Habits

Old Habits Die Hard...

We've all heard the saying 'old habits die hard,' but how true is it? Over the next couple of weeks, I will be attempting to change one of my steadfast habits. Each week, I will be adding updates as to the progress of my change in habits. This "experiment" will consist of what I hope will be a whole lot of willpower, and certain coping mechanisms.

The habit I have chosen to (attempt) to break is playing with my hair. If you were to look at me at any given point during our class, chances are I'd be twiddling my hair between my fingers. I do it so often that I do not realize it is even happening. I feel this is something I should probably work to eliminate as I look to my future and begin working with professionals.

It is likely that this change will not greatly impact those around me; unless of course someone finds this habit wildly annoying. They will therefore be grateful. However, this change will impact me in that perhaps I will take more notes in class. On a scale of 1-10, I am committed at about a level 7. I do wish to eradicate this behavior, but it is not necessarily detrimental to my health or overall productivity, and therefore I am not 100% committed.

In order to carry out this habit-breaking plan, I figure I will need to do one of two things, or both. First, I might need to find something else to do with my hands to keep them away from my hair. Secondly, I could eliminate my hair as the problem by tying it back. The second option seems more plausible, and is therefore the strategy I will employ. Every time I catch myself playing with my hair, I will tie it back to eliminate the stimulus.

Throughout this little experiment, I believe it will be necessary to employ support from my friends in breaking this habit. As stated earlier, I usually do not realize when I am playing with my hair since it is such a deep-rooted habit. Therefore, I will be counting on my friends to point out to me when I am doing it so that I can stop. This accountability to others will also make me less likely to engage in this activity on my own.

Let's get to quittin' ya'll.

Habits Update #1

Progress

This week, I feel as though I have made slight progress in giving up my habit. Since I know I am supposed to be giving up playing with my hair, I have found that I am much more conscious of when I am actually starting to do it. Therefore, since I catch myself more often, I then stop myself much more often. The urges to play with my hair haven't really subsided, but I am becoming much more conscious of just how much I do it, whereas before, I never even noticed when it was happening.

Success

As previously stated, I planned on putting my hair up whenever I feel the urge to play with my hair. I have found that this is an extremely effective plan. If my hair is not there to play with, it does not happen. In addition, I have found myself putting my hair up more in general, therefore keeping my hands away from my hair all day long.

Triggers

Some common triggers I have found that contribute to the urge to play with my hair include lounging around watching television, and sitting in class. I overcame them by sticking to my plan, and pulling my hair back into a ponytail whenever i began to do it. Therefore, I do not believe my plan needs any changes, as it is seeming to be pretty effective.

Habits Update #2

Progress

This week, I am finding it harder to not play with my hair. I thought that the second week would be easier than the first, but it is actually much harder this week. I think the reason behind this is that some of the novelty of kicking the habit has worn off. It seems as though this compares to the gym after New Years. Everyone has resolved to go to the gym everyday, and they do because it is new and they know they want to stick with it. However, by the second week, the excuses and unmotivated feelings return. This is exactly where I am right now; I am less motivated to not play with my hair because I've hit the week two lull. 

Success

I have encountered some success this week, but as stated above, I have also experienced some failures. I am still more conscious of when I begin to play with my hair, but it is much harder to stop it this week than it was last week. Again, it seems as if I am just a little bit less motivated to do so.

Changes

It seems as though my plan to give up the habit of constantly playing with my hair needs a couple modifications. For the first week, I began simply putting my hair into a ponytail whenever I felt the urge to play with my hair. However, coming into the second week, I have found that this may not be enough to get me to break my habit. Instead of preventing me from playing with my hair altogether, I've begun to catch myself playing with my ponytail now, even though my hair is pulled back. Therefore, I have decided that perhaps I should put my hair into a bun instead so that there isn't any loose hair to play with at all. In addition, I am going to try to do something with my hands as well when I feel the urge to play with my hair. I believe these proposed changes will enable me to begin resisting these urges.

Triggers

A trigger that I have discovered this week that makes me want to play with my hair is when I am doing any sort of homework assignment. I have found that I use playing with my hair as a sort of little distraction from my work. For example, whenever I stop to think about the next sentence I am going to write in this blog post, I take my hands off the keyboard and start playing with my hair. Therefore, I should try to focus more on my tasks at hand (pun intended) and attempt to stop taking these short breaks while doing my work. 

Photo Source: www.sodahead.com

Habits Update #3

Progress

This week, I am making further progress in shaking my addiction to playing with my hair. Last week I was finding it hard to refocus my energy into quitting. However, this week I seem to have re-found that motivated energy. Whenever I begin to play with my hair I find myself catching the action, and therefore stopping what I am doing. Last week I noted some of my triggers that cause me to play with my hair, such as doing homework. Therefore, before I would begin to do my homework, I started putting my hair up in a bun  to remove the temptation. I found that this was wholly effective, as homework time was the time I played with my hair the most.

Success

I have encountered a lot of success this week, in comparison to last week. Last week I found myself struggling to keep up with my plan. However, this week, I regained my motivation, and subsequently made more efforts to stop playing with my hair.

Changes

Last week, I proposed a couple changes to my plan of action. These changes included putting my hair into a bun rather than a ponytail to stop myself from playing with my hair.  Last week I found that the ponytail was only half-effective, as I still played with the hair that hung loose. Instead of using a ponytail, I began to put my hair into an up-do whenever I began doing my homework. These changes proved effective, as there was no hair hanging loose to play with while I did my work. I found that I also got my work done a lot faster since I was no longer pausing to play with my hair. 

Triggers

This week, I have not discovered any other actions that trigger the desire to play with my hair. I think the biggest trigger I have discovered is during homework time, but I have eliminated that issue by putting my hair into an up-do whenever I begin my homework. 

Habits Update #4

Progress

This week, I have continued to work on ceasing to play with my hair. It is getting much easier to resist the urge to do so. As previously stated, I have begun putting my hair into a bun more often, as to take away the temptation. This tactic is providing continued success.

Success

My success in this endeavor continues. My hair is usually up most of the time now, but even when it is not, it is much easier to not play with it. The successes are more common now, and it seems as if I am finally breaking this habit.

Changes

I do not believe my plan of action requires any changes at this point in time. All of the changes I previously instated are working very well. 

Habits Update #5

Progress

I have had a couple of relapses since my last update. With the coming and going of spring break, my usual routines became irregular, and therefore threw off my progress in giving up my habit. While I did not completely relapse into my old habits of playing with my hair, I have begun to play with it again occasionally. 

Success

I  have continued to put my hair up when I feel the urge to play with it. As I previously stated, this has not always worked. I have had some successes and some failures.

Changes

I do not believe my plan of action requires any changes at this point in time. All of the changes I previously instated are working very well. 

Habits Update #6

Progress

I have made a lot of progress on stopping my habit of playing with my hair. I rarely reach for my hair to play with it anymore. I think after refusing to allow myself to do so for a couple weeks, the habit was really broken. I no longer have to remind myself not to do so, and this requires a lot less thought on a daily basis.

Success

I  have continued to put my hair up when I feel the urge to play with it. However, this action is becoming less and less necessary. This is how I know that I am beginning to truly break this habit.

Changes

I do not believe my plan of action requires any changes at this point in time. All of the changes I previously instated are working very well. 

Habits Update #7

Progress

There is not much progress to update simply because I feel as though my progress has plateaued. After the initial first struggles and relapses, I seem to have gotten a steady handle on my habit. Therefore, there is not much more progress to report.

Success

I continue to experience much success with my current plan of action regarding not playing with my hair. If I ever do still feel an urge to play with my hair, I still put it up as to avoid any temptation.

Changes

I do not believe my plan of action requires any changes at this point in time. All of the changes I previously instated are working very well. 

History of Substance Use

Prohibition was the the ban on the sale and manufacture of alcohol. It began in the 1920s, and lasted until 1933 (history.com). Prohibition gained its roots via the temperance movement, which pushed for traditional values, including the ban of alcohol (PBS, 2011).

The temperance movement gained momentum beginning in the 1800s (PBS, 2011). It started within the Protestant churches, who believed that alcohol was the root of all sins (PBS, 2011). These individuals believed that if alcohol was outlawed, that many domestic problems would cease to exist.

Therefore, members of the Protestant church pushed for the prohibition of alcohol. However, the women of the temperance movement were not the only ones pushing for prohibition. The Anti-Saloon League was formed not long after the temperance movement (PBS, 2011). According to PBS, the ASL was led by Wayne Wheeler, who was extremely adamant about banning alcohol (2011).

After the ratification of an amendment that changed the laws concerning income tax in 1913, the ASL movement was able to gain a lot of much-needed momentum (PBS,2011). This amendment reduced the government’s reliance on liquor taxes, and therefore many began to support the Anti-Saloon League (PBS,2011).

The ASL gained popularity, and even began to use the rising anti-German sentiment to turn the country against alcohol (PBS, 2011). As America was faced with World War I, the ASL’s tactics of connecting Germany to beer and breweries proved extremely effective. By 1920, the Anti-Saloon League succeeded in ratifying the 18^th amendment, which outlawed the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol (PBS, 2011).

Prohibitionists had finally gotten what they wanted, an anti-alcohol America. However, not all of America was in favor of prohibition. Soon after the 18^th amendment was put into effect, anti-prohibitionists started popping up everywhere. According to PBS, bandits began robbing whiskey and grain alcohol from train cars (2011).

This new anti-prohibition movement displayed the fact that American citizens were not ready to let go of alcohol. This is where the problem began. It was inevitable that people would find a way around prohibition.

According to PBS, those who supported prohibition expected real estate sales and clothing sales to explode once the sale of alcohol was forbidden (2011). However, this was not the case. Sales actually declined, as businessmen found they were hard-pressed to make sales without liquor (PBS, 2011). Prohibition proved to have many unintended effects.

One of which was the fact that citizens would still find a way to produce and consume alcohol. Prohibitionists thought that the 18^th amendment, as well as the Volstead Act, would completely eliminate alcohol altogether (PBS, 2011). Instead, individuals obtained alcohol through prescriptions of whiskey, and because of religious reasons (PBS, 2011). But it didn’t stop there, many Americans began to manufacture and sell alcohol through their own homes (PBS, 2011).

Thus, speakeasies were born. It seems as though prohibition only worked as far as to make the problem worse. Prohibitionists intended to abolish alcohol altogether, but only succeeded in spurring a large underground movement that promoted hidden alcohol use.

Week 1

I chose to take this course because it sounded extremely interesting. It seems as though we all know people who are addicted to something, whether it be a serious addiction to drugs or alcohol, or a less serious addiction to coffee (like myself). The fact that addiction is so common in everyday life, yet I know virtually nothing about it ultimately spurred my enrollment in this course. I hope this course will not only educate me about addiction, but also help me to better understand those who struggle with addiction.

Therefore, I hope to learn many things from this course. Mainly, I would like to learn why addiction happens and why some people are more susceptible to addiction than others. In addition, I would also like to learn effective treatments for addiction, and how well they work. It will be interesting to observe what we learn in correlation with my small, everyday addictions such as coffee and chapstick.