Bad habits: what characterizes them and where they come from

Habit formation is a process aimed at establishing a certain pattern of behavior that has an established character and acquires the significance of a need for a person. A similar mechanism for building life behavior is formed by repeating the same action systematically and repeatedly, reinforcing the process or result with positive emotions and sensations. Usually, negative habits are formed independently, without the participation of an internal critic and the intervention of the volitional component, while the formation of useful habits often requires a person to control his behavior and develop a whole system of rewards and motivations.

The psychological aspect, reflecting the moment of establishing any behavioral manifestation as habitual, manifests itself in the disappearance of volitional efforts when performing a repeated action or a decrease in the severity of cognitive difficulties. Here a physiological component is involved, for which a habit is the establishment of new strong neural connections after a certain number of repetitions. Both in psychological and physiological senses, as well as at the mental and somatic levels, when performing an unusual action for the first time, strong resistance is observed in many parts of the body due to the fact that what is being performed is new and, accordingly, requires greater resource expenditure.

Over time, neural connections become stronger, and less energy will be required to activate them the next time you engage in a given activity. In addition, once formed habits can be successfully maintained for a long time without external reinforcement and be updated again after a long break, but when the necessary conditions are restored. You can remember that even if you haven’t written anything by hand for a year, if you need to fill out a form, you will do it automatically, just as riding a bike is remembered in seconds after a long-term break. This is due to the fact that once established, neural connections are restored quite easily or do not disappear at all.

Forming healthy lifestyle habits

The formation of useful habits is considered more long-term, however, this is only a subjective feeling if a person has insufficient motivation. In reality, all habits require different amounts of time, and some develop in a couple of days, while others take months to form. The speed of development of reflexive behavior, mental characteristics, and external factors also have an influence here.

Health is not about the operations that give you back your life and the medications you will take, but about how you shape your everyday life. It is daily habits for certain moments that give good shape and self-awareness. The first fundamental thing you should focus on controlling and changing for the better is the quality of sleep, falling asleep and waking up in the morning. If you don't get enough sleep, jump up every morning when the alarm goes off, and don't feel like you've rested, you should change your usual rhythms. The clearest indicator that you have done everything right for your body is waking up without an alarm clock in excellent condition with less sleep. When shifting the regime towards the absence of night vigils, you need to take care of helping your body fall asleep; physical activity, a busy life and the organization of a regime and rituals will be excellent helpers (you can take a bath or read a chapter of your favorite book before bed, but take care of a smooth transition to a calm mode).

Get yourself a diary and introduce planning into your nightly routine - this will both help you structure your entire life and not be delayed in doing what you need to do, and will also help you monitor the formation of new habits. Judge for yourself: when an action has not yet become your automaticity, it is easy to forget about it or put it off, but if it is an item on your daily plan, then you will complete it, and even receive an emotional bonus for what you have accomplished.

Planning also helps you keep track of deadlines, because a clearly planned previous day will help you avoid finishing reports at midnight, which means you will wake up with vigor and strength. Planning includes not only scheduling your activities, but also your meals. If you try, then you need to take care of your lunches and snacks in advance, choosing fresh and healthy products, preparing food. This requires more discipline than buying a hot dog or crackers on the run.

Gradually accustom your body to physical activity, the degree and frequency of which should be calculated in relation to your needs, capabilities and starting level. If your body does not know what sports is, then immediately sending it to intensive training in the sports section may turn out to be an overload and it is better to start with daily exercises. When small loads become familiar and easy for you, you can gradually increase the quantity and intensity. In this matter, rely on your own feelings and perhaps the advice of a professional trainer, and not on the speed of your friends, since everyone’s ability to adapt and physical capabilities are different.

Maintaining hygiene is an integral part of health, therefore it is necessary to bring to automaticity the regularity of hygiene procedures regarding one’s own body (showering, brushing teeth, washing hands), as well as the surrounding area (cleaning the house, clothes, work area).

In all of these aspects of developing a healthy habit, you must be flexible in finding methods of implementation. If the sports club is closed for renovation, then you can continue training in open areas, jogging in the park or in another establishment; the inaccessibility of the bathroom for proper hygiene can be solved with the help of wet wipes and liquid antiseptics; You can regulate your sleep by using earplugs and sleep masks or by taking an extra day off; Time issues affecting healthy food preparation can be overcome by using restaurant produce that meets your standards or by choosing fruit and cottage cheese as a snack instead of chips. In general, you should still have the habit and need to maintain health in any conditions and look for suitable methods for this.

Types of bad habits

All habits are inherently harmful, but benefits to a person and social acceptability determine the degree of “harmfulness” of each of them. In this article I will tell you what society is against, as well as what is considered more or less acceptable.

Drug addiction

Drug use is considered the most harmful and unacceptable habit, as it leads to mental and physical dysfunction of the body faster than others.

Most drugs are poisons that slowly destroy the brain and psyche.

It is enough to take a closer look at the composition of conventional headache remedies and other medications, including children’s ones, and you will find substances of a narcotic nature.

Drugs existed in nature long before humans appeared. The point is that using them as a way of coping with stress leads to dire consequences.

People can die from heart failure, fatal nosebleeds and more. When using LSD, a person loses the ability to spatial orientation, which can lead to the last flight with the “Angel in the Sky”, for example from the 9th floor.

Everyone's favorite statistic says that 60% of drug addicts commit suicide, which is explained by the loss of the instinct of self-preservation. The decision to commit suicide is reinforced by social pressure and reclusive behavior.

With regular drug use, a person loses the ability to sensibly assess what is happening, even when he is not in a state of drug intoxication.

Alcohol addiction

Alcohol-containing drinks are present in almost every home. The most interesting thing is that they are encouraged by a certain part of society.

Drinking alcohol is part of our life in the following cases:

• "on holidays",
• for company",
• out of respect,
• to calm the nerves.

Under the influence of alcohol, which is found in alcoholic drinks, all vital systems collapse, starting with the nervous and cardiovascular ones.

With regular consumption of low-alcohol and strong drinks, you can acquire the following diseases:

• depression,
• muscle weakness,
• blood clots in blood vessels,
• diabetes,
• drying out of the brain
• swollen liver
• kidney problems,
• impotence,
• stomach ulcer.

Drinking alcohol even in minimal quantities leads to a decrease in intellectual function for at least a week. A bottle of vodka drunk in an hour can kill you on the spot.

Alcohol is an ancient, historically proven method of controlling the masses and destroying peoples. People with reduced intelligence and addiction are easier to manipulate. Selling alcohol is also a good way to make a profit.

Smoking

Tobacco smoking or simply smoking is the process of inhaling smoke from slowly smoldering dried or processed tobacco leaves with nicotine concentrate.

Like all addicted individuals, smokers believe that health problems will not affect them. Unfortunately, for every bad habit you have to pay.

According to statistical studies among the male population under the age of 65, people who inhale cigarette smoke will sooner or later cause irreparable damage to their lungs and will be at risk for mortality:

• 90% - from cancer,
• 74% - from acute bronchitis,
• 26% - from coronary heart disease.

Smoking among the female population, even passive smoke inhalation, can lead to infertility in women.

Currently, an alternative has emerged - inhaling vapor from electronic cigarettes. At its core, the presence of nicotine causes the same physical dependence, but the consequences from this are not as depressing as from smoking.

However, entry into the cycle is made in the same way for both versions of smoking, forming psychological and physiological addiction.

Other bad habits

There are also “socially acceptable” habits, such as:

• Poor nutrition and overeating. This is certainly harmful, but more so for the “glutton” than for society. Therefore, it is often not considered as a clearly bad habit.
• Promiscuity is also an addiction, but thanks to the work of social media groups it has acquired a positive character.
• Gambling addiction is an addiction to gambling. Due to the profitability of the gambling business, it is a habit available in various forms, which is only condemned when the addict breaks the rules on non-payment of debts or is involved in theft to continue gambling.
• Cybernetic addiction to computer games. Suffice it to mention that today there are many tournaments. Esports has become almost a respectful way of expressing oneself. The business itself is very profitable.
• Caffeine addiction. Almost not socially unacceptable.
• Diet addiction. By slowing down your metabolism, a person gains weight again after finishing a diet - this will smooth out the cycle of diet addiction.
• Profanity is a bad habit of using swear words in public places. Condemned in certain social groups.
• Pharmacological dependence on medications. Now there are a large number of antibiotics that help cope with the causative agent of infection much faster than the body could cope on its own. On the one hand, this is a positive side of life in a civilized society, but on the other hand, the body ceases to cope on its own. And even the simplest infection will require more and more medications to recover.

Stages of habit formation

In forming a new habit, no matter what area it concerns, the same stages of formation must still be completed. Initially, it becomes a matter of choosing and prioritizing the formation of a new approach to life, where, of all the necessary habits, you will first need to focus on one. Working simultaneously on many tasks, changing your life radically, can only last for a short time (about a week), after which the body’s resource will run out and you will be thrown back to the very beginning stage. Therefore, wait until one habit is fully formed and then take on the next one.

The next point is to determine your own motivation in acquiring a new habit. You need to establish your inner meaning and need for such changes, understanding what will lead to it in the future. Acting without understanding the final goal is an energy-consuming undertaking; in addition, the very lack of understanding why you are achieving something will be a sabotaging factor, while good internal motivation and conscious desire will help.

The next stage is specific actions, where it is worth planning the stages of achieving the intended result. When setting a goal, you need to determine the deadlines, create an appropriate daily routine, and include items for completing the task in your daily schedule. Try not to take large volumes at once (if you want to start running in the morning, it’s better to start with five hundred meters than with five kilometers); breaking big achievements into small but accessible goals is the main mechanism in qualitative progress towards results. Once you have divided your goal into stages of achievement, you must strictly follow them. This is where the most difficult part begins, since you will need to perform actions regularly and constantly, no matter what excuses new life situations suggest. For stimulation and not to lose heart, it would be great to keep not only a diary of future plans, but also a diary to record your achievements, which will not allow you to give up everything midway.

It is common to form a habit in 21 days and by the end of this period the first results are really visible, but the first week you need to control yourself as much as possible. Doing something new is easy and enthusiastic on the first day, a little worse on the second, and after a week it becomes torment and the reason for the development of unrealistic fantasies about why you should give up everything. The one-week interval is the most critical moment, after which it becomes easier to survive.

After three weeks, the physiological formation of new neural connections occurs and, in fact, the habit can be considered formed, but it is too early to relax, because after this period of time, old connections and habits have not yet been destroyed. Thus, you have two equivalent ways of choosing behavior, after three weeks you reach zero, where you have a conscious choice of how to live further. It will take about a month and a half to finally consolidate the habit; therefore, after three weeks, you continue to monitor yourself with the same rigor. Many people, relaxing at this stage, begin to skip daily workouts and indulge themselves more and more, thereby reinforcing old neural connections.

A habit is considered to be fully formed when it is repeated for three months. After such a period, any mechanism (physical activity, daily routine, food consumption) becomes the leading one in your activity and now, in order to get rid of it, you will need to go the whole way again.

How to get rid of bad habits?

It is better to enter any cycles at no more than 30%, so as not to become dependent.

If addiction has already appeared, then there are specialized clinics that help get rid of it.

In some cases, the method of replacing a bad habit with a healthy and socially acceptable one helps. For example:

• workaholism,
• vaping electronic cigarettes,
• sports and so on.

You can cope with a bad habit on your own. To do this, you need to radically change your lifestyle, including changing your job and place of residence.

It will take willpower, which can be developed now. Complete abandonment of a bad habit is necessary, since making concessions to yourself will always be a strong temptation. Changing your social circle to the category of successful people without habits will help you.

Why a habit is formed in 21 days

There are many places where it is said that it is possible to form a habit in 21 days, and the question arises why exactly such a time frame is indicated. This effect was noticed by the surgeon M. Malts, who worked with patients in plastic surgery. In the course of his work, he noticed that it was precisely this minimum amount of time that the patient needed in order for indicators of adaptation to his new forms or reflection in the mirror to appear. At the same time, describing a similar pattern, the spread of which the surgeon noticed not only in operating practice, but also in his personal life when forming his new habits, he indicated that three weeks is the minimum term for the formation of a new mental image.

It was indicated that the higher the complexity of the conceived new habit, the further it is from the initial state of a person’s life, the longer it takes to form. Those. Having set a goal to get up at six in the morning, despite the fact that you previously woke up at seven, you will achieve it much easier and faster, having formed a new mechanism, than a person who wakes up at ten. In addition, the duration of formation is influenced by the emotional background of the restructuring process - when a person receives positive emotional reinforcement, sees and feels improvements, this stimulates the process, but if the changes are associated with tension, irritation and stress, then the formation of a habit can take months.

In psychology, it was discovered that this time period is sufficient for a person to successfully master a new skill, see the first results of its use, while remaining free to choose whether there is a need to constantly maintain this model. The more useful and enjoyable a new skill turns out to be, the more motivation there is to maintain its implementation. This means that 21 days does not program a person for strict execution, but is a kind of test drive of what was planned, which makes it possible to change the strategy in the absence of the desired results.

Many experiments have confirmed the fact of changes in brain activity precisely after three weeks of constant exposure or volitional changes in behavior. During the same time, adaptation to new food and a new environment in the apartment occurs. It is believed that it is during this period that new neural connections are formed, which are responsible for the easy implementation of new activities and its complete mastery.

Bad habits are complex, multi-level problems, their main difficulty is that the majority of people do not perceive them correctly, those who start (smoking, drinking, taking drugs) believe that they can easily give it up, and drive themselves further and further into angle, some people think that a bad habit is an indestructible rock that no one can destroy, neither the person himself nor with the help of specialists.

But this is not true, you can defeat the enemy, you just need to know him.

What is a “bad habit”?

Several sciences have been studying bad habits or painful addictions: medicine, psychology and sociology, and recently a new science has appeared - addictionology, its main task is to understand the process of forming a bad habit in order to help people free themselves from bad habits by finding effective preventive methods.

How does a bad habit form?

People strive for a comfortable state, but this is not always achievable; circumstances often occur in life that interfere with stability, stressful situations and depression arise. There are many options to cope with depression, some choose delicious food, others choose music, sports, computer games, fishing, hobbies, etc. In normal quantities, all methods help to return to a full life, but if the method of dealing with a difficult life circumstance pushes everything else into the background, then this indicates the emergence of addiction.

Experts believe that in this way a person tries to hide from real problems, becomes an overactive consumer of some “product”, changes his lifestyle, as this helps to improve his psychological state, but this harmony causes damage to other important life functions, and psychologically the person degrades, stops developing.

The formation of bad habits can be divided into the following stages

1. Memorization by consciousness of the connection between a colorful emotional experience and the use of a certain substance, the performance of some action, etc.

2. The rhythm of addiction is established, the body requires a remedy that brings it positive emotions.

3. A bad habit divides a person into two personalities, the first is afraid of loneliness and strives for communication, the other strives for solitude, choosing people with similar bad habits for communication. At this stage, the illusion of complete control over the bad habit arises; the person is convinced of the correctness of the decision.

These factors lead to a person losing control over his behavior; harmful addiction takes the reins of control over a person into its own hands, demanding more and more “comforter” in order to increase the time spent in the act of addictive behavior.

Psychologists believe that the cause of a bad habit is psychological programming. Observations have shown that unconscious programs are formed in the brain that convince a person that his dependence is justified and necessary. Dependence is so deeply embedded that it forces a person to completely submit, crushes him under itself. Psychologists warn that no matter how harmless addiction may seem, it will lead to loss of self-esteem, destroy your way of life, family and career, alienate friends, and worsen not only psychological, but also physical health. And for many people, bad habits take away everything - life.

You can get rid of an already formed bad habit only with the help of specialists; you can rarely do this yourself, and in no case should you be ashamed of a bad habit, because it is just a disease, and for diseases you should consult a doctor.

Let's look at what bad habits there are.

Bad habits can be chemical or non-chemical.

Non-chemical is when one way of life displaces the others, relegating them to the background.

A workaholic is a person who is focused on his work alone.

Gambling addiction - gambling is absolutized.

Pathological shopping - a person buys unnecessary and meaningless purchases, spending his last money on them.

Non-chemical bad habits also include computer addiction, which includes a number of bad habits. A person tries to take refuge in the virtual world, cannot do without electronic devices, social networks, computer games, and changes his real life to a virtual one.

Chemical bad habits - caused by the use of surfactants, psychoactive substances, when they enter the brain they damage it, change the biochemical robot, the scary thing is that such changes are irreversible. Chemical bad habits give rise to drug addicts, substance abusers, and alcoholics. The craving for the substance used constantly progresses and develops into an incurable chronic disease.

It is very difficult to get rid of such bad habits, in fact it is impossible without the help of a doctor; special anonymous communities also make a great contribution to the fight against such severe bad habits, where patients help one another in the fight against a bad habit.

A person who has a bad habit must understand that it leads him to the abyss, and if he does not want to help himself, then doctors will not help him, a bad habit can only be overcome by the joint efforts of the doctor and the patient, and he will have to fight every day.

Next articles:

• 6 ways to cope with alcohol cravings
• Alcoholism and its impact on offspring
• Alcoholism is a disease
• Hookah harm
• Bad habits - think about the consequences

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Bad habits, repentance and correction [↑]

Our sages teach us that habit is the root of all behavior, and that bad character traits become second nature to a person due to his habit of anger, slander, greed, and so on.

Saba from Novardok in the book “The Level of Man” gives a figurative description from the Talmud: “Everyone who has the Torah, but does not fear God, is like a treasurer who was given the keys to the interior, but was not given the keys to the front door.”

Until a person is the master of his habits and his character and does not know how to control himself, explains Saba from Novardok, all the Torah that he learns remains educational material, something external, not directly related to him. The Torah does not enter his heart because his bad traits repulse it, and he lacks the fear of God to control himself, suppress inappropriate desires and work on his character.

The Rambam in “The Laws of Repentance” teaches: “And do not think that you should repent only of criminal actions: fornication, robbery, theft. Just as a person should repent of these crimes, so he should look for bad character traits and habits in himself and correct them: anger and hostility, envy and rivalry, ridicule, desire for money or honor, gluttony - all such things should be repented. These habits are harder than criminal acts in that it is more difficult for a person mired in them to come to repentance. And so it is said: “Let the sinner forsake his way, and the evildoer his plans” ( Yeshayahu 55:7

)».

Rambam speaks of character traits as habits. And indeed, we see how people get used to giving vent to their anger, mocking, envying - and so a bad character grows from bad habits.

Rav Mendel Lefin from Satanov explains this in more detail: “Even the lightest feeling that arises in the heart does not go unnoticed by the animal soul - at least something is always preserved in its memory. When the same sensation is repeated, it joins and adds a little to the trace left in the soul by the previous impression. Each new experience strengthens all past experiences that have touched the soul. Now we can understand that the union of the lightest sensations and the generation of passion in the animal soul, intensifying with their frequent repetition, become a habit.”

The Ramchal in Mesilat Yesharim, in the chapter “On the Ingredients of Caution,” teaches that «

a person must be attentive to his actions and check all his ways, so as not to leave behind bad habits and bad qualities” and advises “to meticulously check and weigh your qualities, day after day, like a good merchant constantly checks all his enterprises, so that they do not suffered damage. And a person must set aside time and set certain hours for this, so that “weighing” is not random and episodic, but constant, since this activity is very useful and fruitful.”

Orkhot Tzadikim reminds us that “when a person is late to correct himself, the evil inclination grows stronger and stronger. And the heart hardens, and now the person is already accustomed to violations and misconduct. And all violations and offenses are similar in his eyes to what is permitted, and he will not be able to purify himself.” Therefore, first of all, a person should “decide with all his heart and with all his soul to get rid of a bad habit.”

Binge eating

Overeating is a mental disorder associated with uncontrolled eating . Which leads to severe problems with excess weight. Overeating often occurs after experiencing shock or constant stress. More often, people who are already overweight face this problem. In a difficult life situation, there is only one joy left for them - food.

Overeating is a common bad habit nowadays.

Afraid to take risks

Avoiding any risk is a by-product of fear of the unknown and leads to a very peaceful life. But this bad habit prevents us from achieving anything. If we didn't take risks, you can be sure that humanity would still be in the Stone Age.

When we take risks, we embody courage or do something we haven't done before, even if it makes us uncomfortable.

Exploration, achievement, and determination are all things that come from being brave and taking risks in life.

Courage gives us the desire to try new things and cope with the changes and challenges of life. We can face our fears and overcome them to experience a better life for ourselves.

Thinking that nothing can be changed

Apathy is a feeling of hopelessness, powerlessness and despair. If you look around and see others achieving what you wanted, it shows you that you can create the same reality for yourself, or at least very close to it.

We have the incredible ability to change things in our lives and in the lives of others. With will, courage and determination, we can change things.

Rome was not built in a day, and what we want to change in our lives or in society as a whole will not necessarily happen as quickly as we would like it to, but if we apply the energy of change and transformation, we will do it.

Get rid of doubts and live the life you dreamed of.

Bad habits: procrastinating

We make excuses for why we put off doing something that would radically change our lives for the better.

For example: “I know walking can help me become healthier, but I don’t have time for it right now.”

If you know that a healthy practice like walking can help you lose weight and become healthier, why put it off? If it benefits you, why put it off for something else?

Bad Habit: Not Expressing Gratitude

Our minds sometimes tend to be negative. We look at all the things we don't have and end up feeling worse about ourselves. There is always something we won't have. But this view of life will forever leave us unsatisfied.

Gratitude is one of the pleasant ways to find peace of mind and happiness within. No matter what happens outside of us, there is always something we can be grateful for.

Indeed, there is. Even something as simple as a bright blue sky or a deep breath of fresh morning air, or even the experience of existence itself.

• 10 Benefits of Gratitude Proven by Science