CONSCIENCE BEHAVIOR DEVELOPMENT FOR THE RECOVERING ADDICT

INTRODUCTION

Recovering addicts are still emotionally unstable regardless of clean time for the very fact that they are addicts. The difference between an addict (recovering or not) and a normal person is that the addicit is easily aroused by his feelings. That is to say that he will beome reactive, often irrationally, to any emotion. Much like a child, the recovering addict is prone to react on his emotions to make him always feel better or good about himself. Impulsivity is something that the recovering addict can control and must watch out for in order to avoid relapsing. Impulsivity is a characteristic that caused the person to be a full-blown addict and is often caused by anxiety, tension, and stress. However, in some cases it can also be caused by euphoria and excitement. What recovering addict must be aware of at all times is their state of mind and their behavior to prevent derailing themselves from their recovery or relapsing. The purpose of conscience behavior development is to allow the stunted emotional growth of the addict to evolve as much as it can off any mood-and-mind altering substances where the recovering addict can be a productive, moral citizen, and have some spirituality in his life to follow as a guideline on how live.

According to the psychological perspective of the personality, there are three levels of the person that assists the functioning for need and motivation: the id; the ego; and the superego. The addict unlike the average normal person has a void in their conscience behavior that is due to their lack of awareness, sense of conformity, and level of emotional growth and development. This has caused their id to outweigh the functionality of their ego and conscience. Some of the reasons may have being neglected as a child from their parents, caretakers, teachers, and general environment. Having the id's needs highlighted in an addict life causes too much focus on pleasure and instant gratification making active addiction behavior, defects of character, and relapse easily accessible. The id also creates much disharmony, dishonesty, and immature behavior in the addicts life creating a corrupted relationship with himself and the God of His understanding. Ironically, without the id, the addict would not have the personal motivation or the instinct to create self-fulfillment. With conscience behavior development, the addict can recover some of his ego and superego deficiencies to support the id.

Conscience behavior development involves matters of spirituality. For many recovering addicts, they are only beginning to explore a new or different view of their Higher Power and get valuable help through the 12 Step Program and the principles outlined in the literature and meetings. Others may get their understanding and new perspectives of spirituality through different forms of meditational practices either from eastern philosophies and religions. One of the reasons is the practice of mindfulness which is a technique of using the id's primary process for discharging tension while adding reframing. "Mindfulness is a method of awareness and introspection which involves a conscious attempt to focus and attention intensely on the present moment, noting thoughts, feelings, perception, images sensations without judging them, participating in them or acting on them. It is observation of the contents of our mind as they appear and disappear without reacting to them." (Chandiramani, A Role for Mindfulness Meditation in the Treatment of Sexual Addictions, 2006).

ID

The id is the first part of the personality that is also the most primitive. Babies are born with it and it develops further as we grow older. However, when we mature the id is supposed to be a shadow of the personality as the ego and superego takes a large role. With the addict that is unfortunately not the case. The id is the pleasure principle and its primary process is to release tension and stress. It does so by taking mental imagine and events that satisfy the person's need and involving self-esteem in order to create fulfillment or pleasure. One could say that the id is a survival instinct because the only concern it has for itself is to survive, win, and seek its own satisfaction regardless of its environment or people that may be in conflict with it. Primitive people used to live through the id only due to the lack of personal and social development but because the id is selfish, lacks morale, and follow-through it had to evolve naturally in society for one to find personal fulfilment, a sense of belonging, and general happiness.

The addict may not have had the fortune to grow out of living primarily through the id's rules of conduct because of bad upbringing where his parents either overtly lavished him with luxuries and being spoiled thinking that this was love in affection. This same child who goes to a school where the teachers treat him like the teacher's pet and has other people around him who give him the impression where he can do no wrong teaches him to manipulate his id into believing that he can get exactly what he wants whenever and however. In fact, satisfying his needs and desires are just a matter on the masks you wear and the mind-games you play. The id is not concerned about the risks or potential problems one may face in satisfying needs or desires and growing up with ease of always getting what the addict wants makes it very difficult to unlearn when in recovery.

The id is an in-built cognitive behavior that although it may have been encourage while growing up can now be taught to be used for the right reasons. The id's most positive quality is that it can actually also allows a person to get themselves out of dangerous or risky situations. These situations do not always have to be physical. For recovering addicts, they must also avoid potential damaging emotional, mental, and psychological situations and relationships at all times. Mindfulness may have its roots in the teachings of Buddha but it can be exceptionally beneficial to all recovering addicts. For example, there are often times in recovery when the addict finds himself in a new working conditions or home conditions where things have not at all changed.

The addict may find himself in a codependent relationship where he is being financially manipulated or mentally patronized by his superiors. By using mindfulness meditational techniques he will be able to learn to emotionally detach himself from the self-pity and resentfulness he may feel since he will be aware that through his addiction he will temporarily be able to control his own finances. He can also learn to suspend his speculations and mental reactions in order to avoid repression or suppression of his anger when he feels patronized so he can respond in a more assertive matters to his superior. In this way, he is both getting what he wants and still not allowing himself to fall into a fantastical depressive movie.

EGO

The ego, as it develops, begins to help distinguish life from the realistic principle. Most people start to evolove this around their teenage life and is always becoming more embellished as one goes through different experiences and relationships in life. The ego's secondary process is to find the match between his mental images or events for tension with the actual perception in the world. "Ego strength refers to the ego's ability to function effectively despite the demands of these conflicting forces. With little ego strength, the person is torn among competing pressures. With greater ego strength, the person can manage those pressures without serious problems. However, it's possible for the ego to be too strong as he can extremely rational and efficient but may also be extremely boring, cold, and distant."(Carver, Scheier, Perspectives on Personality, 1992). Ultimately, the ego's employed to prevent the id from operating.

The ego is still satisfying the needs and desires of self but it is more concerned with a more rational approach to getting these things. The ego recognizes potential risks which means that it is not focused on instant gratification unlike the id. As a person mature into his teenage years he will begin to experience consequence via punishment therefore he will become more effective in avoiding these potential risks. However, unfortunately,

the addict is more emotional than normal person and regardless of how their upbringing was fall victim into either not acknowledging punishment or consequence or will have positively neither fear nor concern of punishment or consequence making them more responsive to the id's motives and functions. Addicts have and always will be emotionally unstable and are more prone to anxiety and impulsivity.

The addict also inherently has certain or all symptoms of depression, phobias, anxiety attacks, obsessive-compulsion disorders, and other mental illness disorders that effect rationality thereby their ability to respond to antisocial urges are more likely. Hence, the addict is less likely to learn from consequence and punishment. Conscience is not being learnt at this early stage and this is how the addict has the stunted growth and development leaning them towards the mind and heart of a child even as they get older. The id becomes ever more emphasized and the motivation for doing whatever it takes to gain reward is the strongest desire. The addict is not interested in differentiating when to do the action that gain reward or pleasure now or at a more appropriate time. Planning, forward-thinking, and logic is lacking in the addict making their rational unevolved.

The sex addict will have his motivations in getting sexually gratified in antisocial ways via cheating and manipulating ignoring the future risk of having his relationship burnt or destroyed because his ego is underdeveloped to understand that he cannot have his cake and eat it. The alcoholic will have the tunnel-vision perception of believing that if he only stops drinking and attends his meetings but does not find a sponsor will prevent him from becoming a dry-drunk and invite emotional sobriety into his life will somehow give him the ability to find objectivity in his life and learn to sense when he is giving into self-entitlement, closed-mind thinking, and being self-involved all over again. Conscience behavior shuns these modus of operandi and the ego would also would never

actually allow this behavior to continue either.

SUPEREGO

The superego is where conscience behavior is developing and it occurs around the age of late adolescent and continues throughout one's life with the intention of always being in the forefront of the id and ego. This is where values and morals are starting to become conditioned and provides the crux of one's life in spiritual awareness. In psychology terminology, it is said that the supergo is composed of two features 1) the ego idea and 2) the conscience. The superego's job is to inhibit the impulsivity of the id, force the ego to focus on moral considerations, and direct the individual to absolute perfection in thought, word, and deed. In simple terms, the supergo wants the person to become more aware of the emotions and feelings providing perfect balance for the ego to work with it and the id to be aware of what is genuinely wants.

"The superego is the embodiment of parental and societal values. It decides what's right and what's wrong and strives for perfection rather than pleasure. The patterns of values in a person's superego depends in your superego depends on the values of the parents. To obtain the parents' love and affection, the child comes to abide by what the parents think is right. To avoid pain, punishment, and rejection the child avoids what the parents think in wrong...Whatever the parents approve of and punish are built into the ego-ideal. Engaging in behavior that fits those standards make a person feel proud. The other aspect of the superego, the conscience, consists of rules about what behaviors are bad. When the person engages in bad acts or thoughts, he is punished by guilt feelings." (Carver, Scheier, Perspectives on Personality, 1992).

The addict has what may consider to be a very weak superego and he tends to do enjoy rebelling against it. The addict is rebellious and strong-willed by nature towards anything and anyone in life including himself which is what makes the addict insane. The word 'insane' is not to be confused with being mentally instituitionable (if he hasn't actually damaged his mental ability completely) but the word does implies that he does actually as much mental capabilities as a normal person and simply refuses to use the capacity to exercise them with the hope of having his life running effectively.

For example, the addict would be able to prevent himself to placing him into dangerous situations or getting involved with people he knows will put his recovery in harm's bay but tends to disregard the gut feeling or the anxiety that is trying to tell him that his behavior is not a good idea. Equally, the addict would stop acting out on his shortcomings such as his vicious anger, biting sarcasm, bleeding emotional blackmail, and incorrigible irreliabilty if he could just become a little bit more aware that the guilt, remorse, anxiety, and confusion simply isn't worth it and creates more powerlessness and life of unmanagabilty.

Incorporating conscience behavior development by working through stepwork and going to group therapy this lack of awareness can be realized allowing the addict to prevent putting himself through unnecessary pain.

CONCLUSION

Conscience behavior development is a lifelong program that can be instilled by the addict through being in treatment centers as an inpatient or outpatient client, working a 12 Step Program, and continuing to practice prayer and meditation with the God of the addicts understanding. Although it is possible that the addict can improve his conscious

contact with conscience behavior by doing one of the three; it would be advised that he did all three for a systematic program and the most rewarding process. All treatment centers provide cognitive behavior and implement an open-minded reflection for the loss or dysfunctional id-ego-superego growth and development. These workshops and lectures are taught by social workers/therapists, psychologists, and recovering addicts. They involve group therapy sessions with such topics as critical analysis, role-playing, etc.

Working the12 Step Program helps by bring conscious behavior into the forefront of the addict's awareness for example by asking the addict to provide examples of activities that causes the addict to act out on good or bad behavior. The 12 Step Program also promotes the awareness of defects of characters and the addict is made to become aware of specific bad behaviors that negatively affect his relationships with life, other people, and himself. The reverse of this is when he is asked to provide positive traits and characteristics he wishes to instill within himself and explains why this behavior would make his life more effective, productive, and create harmony and peace with his relationship with life, people, and himself. Other features of the 12 Step Program give him the opportunity to practice what he preaches which reflects in a developing conscience behavior.

Finally, through spirituality the addict can once again rely on a power greater than himself to provide him with right actions and sense bad actions so he does not have to continue living a life of insanity eternally. He will be able to have different formats of meditation that broaden his the view of meditation and mindfulness that will restructure needs vs. wants and exercising God's will instead of the id's will. "Mindfulness meditation allows the addict to get connected with their inner state of affairs by the way of becoming aware their inner body sensations. They can become aware of active addictive urges before these urges manifest in the form of thoughts and behaviors." (Chadiramani, Mindfulness Meditation in the Treatment of Sexual Addictions, 2006).

INTRODUCTION

Recovering addicts are still emotionally unstable regardless of clean time for the very fact that they are addicts. The difference between an addict (recovering or not) and a normal person is that the addicit is easily aroused by his feelings. That is to say that he will beome reactive, often irrationally, to any emotion. Much like a child, the recovering addict is prone to react on his emotions to make him always feel better or good about himself. Impulsivity is something that the recovering addict can control and must watch out for in order to avoid relapsing. Impulsivity is a characteristic that caused the person to be a full-blown addict and is often caused by anxiety, tension, and stress. However, in some cases it can also be caused by euphoria and excitement. What recovering addict must be aware of at all times is their state of mind and their behavior to prevent derailing themselves from their recovery or relapsing. The purpose of conscience behavior development is to allow the stunted emotional growth of the addict to evolve as much as it can off any mood-and-mind altering substances where the recovering addict can be a productive, moral citizen, and have some spirituality in his life to follow as a guideline on how live.

According to the psychological perspective of the personality, there are three levels of the person that assists the functioning for need and motivation: the id; the ego; and the superego. The addict unlike the average normal person has a void in their conscience behavior that is due to their lack of awareness, sense of conformity, and level of emotional growth and development. This has caused their id to outweigh the functionality of their ego and conscience. Some of the reasons may have being neglected as a child from their parents, caretakers, teachers, and general environment. Having the id's needs highlighted in an addict life causes too much focus on pleasure and instant gratification making active addiction behavior, defects of character, and relapse easily accessible. The id also creates much disharmony, dishonesty, and immature behavior in the addicts life creating a corrupted relationship with himself and the God of His understanding. Ironically, without the id, the addict would not have the personal motivation or the instinct to create self-fulfillment. With conscience behavior development, the addict can recover some of his ego and superego deficiencies to support the id.

Conscience behavior development involves matters of spirituality. For many recovering addicts, they are only beginning to explore a new or different view of their Higher Power and get valuable help through the 12 Step Program and the principles outlined in the literature and meetings. Others may get their understanding and new perspectives of spirituality through different forms of meditational practices either from eastern philosophies and religions. One of the reasons is the practice of mindfulness which is a technique of using the id's primary process for discharging tension while adding reframing. "Mindfulness is a method of awareness and introspection which involves a conscious attempt to focus and attention intensely on the present moment, noting thoughts, feelings, perception, images sensations without judging them, participating in them or acting on them. It is observation of the contents of our mind as they appear and disappear without reacting to them." (Chandiramani, A Role for Mindfulness Meditation in the Treatment of Sexual Addictions, 2006).

ID

The id is the first part of the personality that is also the most primitive. Babies are born with it and it develops further as we grow older. However, when we mature the id is supposed to be a shadow of the personality as the ego and superego takes a large role. With the addict that is unfortunately not the case. The id is the pleasure principle and its primary process is to release tension and stress. It does so by taking mental imagine and events that satisfy the person's need and involving self-esteem in order to create fulfillment or pleasure. One could say that the id is a survival instinct because the only concern it has for itself is to survive, win, and seek its own satisfaction regardless of its environment or people that may be in conflict with it. Primitive people used to live through the id only due to the lack of personal and social development but because the id is selfish, lacks morale, and follow-through it had to evolve naturally in society for one to find personal fulfilment, a sense of belonging, and general happiness.

The addict may not have had the fortune to grow out of living primarily through the id's rules of conduct because of bad upbringing where his parents either overtly lavished him with luxuries and being spoiled thinking that this was love in affection. This same child who goes to a school where the teachers treat him like the teacher's pet and has other people around him who give him the impression where he can do no wrong teaches him to manipulate his id into believing that he can get exactly what he wants whenever and however. In fact, satisfying his needs and desires are just a matter on the masks you wear and the mind-games you play. The id is not concerned about the risks or potential problems one may face in satisfying needs or desires and growing up with ease of always getting what the addict wants makes it very difficult to unlearn when in recovery.

The id is an in-built cognitive behavior that although it may have been encourage while growing up can now be taught to be used for the right reasons. The id's most positive quality is that it can actually also allows a person to get themselves out of dangerous or risky situations. These situations do not always have to be physical. For recovering addicts, they must also avoid potential damaging emotional, mental, and psychological situations and relationships at all times. Mindfulness may have its roots in the teachings of Buddha but it can be exceptionally beneficial to all recovering addicts. For example, there are often times in recovery when the addict finds himself in a new working conditions or home conditions where things have not at all changed.

The addict may find himself in a codependent relationship where he is being financially manipulated or mentally patronized by his superiors. By using mindfulness meditational techniques he will be able to learn to emotionally detach himself from the self-pity and resentfulness he may feel since he will be aware that through his addiction he will temporarily be able to control his own finances. He can also learn to suspend his speculations and mental reactions in order to avoid repression or suppression of his anger when he feels patronized so he can respond in a more assertive matters to his superior. In this way, he is both getting what he wants and still not allowing himself to fall into a fantastical depressive movie.

EGO

The ego, as it develops, begins to help distinguish life from the realistic principle. Most people start to evolove this around their teenage life and is always becoming more embellished as one goes through different experiences and relationships in life. The ego's secondary process is to find the match between his mental images or events for tension with the actual perception in the world. "Ego strength refers to the ego's ability to function effectively despite the demands of these conflicting forces. With little ego strength, the person is torn among competing pressures. With greater ego strength, the person can manage those pressures without serious problems. However, it's possible for the ego to be too strong as he can extremely rational and efficient but may also be extremely boring, cold, and distant."(Carver, Scheier, Perspectives on Personality, 1992). Ultimately, the ego's employed to prevent the id from operating.

The ego is still satisfying the needs and desires of self but it is more concerned with a more rational approach to getting these things. The ego recognizes potential risks which means that it is not focused on instant gratification unlike the id. As a person mature into his teenage years he will begin to experience consequence via punishment therefore he will become more effective in avoiding these potential risks. However, unfortunately,

the addict is more emotional than normal person and regardless of how their upbringing was fall victim into either not acknowledging punishment or consequence or will have positively neither fear nor concern of punishment or consequence making them more responsive to the id's motives and functions. Addicts have and always will be emotionally unstable and are more prone to anxiety and impulsivity.

The addict also inherently has certain or all symptoms of depression, phobias, anxiety attacks, obsessive-compulsion disorders, and other mental illness disorders that effect rationality thereby their ability to respond to antisocial urges are more likely. Hence, the addict is less likely to learn from consequence and punishment. Conscience is not being learnt at this early stage and this is how the addict has the stunted growth and development leaning them towards the mind and heart of a child even as they get older. The id becomes ever more emphasized and the motivation for doing whatever it takes to gain reward is the strongest desire. The addict is not interested in differentiating when to do the action that gain reward or pleasure now or at a more appropriate time. Planning, forward-thinking, and logic is lacking in the addict making their rational unevolved.

The sex addict will have his motivations in getting sexually gratified in antisocial ways via cheating and manipulating ignoring the future risk of having his relationship burnt or destroyed because his ego is underdeveloped to understand that he cannot have his cake and eat it. The alcoholic will have the tunnel-vision perception of believing that if he only stops drinking and attends his meetings but does not find a sponsor will prevent him from becoming a dry-drunk and invite emotional sobriety into his life will somehow give him the ability to find objectivity in his life and learn to sense when he is giving into self-entitlement, closed-mind thinking, and being self-involved all over again. Conscience behavior shuns these modus of operandi and the ego would also would never

actually allow this behavior to continue either.

SUPEREGO

The superego is where conscience behavior is developing and it occurs around the age of late adolescent and continues throughout one's life with the intention of always being in the forefront of the id and ego. This is where values and morals are starting to become conditioned and provides the crux of one's life in spiritual awareness. In psychology terminology, it is said that the supergo is composed of two features 1) the ego idea and 2) the conscience. The superego's job is to inhibit the impulsivity of the id, force the ego to focus on moral considerations, and direct the individual to absolute perfection in thought, word, and deed. In simple terms, the supergo wants the person to become more aware of the emotions and feelings providing perfect balance for the ego to work with it and the id to be aware of what is genuinely wants.

"The superego is the embodiment of parental and societal values. It decides what's right and what's wrong and strives for perfection rather than pleasure. The patterns of values in a person's superego depends in your superego depends on the values of the parents. To obtain the parents' love and affection, the child comes to abide by what the parents think is right. To avoid pain, punishment, and rejection the child avoids what the parents think in wrong...Whatever the parents approve of and punish are built into the ego-ideal. Engaging in behavior that fits those standards make a person feel proud. The other aspect of the superego, the conscience, consists of rules about what behaviors are bad. When the person engages in bad acts or thoughts, he is punished by guilt feelings." (Carver, Scheier, Perspectives on Personality, 1992).

The addict has what may consider to be a very weak superego and he tends to do enjoy rebelling against it. The addict is rebellious and strong-willed by nature towards anything and anyone in life including himself which is what makes the addict insane. The word 'insane' is not to be confused with being mentally instituitionable (if he hasn't actually damaged his mental ability completely) but the word does implies that he does actually as much mental capabilities as a normal person and simply refuses to use the capacity to exercise them with the hope of having his life running effectively.

For example, the addict would be able to prevent himself to placing him into dangerous situations or getting involved with people he knows will put his recovery in harm's bay but tends to disregard the gut feeling or the anxiety that is trying to tell him that his behavior is not a good idea. Equally, the addict would stop acting out on his shortcomings such as his vicious anger, biting sarcasm, bleeding emotional blackmail, and incorrigible irreliabilty if he could just become a little bit more aware that the guilt, remorse, anxiety, and confusion simply isn't worth it and creates more powerlessness and life of unmanagabilty.

Incorporating conscience behavior development by working through stepwork and going to group therapy this lack of awareness can be realized allowing the addict to prevent putting himself through unnecessary pain.

CONCLUSION

Conscience behavior development is a lifelong program that can be instilled by the addict through being in treatment centers as an inpatient or outpatient client, working a 12 Step Program, and continuing to practice prayer and meditation with the God of the addicts understanding. Although it is possible that the addict can improve his conscious

contact with conscience behavior by doing one of the three; it would be advised that he did all three for a systematic program and the most rewarding process. All treatment centers provide cognitive behavior and implement an open-minded reflection for the loss or dysfunctional id-ego-superego growth and development. These workshops and lectures are taught by social workers/therapists, psychologists, and recovering addicts. They involve group therapy sessions with such topics as critical analysis, role-playing, etc.

Working the12 Step Program helps by bring conscious behavior into the forefront of the addict's awareness for example by asking the addict to provide examples of activities that causes the addict to act out on good or bad behavior. The 12 Step Program also promotes the awareness of defects of characters and the addict is made to become aware of specific bad behaviors that negatively affect his relationships with life, other people, and himself. The reverse of this is when he is asked to provide positive traits and characteristics he wishes to instill within himself and explains why this behavior would make his life more effective, productive, and create harmony and peace with his relationship with life, people, and himself. Other features of the 12 Step Program give him the opportunity to practice what he preaches which reflects in a developing conscience behavior.

Finally, through spirituality the addict can once again rely on a power greater than himself to provide him with right actions and sense bad actions so he does not have to continue living a life of insanity eternally. He will be able to have different formats of meditation that broaden his the view of meditation and mindfulness that will restructure needs vs. wants and exercising God's will instead of the id's will. "Mindfulness meditation allows the addict to get connected with their inner state of affairs by the way of becoming aware their inner body sensations. They can become aware of active addictive urges before these urges manifest in the form of thoughts and behaviors." (Chadiramani, Mindfulness Meditation in the Treatment of Sexual Addictions, 2006).