An interesting aspect of addiction and depression or anxiety disorders has (at least from my point of view) a lot to do with your own initiative.

What do I mean with that? In various blogposts, coaching contributions and podcasts, as well as as in my own work and my own addiction, there is one common thing I stumbled across: You can only be helped ior change anything for the better if you take initiative for yourself.

Nobody will solve the problems for you, unless you ask for help and be the motivated driver behind your recovery. That does not mean you have to do everything on your own. There are enough possibilities to receive help, especially if you have a severe addiction or trauma or psychic and physical problems. The one thing is YOU have to take action and YOU have to be the motivated one to resolve the problems (although with the appropriate help).

Example: People can tell you a quadrillion times that you have an addiction problem, that you are steering headlong into disaster, being like a train wreck in slow motion. But eventually things will only chance if you commit yourself to change.

I have been aware of this fact a long time. The problem is, that if you are in an addiction yourself and you don’t want to accept that you have a problem, you won’t see any necessity to change. I finally realized that there is a problem, but that did not make me pro-active yet. I still hoped for some golden knight on a white steed to rescue me from my distress. I sat there like the “helpless princess” (a misogynistic image from fairy tales to keep up the image of the strong man and the helpless woman, what a crap!) waiting to be rescued.

Then I realized that it was not only the alcohol that was the problem, but my attitude towards getting out. Yes, I know it takes a lot of commitment and a lot of tries to get out, but in the end YOU will be Joan of Arc and rescue yourself and not the princess waiting to be rescued by the knight. You will have to slay the dragon yourself. And get burnt. And try over and over again. But you will realize: You can do it. Maybe the knight can help you, or an army, or magic. But in the end it will and must be you that slays the dragon. Just don’t give up and try and try over again. One day you’ll get out of that stinking dragon’s lair.

Until next time: Keep up the faith in yourself and take one step at a time.