When you’re stuck in a dark place struggling with addiction, hope can seem really hard to find.

But what if our addictions themselves were actually expressions of the exact kind of hope we needed to pull us out of our darkest moments?

Transcript

Hi, my name is Koorosh. I’m the founder of Evo Health and Wellness and today I want to talk about–or really more accurately talk to–people that are having a really, really tough time. Those of you out there whose experience is really dark, and hope seems to be really hard to find. And that’s a very, very familiar feeling because it’s a thought that I’ve had many times in my experience before I was able to find my way out.

What if everything that we do is actually an expression of hope? What if getting loaded 9 o’clock in the morning, or getting drunk, or going out and having sex again, or gambling–or all of these things that we call our addictions–what if they’re just a manifestation of our hope that somehow, magically later today, tomorrow, four days from now, when we come out of this, life will be different?

I’m not suggesting to anybody that it’s a good idea, or that there’s no risk in using substances that have high toxicity and can cause overdoses, but what I am suggesting is if we begin to think about those behaviors in our history as examples of hope and examples of strength, that might be just what we need to be able to stand up to the struggle, to be able to be in the darkness in a much more powerful way.

This is actually not an unheard of idea. When you talk about gambling addiction, it’s not uncommon for people that are struggling and also people that are helping to talk about gambling addiction as having the secondary benefit of being some sort of a hopeful addiction because there is this chance of a windfall of cash. Well, anybody that’s had a gambling problem knows that nobody ends up with a windfall of cash and even a windfall of cash doesn’t solve gambling addiction. But that interpretation of that hope that’s in there every time a bet is placed I think is actually true. And it’s the same kind of bet that we place in our drugs, and our relationships, in the things that we use to get through the day today with the hope that it will somehow be better later today.

So, it’s not about trying to find hope but maybe it’s about recognizing the hope that’s inherent and the things that we do to take care of ourselves, even when those things are the very things we’re trying to get away from. I hope you find this video helpful.

Evo Health and Wellness is an outpatient addiction treatment program that respects where you are and where you want to go. Clients set goals that work for them, whether they include complete abstinence or moderation. Evo sees success as lasting change in the client’s life, including physical health, movement towards personal goals, and their sense of connection and purpose. Evo’s program integrates psychotherapy, psychiatry, life coaching, and somatic therapy. Learn more about Evo’s program.