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All Distractions Of The Mind Are Psychological Itches

All distractions of the mind can be called psychological itches. All addictions are also psychological itches, only of the worst kind. An addiction feeds off a psychological itch that you have. One has to identify that itch and go to its roots. For instance, if a person is addicted to a particular video game, then that is only the tip of an iceberg, or more accurately, the tip of a psychological itch. That person has to identify the itch, which could be loneliness, anxiety, the effect of a trauma, or any other mental problem.

A psychological itch can turn into a chain reaction. If you scratch your arm, you feel an itch on your neck, if you tackle that, you feel another itch on your face. This chain goes on. The first step to conquer an itch is to break the chain. Relax your mind and body and think of how each itch or addiction is independent of the other. Calm your mind and try to think ennobling thoughts; think about your true nature that is all consciousness and bliss. Try to think what makes you the most anxious and try to think of the worst possible outcomes of that event. By practising in this manner, you can clear your mind of all the cobwebs that cause that psychological itch.

The best way to avoid or get rid of a psychological itch is to ignore it. Do not scratch an itch. Scratching does not help. The irresistible temptation to scratch an itch is the mind’s dictate to cajole it. If a game is drawing you to the point that you are unable to do anything other than gaming, it has already become a problem. That is indeed the definition of an addiction: it entices you to do something that in itself is the reward and so you are unable to do anything else. Thus, itching itself becomes a reward and one gets a pleasant feeling scratching one’s skin. The thrill is in the performance of the addictive habit itself, in scratching the itch itself. It is very difficult to stop scratching an itch, because the itch came into existence in the first place due to the trick that the mind played in bringing about distraction. That is why one has to stop giving any importance to the itch to stop it.