Is Breaking Bad Habits That Hard?

Is Breaking Bad Habits That Hard?

The Apple company says that the iPhone is less than two decades old.  Yet the psychology behind WHY it is so hard to put your phone down has been understood for almost a century I guess.  Apparently, there is a purported LAW OF EFFECT which states that REWARDED ACTIONS TEND TO INCREASE.  Does this explain why  Breaking Bad Habits That Hard❓❓❓

Apparently, conventional wisdom dictates that if you know something is bad for you, WHY can't you just stop?  Studies show that about 70% of smokers say they would like to quit.  Meanwhile, drug and alcohol abusers struggle to give up addictions that hurt their bodies and even tear apart families and even relationships and friendships.  And we have to admit that many of us have unhealthy excess weight that we could lose IF only we would eat right and exercise more.  So, WHAT's going on?  Scientists have been searching for the right answers [because previous answers didn't seem right] and they studied WHAT happens in our brains as habits form📗📙📘

They have found clues as to WHY bad habits, once established, are so difficult to kick [OUT].  Sadly, various studies show that as much as rats get rewarded with food when it pushes a lever and they tend to push the lever more often, every time we check our phones and get a viscerally rewarding stimulus, it strengthens our habit of phone-checking.  Given that proven relationship, probably a reasonable assumption would be that the more consistently an action is rewarded, the more durable the behavior will be✅✅✅

Yes we might expect that a rat that gets a pellet every time it pushes a lever would push the lever consistently, we can probably assume as well that a 'burst of entertainment' every time we open our phones ought to make us thoroughly obsessed with them.  BUT psychologists warned that unpredictable rewards tend to result in far more durable behavior.  And the rat that only sometimes gets a food pellet will persist in pushing the lever long after the machine stops dispensing pellets❌❌❌

Studies tell us that habits can rise through repetition.  And they are a normal part of life and are often helpful.  We can drive along familiar routes on 'mental auto-pilot' without really thinking about the directions.  And when behaviors become automatic, it gives us an advantage because our brain does NOT have to use conscious thought to perform the activity.  Our takeaway today? YES WE CAN BREAK BAD HABITS❗❗❗