You’re cruising along, oblivious to the danger ahead. Suddenly, you’re spinning out of control, and the lives of you and those with you hang in the balance. What are you going to do?
Every day, this deadly scenario plays out on roads and highways, but also in the lives of millions of people heading toward addiction. In either case, when you’ve lost control and find yourself careening off the road, it’s up to you to make a correction—to turn into the skid.
Any of us can learn how to prevent addiction. That doesn’t mean it will never happen; but in many cases it can be avoided, or at least you can make it through the crash.
Turning Into the Skid
In a spinning car, turning into the skid allows the driver to better maintain control of their vehicle.
This safe driving technique needs to be learned because it does not come naturally. Our intuitive survival reaction is to turn away from the direction of the skid, so the proper response is one that has to be conditioned.
Turning into the skid can help you prevent addiction as well.
When your life is spinning out of control, you must take corrective action to avoid a crash, and it requires training to act calmly in the midst of crisis. But you can develop the awareness to turn into the skid, and it’s a worth the time to learn. Because it could save your life.
In this blog series, we’ll see 3 scenarios to learn how to prevent addiction. First is a sudden skid that happens so quickly that immediate reaction is critical. The second is a gradual crash that may take weeks, months, or even years to play out. You can prepare for both situations with training.
And there’s a third way to avoid an accident: ensure your vehicle—you—is inspected, repaired, and maintained ahead of time to be in the best condition possible, so you avoid the crash altogether!
How to Prevent Addiction: Avoiding a Sudden Skid
Sometimes an icy patch or a blown tire can send a car hurtling toward danger before you know what is happening. A rapid spiral into addiction can happen quickly as well, sometimes in a matter of days, or hours, or even minutes.
To be ready for an emergency, you must realize the danger: it could happen to you or someone close to you! Then, you can rehearse how to react rapidly, without having to think about it.
An example is a relapse, such as when an alcoholic erroneously thinks they can keep their drinking under control. It could be when a too-frequent user of opiod pills (e.g. OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin) considers an impulsive choice to try heroin. Or even when someone with a compulsion toward anger finds their temper flaring up against their teenager.
In those real-life situations, a crash is imminent, and it is critical that you act quickly; you must steer into the skid. But how do you do that?
- Interrupt the behavior – Stop! Force yourself to make a decision, a conscious choice. That moment, then and there, no excuses. Will you allow this to happen? Or will you choose to avert the crash? Then put down the bottle, leave the party, or walk away from the argument.
- Call someone immediately – Call your spouse, a friend, or your sponsor. Call anyone. Talk to someone now! Fast, before you change your mind, and before the spin leads to a crash.
- Turn it over to God – The best approach is sudden and complete surrender to the God who created you. Accept that you can’t make it on your own and you need him to save you. When you’re spinning desperately out of control, ask God to take the wheel.
A car accident can happen so rapidly that there seems little we can do. But the good news is that any of us can become better prepared for how to prevent addiction.
The techniques needed may not come naturally; this makes it important to learn and practice them ahead of time. That way, when your life is on the line, you know how to turn into the skid.
Question: Someone you know will face a sudden skid in their life, and they may crash. Is it you?
Action: Read “How to Prevent Addiction (Part 2)” and keep these articles as a reference.
Photo by wetwebwork 
Photo by Mann-ist-0 Photo by Ross_Goodman
