How to change the behaviors that you do not want?

How to change the behaviors that you do not want?

Habits and behaviors, good or bad, are formed automatically in response to a cue or stimulus, and the best of them can be obtained and the results of some of them can be obtained without the need for a lot of brain power, such as spending regular time with a family member.

But some habits, such as emotional eating or spending money to relieve stress, can have negative long-term effects and often need to be kicked, according to Live Science.

According to Benjamin Gardner, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Surrey in Britain who studies human habits, there are three strategies for getting rid of bad or unloved habits, but there is no “better approach” than the other, as it depends on the behavior that one wants to get rid of. from him.

The three strategies are to stop the behavior, to stop exposing oneself to the trigger, or to associate the trigger with a similarly satisfying new behavior.

Popcorn and cinema

In this regard, Gardner said that when we go to the cinema we feel like eating popcorn, likening cinema to a trigger, and buying and eating popcorn is behavior.

To break this habit, one of three options can be done. First: you tell yourself “there will be no popcorn” every time you go to the movies; second, to avoid going to the movies; Or third, replace the popcorn with a new snack that fits your budget or nutritional goals.

Nail-biting

Gardner also showed that the habit of biting nails, for example, occurs in the subconscious and is done repeatedly throughout the day.

So one may not know what is causing it, while it is good to know the underlying cause, it may be difficult to stop or stop yourself from biting your nails every moment of stress or boredom.

Therefore, it is best to replace nail biting with another physical response, such as using a squishy ball to relieve stress, or a deterrent, such as spicy nail polish, can be used to increase awareness of nail biting at or just before a crucial moment so that the person can stop biting their nails.

And it takes time to break habits because they are set in the brain. Behaviors that evoke rewards, such as pleasure or comfort, are stored as habits in a region of the brain called the basal ganglia.

While the researchers tracked the neural loops in this region that connect behaviors or habits with sensory signals, which can act as triggers.

Habits and addictions

It should be noted that while habits and addictions overlap, there are significant differences, according to scientists at Alvernia University in Pennsylvania, so habit-breaking and addiction-breaking are not equal helpers.

The primary difference is that habits are more choice-based while addictive behaviors can be more "neurobiologically connected".