Self Improvement
Bad Habits
Habits can have a devastating effect on individuals. They can make people do precisely
those things that are bad for their health or against their best interests. For example, some
people drink heavily even though they know that they’re damaging their liver. Others eat all
the wrong foods even though they know they are increasing their risk of a second heart
attack. Amongst students in colleges and universities the habit of procrastination is almost
universal. When habit is involved, behavior that is downright dangerous is surprisingly
common.
One of the reasons why most people fail when they try to break bad habits it they think they
can do it by sheer willpower. Unfortunately, efforts relying on willpower never last and have
the effect of reinforcing the habit when they fail. It becomes harder and harder to break the
habit until eventually the individual resigns himself or herself to their fate.
Studies in behavior modification clearly show that the only way to break bad habits is exactly
the same way they are acquired. Bad habits are not acquired through willpower and that is
why attempts at behavior modification through willpower invariably fail.
How habits are formed
The only sure way to break a habit is to use the same process that formed the habit in the first
place. Most habits are formed through a process known as conditioning. Conditioning is
learning behavior through a process of reinforcement. Generally speaking, reinforcement is
associated with pleasure, comfort, rewards, or an end to discomfort.
There are two types of reinforcement. Positive reinforcement takes place when a reward or
pleasant event follows an action. An example would be the pleasant sensation of
lightheadedness which is experienced by drinking a glass of champagne, which would reinforce
the drinking of champagne. The experience of joy reinforces spending time with loved ones.
Negative reinforcement also increases responding, but it does so by ending discomfort. If you
have a headache and take an aspirin, your aspirin-taking will be reinforced if your headache
stops. Often positive and negative reinforcement combine. If you are uncomfortably hungry,
eating a meal is reinforced by the good-tasting food (positive reinforcement) and by an end to
hunger (negative reinforcement).
This process of reinforcing behavior is how most habits are formed. For instance, the stress of
everyday life or traumatic experience can lead to the habit of drinking. How does this happen?
The stimulus in this example is the experience of pain or discomfort and our natural response is
to seek some way to remove it. Drinking we may find not only removes the pain (negative
reinforcement) but also makes us feel relaxed and happy (positive reinforcement). Thus the
removal of pain and discomfort become the reinforcers of drinking. The habit is easy to acquire
since a bottle is never too far away and drinking is socially acceptable and tolerated to a limit.
It is not hard to imagine that if drinking becomes our only means to end discomfort or pain it
can soon become a problem. If the drinking habit turns into alcoholism it then becomes also the
source of pain and anxiety and this creates a vicious circle. Since alcohol is the only way this
person knows how to remove this pain, this make the solution also the problem.
For some people resorting to food is way to reduce pain, discomfort or anxiety. This can soon
turn into a habit of turning to food anytime there are difficulties. Naturally weight problems arise
and start to become the source a new set of problems. The same vicious circle develops where
the solution is also the cause of the problem. This problem is not limited to drinking and eating
but also can be found in gambling, compulsive shopping, violence towards loved ones and so
forth.
Reinforcement can sometimes be hard to detect. For instance, a student may find it difficult to
concentrate during study and constantly has breaks for a drink, to watch TV or chat . In this
situation the drinks, TV and friends actually reinforce the habit of interrupting study. The
solution in this case is to defer the reinforcement until a suitable time in concentrated study is
spent. In this way the rewards will reinforce study rather than the breaks.
Recommended books:
-How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci : Seven Steps to Genius Every Day
Michael Gelb / Hardcover / Published 1998
-Emotional Intelligence
Daniel P. Goleman / Paperback / Published 1997
Find other great books here
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