To truly heal, people need to make fundamental 'life changes' by healing their underlying emotional wounds, not just superficial 'lifestyle changes' that only address external behaviors.

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a form of therapy that can help you understand the different conflicting 'parts' of yourself, such as the part that drives an addiction, with compassion.

The fundamental question to ask about any addiction is not 'why the addiction?' but 'why the pain?', as all addictive behaviors are attempts to soothe or distract from an unbearable internal emotional state.

Addiction is any behavior that brings short-term pleasure or relief but causes long-term negative consequences and an inability to stop, which can include work, shopping, exercise, and the internet.

The pain driving addiction originates from childhood hurt, which can be caused not only by bad things happening (like abuse) but also by good things not happening (like a lack of attuned, responsive parenting).

Much of what we consider our personality is not our true self but a defensive structure or adaptation we developed to cope with childhood pain.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, should be understood literally as a physiological state of 'hyper-tension' often caused by chronic social and emotional stress.

According to research from Harvard, adaptations children make to survive stressful environments can become the source of physical illness, behavioral problems, and reduced longevity in adulthood.