FEAR
This fear causes many people in recovery to avoid opening up honestly in group.
What is fear of vulnerability?
This character defect involves blaming others for problems you helped create.
What is victim mentality?
Many people in addiction mistake this healthy emotional state for boredom.
What is peace or calm?
This relapse statement “I got this.” is an example of something that someone may have during addiction or early recovery.
What is denial or overconfidence?
This movie follows an airline pilot struggling with alcoholism after a plane crash.
What is Flight?
This fear often keeps people trapped in toxic relationships because being alone feels worse.
What is fear of abandonment or loneliness?
This defect often sounds like: “I don’t need help.”
What is pride?
This brain chemical plays a major role in pleasure, reward, and addiction.
What is dopamine?
This stage of relapse begins before someone physically uses substances again.
What is emotional relapse?
This recovery advocate and former professional skateboarder became known for discussing heroin addiction and recovery publicly.
Who is Brandon Novak?
People with this fear often push others away before those people can reject them first.
What is fear of rejection?
This defect can disguise itself as “being nice” while secretly trying to control how others see you.
What is people pleasing?
After long-term addiction, normal life can feel emotionally flat because the brain became conditioned to this.
What is chaos, overstimulation, or high dopamine activity?
This stage of relapse involves fantasizing about using while trying to convince yourself you won’t.
What is mental relapse?
In Good Will Hunting, Will repeatedly pushes people away because of this deep emotional fear.
What is fear of abandonment or vulnerability?
Many people in recovery secretly fear this question: “Who am I without my addiction?” Name the fear this is connected to.
What is fear of identity loss?
This defect causes people to manipulate situations indirectly instead of communicating honestly.
What is manipulation?
This term describes reduced ability to feel pleasure from normal activities after addiction.
What is anhedonia?
This behavior involves unconsciously destroying progress because success feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar.
What is self-sabotage?
In Fight Club, the narrator creates Tyler Durden as a response to this psychological issue.
What is identity fragmentation, repression, or emotional emptiness?
This deeper fear involves believing your life has no meaning, purpose, or value without chaos, substances, or external validation.
What is existential fear or fear of meaninglessness?
This core defect is often underneath arrogance, control, lying, anger, and perfectionism because the person secretly feels inadequate.
What is shame or insecurity?
Long-term substance use weakens this part of the brain responsible for decision-making, impulse control, and judgment.
What is the prefrontal cortex?
Before relapse occurs physically, many people first stop doing this: meetings, honesty, accountability, routines, and connection. These are examples of what
What is practicing recovery behaviors?
In The Joker, Arthur Fleck’s deterioration is heavily connected to isolation, rejection, trauma, and this unmet psychological need.
What is connection, belonging, validation, or acceptance?