and ideas expressed are those
00:11 of the speaker. Viewers encouraged to draw their
00:14 own conclusions about the information presented.
00:50 Hello welcome for a Health For A Lifetime,
00:51 I am your host Don Mackintosh.
00:53 We are glad that you joined us today.
00:54 We are gonna be talking about a very important
00:56 subject today and that is addictions.
00:59 And we are gonna get some definitions about what
01:00 that means and we are delighted today to have
01:03 Vicki Griffin with us. She is from the Michigan
01:05 Conference and she also has a lot of education
01:09 in different areas focusing on nutrition.
01:11 She is the author of many books and a lot of resources
01:16 under the name of lifestyle matters health
01:19 intervention series. And when you talk about what
01:22 Vicki Griffin has done. It's really quite amazing
01:26 and we are thankful that she can be here,
01:28 we are glad you are here today, thank you Don.
01:30 Now a lot of things we talk about today can be accessed
01:35 you know when we talk about them more fully or
01:38 people want to look at more fully on your website,
01:40 lifestylematters.com. I understand that and the new
01:43 book that you've written that we're talking about
01:45 today is living free, finding freedoms from habits
01:50 that hurt, we are talking about addictions,
01:53 isn't that right? That's absolutely right,
01:55 now let's talk about habits.
01:58 How is a habit formed and what is the difference
02:01 between you know a good habit and a bad one?
02:05 Well habits are automatic behaviors and the
02:09 characteristics of a good habit, when someone learns
02:12 how to do a behavior automatically it take some
02:15 effort, takes concentration, it takes motivation but
02:19 as we learn those new behaviors what we have
02:22 learned and put conscious effort into is now push down
02:26 to what is called the subcortical level and that
02:29 makes the behavior automatic. For instance
02:31 a pilot who goes through hours and hours of training,
02:33 now his responses are automatic and that's
02:37 a good thing. And habits are very good; Elbert
02:40 Hubbard said that habit is the great economizer
02:43 of energy. So this is good habits, good habits.
02:46 Good to be able to just know how to do things just
02:48 routinely. Yes and there are many reasons why these
02:52 good habits that we develop throughout life and our
02:55 brains are designed to develop help us to repeat safe
02:58 and effective behavior, and perform multiple tasks
03:01 with very little effort. You don't have to think about it
03:04 too much to increase the tasks, speed and accuracy.
03:09 We can actually become better at the things we do
03:11 automatically and also freeze mental resources
03:14 for challenges and change. Just freeze up hard drives
03:17 space so that you can pay attention to other things,
03:20 it also builds security and consistency into our lives.
03:24 These routines are good, but routines can become ruts
03:27 and when habits turn bad, the exact opposite is happening,
03:31 you are actually losing the ability to pay attention
03:34 to other things, it's called Runaway Motivation
03:37 where you are now focusing more and more on that
03:41 one thing to the exclusion of other necessary functions
03:45 and priorities in life, so that you are actually losing
03:48 the ability to learn other things, losing the ability
03:50 to deal with challenges, losing the ability to focus
03:53 on the other priorities. So habits are good,
03:57 you get in this routine, and you take care of the kids,
04:00 you take out the trash, you do all these different
04:02 things but then when you get some kind of runaway
04:05 motivation, motivation it kind of messes up all those
04:09 positive habit patterns and you have what maybe
04:13 is well let's see. Is that what an addiction is, right,
04:16 runaway motivation. That's what it's been called
04:19 and the traditional classical definition of addiction
04:23 is the compulsive need for and you saw the habit forming
04:28 substance characterized by drug tolerance and withdrawal.
04:32 However we know that people can be addicted to things
04:37 beside substances and drugs. So like you know pasta,
04:42 yes, I think some people stick to the pasta.
04:45 So the definition of an addiction, it is a compulsive
04:49 need which means you just have to have it I suppose.
04:52 Well according to Howard Shaffer from the division
04:55 of addiction at Harvard University and others but
04:57 his statement I think reflects what the growing
05:01 consensus is, I think you have that too well look at it.
05:04 Yeah drug use is not a necessary and sufficient
05:08 cause of addiction. He says it is improper to consider
05:11 drugs as the necessary pre-condition for addiction
05:15 so the newer expanded understanding what addiction
05:20 and composites includes the persistent compulsive behavior
05:23 that is harmful or destructive characterized by an inability
05:27 to stop. So it doesn't necessary to just have
05:29 to be drugs, it can't be but it's just this you have
05:34 to do it kind of thing. The body becomes addicted
05:37 to its own opioids, people can become habituated
05:41 to pornography, gambling, Internet.
05:45 And I suppose these are all things stimulate opioid
05:47 production in the brain or dopamine production
05:49 in the brain. Both absolutely, and there are other
05:52 things going on, addictions are actually learned there
05:55 are other neurotransmitters besides dopamine
05:57 involved in the development of addiction.
05:59 And I like what Howard Shaffer has had to say
06:03 about this, he is from the division of addiction at
06:06 Harvard University. He says a lot of addiction
06:08 is the result of experience. Repetitive high emotion,
06:13 high frequency, experience. So what you're saying
06:17 is its just, you keep doing something again,
06:20 again and again and then your brain chemistry
06:22 kind of organizes around that, can you actually see
06:24 structural changes in the brain? There is no question
06:27 that structural changes take place in the brain
06:30 according to what we choose to pay attention to over
06:33 and over and over again. I like the way Steven
06:36 Grant states it, he is from the National Institute
06:38 of Drug Abuse. He says what is coming up fast as being
06:42 the core issue is continued engagement in self
06:46 destructive behavior despite adverse consequences.
06:49 So why do you like that quote, because it talks about
06:52 again the repetitive nature of things that's the course
06:56 you just doing it again and again? It confirms with what
06:59 many people intuitively already understand.
07:02 If a person intellectually knows that what they're
07:06 involved in is too much and they can't seem
07:08 to breakaway from it, they're in bondage to this thing,
07:12 they're slaves to this thing. There are very real
07:16 changes that have taken place in the brain as a result
07:18 of that. Not only at the metabolic and physiological
07:22 level but at the genetic level, there are changes
07:24 that take place and in a funny kind of way,
07:26 that's great news. Because what we learned we can
07:29 unlearn and the brain is very, very responsive to the
07:35 choices that we make and that's a good thing.
07:37 So even shopping you say here is something that
07:39 can be addictive. They've studied and seen that
07:42 the brain organizing around the mall.
07:44 Well, yes you see those bumper stickers shop
07:48 until you drop, but actually the most important
07:52 reinforces are food and sex. And according
07:55 Mark Gold from the McKnight Brain Institute at the
07:58 University of Florida, he said what is the difference
08:01 between someone who is lost control over alcohol
08:04 and someone who's lost control over good food
08:06 when you look at their brains and their brain responses
08:09 the differences are not very significant.
08:12 So food, you know the sexual responses all that it's
08:17 triggering the same places in the brain and when
08:19 you see someone that is addicted to may be a
08:22 substance or addicted to food or addicted to pornography
08:27 is the same area of the brain that's being changed.
08:30 That's exactly right, and the changes that take place
08:34 are just as real and just as significant as changes
08:38 that take place with substances although there are
08:41 degrees of damage that are done with substances that
08:45 are of course not the same as with some of the natural
08:49 rewards. Yeah I mean I've heard someone say that if we,
08:52 if we have a victory or are able to handle food in
08:57 our lives and a lot of other things are easily handled
09:01 as well and this certainly seems to speak to that
09:03 same concept. Absolutely, and we are gonna be doing
09:06 some programs, a program together on food addiction
09:09 and its actually very much more complex than drug
09:13 addiction in many respects because there are changes
09:15 taking place in other systems that are equally challenging
09:19 and so what we want to develop our strategies for long
09:21 term success. But many people do not realize that
09:26 they are struggling with an addiction,
09:28 there is a rationalization that goes on,
09:31 there is a failure to see patterns in the life,
09:34 so there are signs that the brain is addicted,
09:37 there are some very typical. So, I mean you know
09:40 when we look at this, you know you can see
09:44 those real signs but you know it's kind of hard
09:45 to admit that you're addicted, you know I've said
09:48 in AA meetings and others, where it's just as really
09:51 hard for someone to admit that they're powerless
09:53 that they need help and put themselves to be,
09:56 you know if you will, the patient instead of being
10:01 in control. Well on especially when you consider
10:03 that when these sort of patterns developed,
10:07 often it's an attempt to gain control in the life,
10:11 it's an attempt to gain control of the emotions,
10:13 it's again attempt to gain control of the mood
10:16 or the environment or some of these.
10:20 So what are some of the signs, excuse me,
10:21 what are some of the signs of an addicted brain?
10:24 How can you tell may be your relative,
10:26 your husband, your wife, well, your children what
10:29 are you looking at to see in terms of signs of addiction.
10:34 There are 10 standard well known signs that the
10:37 brain is getting into trouble and one of the premier
10:41 ones is you are spending a lot of time with this thing.
10:43 You are spending more time than you plan,
10:45 you have repeated failure to reduce time with it,
10:49 what ever it is? Lying, sneaking and hiding,
10:52 regarding it, hoarding, inability to enjoy other
10:55 pleasures that's something called Anhedonia.
10:57 You just lose the, Anhedonia, yeah you just lose
11:00 the ability to enjoy people, things, other events in life.
11:05 You obsess and plan and hoard it, underlying depression
11:09 and anxiety is a really key factor in the development
11:12 of compulsive behavior. The work and family
11:15 deteriorate because of this thing, you give up useful
11:18 activities for it, people spend all-night on the
11:21 Internet compulsively day after day, week after
11:24 week and they just can't seem to get away from it.
11:28 The studies have shown that even with television
11:29 it can become compulsive, although the use of television
11:33 can be become compulsive and withdrawal signs
11:37 when you should stops, that's another one.
11:39 So all these different things if any of those signs have
11:42 shown up you need to be concerned that may be
11:44 you or your relative are becoming addicted to this.
11:48 Yes, you're involved or whatever it is, is becoming
11:51 compulsive, is becoming destructive it is creating
11:55 the opposite of the effect that you are seeking
11:58 and now you are doing this thing not in order
12:01 to feel good. You are doing it in order to keep from
12:04 feeling bad, even the pleasure of the activity itself
12:07 is now gone. So talk to me then about genetics
12:10 environment and the choice that plays a part of this.
12:14 Well, we know that a person can be genetically
12:17 prone to heart disease or diabetes or depression,
12:20 a person can be genetically prone to addictions
12:23 as well those with the family history of alcoholism,
12:27 drug abuse, eating disorders, depression,
12:30 they are at risk. And we also know that those who
12:34 come from an environment where there's been
12:36 neglect or abuse that they are at higher risk
12:40 and then our own behavioral choices
12:42 can also pull us into a trap because of the
12:45 reinforcing property of what are engaged in.
12:48 You can take perfectly healthy happy lab rats
12:51 from good homes and they can become addicted
12:54 to substances and to different behaviors.
12:56 So there are the three aspects, now the thing
12:58 that we need to remember though and I'm really
13:01 thankful for this, is that association is not causality,
13:03 in other words genetics, environment and behavioral
13:07 choices don't cause addictions,
13:09 they're just associated with the higher risk.
13:11 So you are not doomed to do the same thing
13:14 just because your parents did it and others did it
13:16 and that's not even good excuse.
13:18 And I'll tell your book has hope in it, that's right,
13:22 talking about addictions and how to break
13:24 free from those, that's right. I know that on your
13:28 website, it's a great website lifestylematters.com
13:30 and you have information about that book there.
13:33 But you know I want to shift may be now from the
13:37 problem to the solution, is there hope,
13:41 we want to talk about this in the second half but
13:43 set us up is there hope, is there a reason
13:45 to come back. There is so much exciting new
13:48 information out there, there is so much hope.
13:50 God has designed our brains for recovery,
13:55 renewal and restoration. We're talking with
13:58 Vicki Griffin, we are talking about addictions.
14:01 A lot of people have addiction;
14:02 a lot of people have positive habits but then also
14:05 negative addictions that some times develop.
14:08 We've talked about that we are gonna come back
14:09 and talk about what can be done to address
14:12 those problems, join us when we come back.
14:16 Are you confused about the endless strain with
14:19 new and often contradictory health information?
14:22 With companies trying to sell new drugs and special
14:25 interest groups paying for studies this been the fact,
14:27 where can you find a common sense approach
14:30 to health. One way is to ask for your free copy of
14:33 Dr. Arnott's 24 realistic ways to improve your health.
14:37 Dr. Timothy Arnott in the Lifestyle Center of America
14:40 produced this helpful booklet of 24 short
14:42 practical health tips based on scientific research
14:45 and the Bible that will help you live longer,
14:48 happier, and healthier. For example,
14:50 did you know that women who drink more water lower
14:53 the risk of heart attack or the seven to eight hours
14:56 of sleep a night can minimize your risk of ever
14:58 developing diabetes? Find out how to lower your blood
15:01 pressure and much more if you are looking for help,
15:04 now hire them this book works for you.
15:06 Just log on to 3abn.org and click on free offers
15:10 or call us during regular business hours,
15:12 you'll be glad you did.
15:16 Welcome back, we've been talking with Vicki Griffin,
15:18 we've been talking about addictions.
15:20 We've talked about the problems,
15:21 we talked about how people can have positive habits
15:24 but then they can be drawn into these addictive
15:27 behaviors pornography, foods, shopping, drugs,
15:31 all these things impact the same area of the brain
15:34 and we got good news. You know before we talk
15:37 about this good news I know that you have a website
15:40 lifestylematters.com, an excellent website,
15:42 all kinds of resources there for food addictions
15:47 and in this new book that you have written living free,
15:51 finding freedom from habits.
15:53 And it's just a great resource I want to just
15:55 thank you for putting that together. Well thank you,
15:58 we've written it with addictions specialists and
16:00 a dietician and so we have a really great team that
16:03 has come together collaboratively with their
16:05 experience and their expertise and we believe
16:08 that we've got some good materials.
16:10 I mean in a program like this we can only kind of scratch
16:12 the surface, right, we can get some high points but
16:14 there really is a process as like at your book that really
16:17 leads people through. You know number one
16:20 identifying the addictions and all those different
16:22 things and then what to do get out of those.
16:24 Well here is the thing, people know how to their
16:26 addiction and they know how to stop but,
16:28 it's everything in between the sort of falls through
16:30 the cracks and so, okay. So you know I think there
16:34 is additional information there lifestylematters.com
16:37 and this gonna really help people,
16:38 this is only a springboard. Once the brain is locked
16:41 into a pattern is it possible to break free that's the
16:45 big question on, and people are asking.
16:47 Yes, and this is the thrilling part,
16:49 this is what motivates me to do these kinds of programs,
16:52 because our brains were designed by our creator
16:55 to be resilient, there is a lot of redundancy built
16:59 into the brain in other words, what does that mean
17:02 redundancy? Well redundancy,
17:03 what resiliency means the capacity to bounce back,
17:05 redundancy means there is a lot of compensatory
17:09 mechanisms in the brain to compensate for the problems
17:14 that we may have created by our choices
17:17 or by whatever situation that we have cultivated
17:20 in our lives and so there is a lot of ability of the brain
17:25 to grow, to recover, to renovate and to renew.
17:29 And I really love the way neurosciences is validating
17:34 what the Bible has said about having the
17:36 new mind. They don't understand the spiritual part
17:38 about how Christ comes, God comes and he gives
17:42 us a new will and a new desire but the Lord does
17:45 even more for us he gives us more than just the
17:48 power of the will and the desire,
17:49 but he also gives us a plan and its that very plan
17:52 that neurosciences is honing in on and seeing.
17:56 I just want to quote Dr. John Ratey from
18:00 Harvard University, he is a neuro-psychiatrist
18:02 who wrote a fascinating little book called the
18:04 Users Guide to the Brain. And he says the adult brain
18:07 is both plastic and resilient and always eager
18:11 to learn. Now plastic doesn't mean like hard plastic,
18:14 but plastic in the sense of malleable,
18:16 it's very responsive to our choices.
18:19 And new choices do make a new you and he says
18:23 this we always have the ability to remodel our
18:26 brains. This is why we can learn in the first place,
18:29 and unlearn too. Changing your pattern of thinking
18:34 changes the brain's structure.
18:37 So it's by the way you think that's what you are,
18:40 as a man think and so is he. It is a principle
18:43 and that principle can be turned into a process
18:45 in our lives and other scientists have stated
18:49 it in different ways. William James,
18:50 I like the way he puts it and he is a famous psychologist,
18:53 he says attention and remember we talked about
18:55 runaway motivation and the brain learns according
19:01 to what we pay attention to. And it says attention
19:03 is a mental state that allows us moment by moment
19:07 to choose and sculpt how our ever changing
19:10 minds will work, to choose who we will be for the next
19:14 movement in a very real sense and those choices
19:17 are left embossed in physical form on our
19:21 material selves. So we can change, and it sounds,
19:24 that sounds a very promising but it also for the
19:28 person that is in the midst of addiction and then
19:30 in the midst of you know whatever it is
19:33 to do say to them, well you can think differently,
19:36 right, is like wait a minute you don't understand
19:40 all of these things, emotion and everything
19:42 that's involved in this, right what do you say
19:44 to someone that is responding to this that way.
19:48 Well what's they are saying is true,
19:52 because once a person has developed an addiction
19:54 changes have taken place in multiple circuits of
19:57 the brain. Circuits that are involved with motivation
19:59 and drive, memory, compulsion, stress, learning,
20:03 self control, mood all of these things are effected
20:06 and so what we want to understand is how to enter
20:10 into a process that will build a bridge back to
20:12 the power of initiation of self will, choice.
20:16 Motivated choices that we can initiate in a self
20:20 determined way and there is a process of getting
20:23 there. So let's look at that process I mean
20:24 lets kind of map it out one of the practical steps
20:28 involved in, you know remapping that and I know
20:31 again the best thing is to look more fully
20:34 at your book and what not, right,
20:35 so let's give a framework here. Well just briefly
20:38 there are some very practical steps not only to
20:41 implement the power of God in our lives,
20:43 people become disappointed they
20:45 say I want God's power, they claim God's power but
20:47 then they don't understand the process of long
20:50 term change, staying with the program.
20:53 It's like Jackie Gleason said, he said the second
20:55 day of the diet is always the best because
20:57 by then you through with it you know depending.
20:59 So it's one thing to have the power to stop doing
21:02 something but it's another thing to learn new
21:06 behaviors, new choices, new responses and new
21:08 motivations. And that is part of God's plan,
21:10 he has given us a process by which we can do that
21:14 and so his purpose that can be fulfilled in our lives
21:17 on a long term and part of that has to do with creating
21:21 an environment. Creating an environment means
21:24 your internal and we gonna talk about this problem
21:27 on some future programs but creating an internal
21:30 attitude, the way that I choose to thing about
21:34 a thing has a power a sculpting effect on the
21:36 brain. The external environment are the,
21:40 my immediate surroundings, it has to do with removing
21:43 triggers and it has to do with changing the way
21:46 I think about the triggers that I can not remove
21:48 in my life. So there is this very first step of the
21:53 environment and I, hence that's so treatment program.
21:56 Treatment programs. Is that creating an environment?
22:00 You know God has many ways to help his children
22:04 that may involve some medication;
22:06 it may involve certain types of support groups,
22:08 treatment programs, interventions,
22:10 that's all part of that program.
22:12 So God took people out of Egypt he took them
22:14 to the wilderness that was of treatment program,
22:16 it was a treatment program, no question about it.
22:17 Okay internal and external, internal and external
22:19 environment and I love also the way
22:22 Dr. Ratey from Harvard says, he says experiences,
22:25 thoughts, actions and emotions actually change
22:29 the structure of the brain that's really encouraging
22:31 for people to know and it says by viewing the brain
22:34 as a muscle that can be weakened or strengthened
22:36 then we can exercise our ability to determine
22:39 who we become. We need to build a bridge to that
22:41 place where we can exercise those choices
22:44 and that happens within the right environment
22:47 internally that our thoughts and then externally
22:49 as well being in supported area, that's right.
22:53 Well there is another layer to that and that is
22:54 creating a lifestyle, okay. Now lifestyle is not
22:58 restrictive the lifestyle that God has given us
23:01 is not just restricted. It is protective,
23:04 it actually protects and motivates us,
23:07 it surrounds us it keeps us safe it keeps us in a
23:11 direction by helping us and encouraging us to choose
23:14 a certain way and nutritionally when we get
23:17 proper nutrition it's gonna lower stress and depression
23:20 levels when you get your sleep, when you get your
23:22 exercise it will elevate mood controls stress hormone
23:25 production. So there are physiological responses
23:28 to positive lifestyle changes that are very protective
23:32 against addictions. So you said here,
23:34 you know to create an environment but really
23:36 there is already been an environment created
23:38 that's optimal for us is discovering what that is?
23:41 Right what is protective against addiction also helps
23:45 maintain long term success. So there are steps there is
23:49 the internal attitude, there is external environment
23:52 of what we are gonna surround ourselves with but
23:54 then there is the lifestyle layered on top of that,
23:57 the Lord has given us community,
23:59 it is our responsibility to create and get involved
24:03 with community. You mentioned support,
24:05 but it's about more than support because being
24:08 involved in social networks that are positive,
24:12 role modeling of people, from people that have
24:15 learned how to solve problems in a positive way,
24:17 who know how to meet obstacles and challenges
24:22 in a good way, taking classes, learning
24:24 new hobbies getting involved in social interaction,
24:27 church group volunteering not only does it create
24:30 support but it also creates an environment of
24:33 responsibility and accountability and we need,
24:36 then you call it community, that is community.
24:39 And when you enhance your community
24:41 intellectually and socially, it also increases
24:44 the neuronal networks in the brain which actually
24:48 will buffer the brain against depression and anxiety
24:54 and it also enhances the ability to meet challenges
24:57 because that is the big problem with addiction,
24:59 the inability to meet challenges.
25:01 And you are all many times isolated,
25:03 so an environment, a lifestyle, a community
25:06 and then you say create a connection,
25:07 that's right. The spiritual connection of course
25:10 for me is the most important part I struggled
25:13 for many years with bulimia and had involvement
25:15 drugs and all of those kinds of things and so that
25:17 I know for myself that giving up control is a main
25:23 feature of victory, of long term success.
25:28 And that means that you give control of your life
25:31 to God who was able to superintend your experiences
25:35 and you know longer look at obstacles and challenges
25:40 as threats to your survival. You now look at them
25:44 as opportunities to gain more strength and to gain
25:47 more resiliency and to learn and to balance
25:50 out your mind and your character.
25:51 You look at them as good positive things because
25:54 you believe in a beneficent Father in heaven
25:57 who will help you to reinterpret your past,
25:59 will help you to reinterpret what has happened
26:02 to in your life in a new and significant way
26:05 that makes you strong instead of week.
26:07 So you know, you are coming from the,
26:09 in writing this book along with this,
26:11 you know team you are coming with your
26:14 own personal testimony and you know that this works
26:17 that God can help you created, new internal and
26:20 external environment that can help you create
26:22 community and all of these different things in the
26:25 connection. Are there any special text,
26:27 or special spiritual nuggets that have really
26:30 helped you on your journey?
26:32 Oh there are so many, and I always think of
26:35 Mencius the Chinese sage, he said that knowledge
26:38 imparts information but not the power to execute.
26:41 So we need the power to execute what we know
26:43 intellectually but we also needs God's plan.
26:47 He changes our will and our desire but
26:48 he also has a plan that he wants for us to follow
26:51 and I love Philippians 2:13 it says,
26:54 "For it is God Himself whose power creates within
26:57 you the desire to do His gracious will and brings
27:01 about the accomplishment of the desire."
27:04 So he creates it in you and then he carries
27:08 it through if you don't get in the way,
27:10 we have to not only not get in the way we
27:12 have to shoulder our own part of the work.
27:15 We have to get involved and engaged in the process,
27:19 it's the journey that gives strength.
27:21 We always want beginnings and ends but
27:23 it's actually what happens in the middle that builds
27:26 the strength that you need for your journey.
27:28 By the people are responding very well to this
27:31 material your team has created at
27:34 lifestylematters.com. I am just really enthusiast
27:37 about that. I really wanna thank you for coming
27:39 and spending this time with us talking about this new
27:41 book and we look forward to talking more with
27:45 you and we look forward talking more with you
27:48 on Health for a Lifetime. We hope that today
27:50 as a result of what you've learn you can break free
27:53 and have the life God has intended
27:55 for you and for those that you love.


Home

Revised 2014-12-17