Addicts are people who are trying to escape from a reality in which they are not.
Addiction is often referred to as a disease of perception. Even when the people around us are loving and supportive, we struggle to see it that way. Instead, we choose to feel abused and put-upon by others. In this way, we blame our desire to escape and dissociate (by using an addictive substance or an addictive behavior, such as sex or porn) on the attitudes and actions of other people, thereby using (and often exaggerating) external experiences and connections as a way to justify and validate our addictive behavior.
Task for Today
Think about the ways in which you perceive the world and other people. Are your perceptions accurate?