HABITS: Understanding Why We Have Them and Learning How To Cleanse (Break) The Bad Ones or add Copyright © Health Education Today 2016

without conscious thought. A Habit applies to a behavior or practice so ingrained that it is often done without conscious thought. Imagine if you had to think about each step you took… Habits help us through the day, eliminating the need to strategize about each tiny step involved in tasks like getting dressed, walking down the stairs, driving, walking to class, and other routines. OUR BRAINS LOVE PATTERNS + HABITS !!!

A habit can save energy to free up our brain from dull or repetitive tasks, and to let our brain thin k about important things like breathing, coordinated movement, and surviving, our brain streamlines common procedures. OUR BRAINS LOVE PATTERNS + HABITS !!! 1

Have you ever arrived in a room in your house with no memory of what you came to get? After your brain told you to go get something, it knows it’s routine for you in your own house, so your mind started thinking of other things… This is the essence of habits - once you start on a familiar series of actions, you stop thinking about them, and you are able to complete them without conscious thought or attention.

Actions like walking and driving were incredibly complex and difficult for you to learn initially, but soon you don’t even need to think about it.

The good side: Habits free up our minds from dull or repetitive tasks The good side: Habits free up our minds from dull or repetitive tasks. The bad side: habits can be difficult to stop once they’re started, and some habits are ”bad” habits. Take the habit survey

Our brains love patterns + repetition + routine: (whether good or bad) You, a friend, or a family member might: Bite their fingernails Brush their teeth every morning Sit on the same seat on the bus everyday Order the same meal whenever at a particular restaurant Cook the same meals all the time and doesn’t try something new Sit in the same seat in a classroom Eat a certain food when watching T.V. Need a food to munch on when reading Have to have a glass of wine with dinner Smoke pot with friends every weekend Always drink alcohol when watching football

Here is what happens in the brain: Our brain has billions of neurons that receive input from our sensory organs. The brain sets up pathways of these chemical impulses to help process and interpret the massive amounts of information we receive from the world around us.

The more often the thought develops or the action is done, the more connections and pathways that develop, so we can do things automatically without really having to think about it. Every time you repeat the habit the connection becomes stronger within the brain, so that it becomes second nature. This is how we develop habits – both good and bad. 2

More specifically in the brain: Habit formation takes place in the basal ganglia, a cluster of nuclei located in the forebrain between the cortex and the brainstem. It is the only place in the brain that deals with both physical and cognitive actions simultaneously, which links thought to movement. (That’s why when someone quits smoking they’re so used to putting their hand to their mouth that this part of the smoking habit is very difficult to break. They may suck on a lollipop to try and help them overcome that habit… 3

Also: The brain receives input from dopamine-containing neurons in the midbrain or brainstem. The brain begins to associate rewards (dopamine) with a particular thought, or action Habits are formed by the repetition of a particular neural pathway leading to a reward, and our brain wants to help us feel it again and again! (ex: after dinner every night it feels good to have a cigarette) This is one reason why smoking is so hard to quit - there is such a high # of pleasure hits (drags) from each cigarette A ½ a pack gives 80 brain hits/ injections!!! 4

Our brain says yes to pleasure, and no to pain 5 Whenever we encounter pain, our brain immediately searches for a way to avoid it. (Survival instinct) Similarly, whenever we encounter joy or gratification, our brain stores those neurological linkages so we can benefit from that pleasure in the future. Some people use food, alcohol/drugs or other tasks as a way to get out of depression or boredom. These habits that are closely linked to our ways for getting into pleasure (TO FEEL GOOD) and out of pain (TO NOT FEEL BAD) are often the most difficult to remove.

Two of the main reasons people use alcohol and drugs are: 1) To feel good and 2) To not feel bad … A person may start using drugs to try and feel good, or to escape something bad, but after they're addicted then they feel bad and want to quit so they will really need to fight against their brain’s system to succeed….

To Review 5 Reasons Habits are hard to break: 1 Our brain promotes habits to help us streamline common tasks Every time you repeat the habit the connection becomes stronger within the brain 2 Where habits are formed involves both the physical and cognitive so thought is linked to physical actions 3 4 We receive pleasure in the form of a brain dopamine reward that’s hard to give up The brain also resists the pain that will come if we have to give up the pleasure 5

How to Break a Bad habit, or Start a Healthy One: This involves two parts of the midbrain - the amygdala and the hippocampus. The amygdala controls the “fight or flight” response.  This part of the brain takes over when we sense that we are in danger.  (to survive the dangers of living in the wild, this built-in ability to sound a danger alarm every time you encounter something “different” was pretty handy!) To the amygdala, anything that seems out of the norm is considered a danger!!!! So, to start exercising when you haven’t worked out in 5 years is out of the norm…

How to Cleanse (Break) a Bad habit, or Start a Healthy One: Next thing you know, you are too tired to get out of bed to exercise.   You planned to the night before, but you are just so inexplicably TIRED.  Or, for some unknown reason, your left knee is killing you.  Or, wouldn’t you know it, you woke up with a sinus headache… This is your amygdala in action.  It is doing EXACTLY what it was designed to do. React to danger and stick with what seems normal…

The trick is to take very small, seemingly insignificant steps towards the goal.  If these steps are small enough, the amygdala will not take over.  Taking consistently small steps toward a larger goal, allows habits to form almost effortlessly and in less time than you might expect. Since the steps are small, the amygdala does not sense danger.  Therefore, it allows you to continue taking the small steps.  If the steps are repeated consistently, the hippocampus will retain the information, and a habit will form.

~Just a little change at a time!!! Most experts say it takes about 21 days as a minimum for cleansing (breaking) an old habit or setting a new one. Use the habits survey to help you decide: WHAT BAD HABITS DO YOU WANT TO CLEANSE ? WHAT HEALTHY HABITS DO YOU WANT TO START ? Then fill out the worksheet and make a change in your life!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnFVFfAImEg

OPTIONAL DAY 2

HABITS and ADDICTIONS: DAY 2: HABITS and ADDICTIONS: Why our brain can get addicted

Here is why drugs are tempting and then hard to quit if addicted: 1 The brain is set up to develop habits to streamline tasks brains love habits

Here is why drugs are tempting and then hard to quit if addicted: 1 2 The brain is set up to develop habits to streamline tasks The more you do the thing, the deeper the chemical (neuron) pathway brains love habits

Here is what happens in the brain: Our brain has billions of neurons that receive input from our sensory organs. The brain sets up pathways of these chemical impulses.

Here is why drugs are tempting and then hard to quit if addicted: 1 2 The brain is set up to develop habits to streamline tasks The more you do the thing, the deeper the chemical (neuron) pathway One neuron in the chemical pathway is DOPAMINE brains love habits To their brain drug use = pleasure 3 brains love pleasure

The brain says "yes" pleasure... What neurotransmitter does each drug category use?

The brain says "yes" pleasure... (dopamine) Why is pleasure so important to the brain?

-Show dopamine video clip from National Geographic "Meth: http://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Worlds-Most-Dangerous/dp/B000J10F8C/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1447362599&sr=1-1&keywords=national+geographic+world%27s+most+dangerous+drug

Video: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at3Sg6qvgTE>

At first the high is intense (meth makes 6x the normal dopamine surge in brain) Tolerance- You don’t feel as high Eventually you're using just to feel normal normal What goes up must come down- You feel so low you want to use again Often you can’t even get to normal anymore-life is flat, there's no pleasure anymore

Our brain says "Yes" to pleasure WHY? -survival...food and sex... Whenever we encounter joy or gratification, our brain stores those neurological linkages so we can benefit from that pleasure in the future. 4

Here is why drugs are tempting and then hard to quit if addicted: 1 2 The brain is set up to develop habits to streamline tasks The more you do the thing, the deeper the chemical (neuron) pathway One neuron in the chemical pathway is DOPAMINE brains love habits To their brain drug use = pleasure 3 brains love pleasure Too bad the system doesn't stop there...but what does the brain hate ?

Here is why drugs are tempting and then hard to quit if addicted: 1 2 The brain is set up to develop habits to streamline tasks The more you do the thing, the deeper the chemical (neuron) pathway One neuron in the chemical pathway is DOPAMINE brains love habits To their brain drug use = pleasure 3 brains love pleasure The brain hates pain so they're trapped in their addiction... If addicted, Quitting = pain 4

and no to pain Whenever we encounter pain, our brain immediately searches for a way to avoid it. (Survival instinct) THIS IS ONE REASON IT'S SO HARD TO QUIT USING...

(To survive the dangers of living in the wild, Remember... The amygdala in your brain controls the “fight or flight” response.  This part of the brain takes over when we sense that we are in danger. 6 (To survive the dangers of living in the wild, this built-in ability to sound a danger alarm every time you encounter something “different” was pretty handy!) To the amygdala, anything that seems out of the norm is considered a danger!!!! So, to start detoxing off a drug sends all kinds of alarms to your brain. It will fight this change!! 7

Two of the main reasons people use alcohol and drugs are: 1) To feel good and 2) To not feel bad So, giving up the pleasure (by stopping the drug use) and taking on the pain (caused by getting clean and sober) you fight against your brain’s system of rewarding pleasure and staying away from pain….

Empathy for alcohol/drug addiction: Raise your hand if you like sweets, or things made with S U G A R ? Now imagine if I told you that you cannot have sugar for the REST OF YOUR LIFE! That is what any addict will need to do with alcohol and/or drugs...It's very difficult...

Optional Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdKUJxjn-R8