Any addiction has a number of rituals that once understood can be broken before you reach the point of no return. Consider the coffee lover. They don't just pour themselves a cup of coffee and drink it. The ritual starts even before the alarm clock or the smell of the coffee. The ritual may even start before the purchase of the coffee beans. An addict works to support his habit and even his workday is part of the ritual in order to earn the money necessary to purchase the substance. But at some point the addict passes a point of no return and is that when the smell of the coffee is brewing? Is it when they grind the coffee beans? Certainly by the time they pour the cup of coffee it is inevitable that they will not pour it out and move on with their day. The inevitable drinking of the cup of coffee likely reached its point of no return when the person walked past the coffee isle in the grocery store, smelled the coffee and picked up some and put it in the shopping cart. The person who wants to stop drinking coffee can avoid that section of the grocery store and break the ritual.
What are the rituals that are a part of your addiction? Normally there are steps such as boredom, being alone, access to a computer, debating, ignoring warning signs.... Very likely the ritual starts with either a very good experience ("I can celebrate!") or very low experience ("It can't get any worse I might as well see if this will help me feel better ...").
http://104podcast.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/065-identify-and-stop-your-sexual-rituals/
http://www.kicksexaddiction.com/2010/11/the-addictive-cycle-ritual.html
The image below is from: http://www.integration.samhsa.gov/health-wellness/wellness-strategies/WELLNESS.pdf page 16.
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