There is a strong link between our capacity to cope with negative emotional states and their associated negative thoughts and substance use relapse. When individuals use substances as a coping mechanism this strategy may be effective in the short term and but proves maladaptive in the long run. The use of drugs provides both negative reinforcement (namely, the reduction of painful feelings via self-medication), and positive reinforcement (that is, the pleasant experience of being high via positive outcome expectancies). The self-medication hypothesis applies when the individual is using a substance to cope with negative emotions, conflict, or stress (negative reinforcement). From a positive outcome expectancy perspective, the person is focusing on the positive aspects and euphoria of using a substance (positive reinforcement), while ignoring the negative consequences. Therefore, an essential component of recovery is learning healthy ways to self-soothe and cope with stress and painful emotions, and the negative thoughts and rumination associated with them. Without healthy coping skills, a key component of recovery capital, individuals in recovery will continue to seek dysfunctional ways to self-regulate. In this chapter the reader is introduced to one of the causes behind negative rumination and over-compensatory behaviour that accompanies it, which perpetuates the cycle of addiction.

In this chapter the workbook’s previous chapters are integrated into an explanation of the dynamics that underlie the cycle of addiction. It highlights that when the I-System becomes hyperactive, individuals forfeit their innate capabilities for creative thought, open-mindedness, and resilience, exhibiting instead overly stringent expectations or assumptions about themselves, others, and circumstances. By presenting examples of thought patterns that obstruct resilience, the authors demystify the nature of problematic and unrealistic “I-System Requirements” or “the shoulds” in life that often breed frustration, physical tension, shame, or withdrawal. The reader is then guided on how to neutralize these negative thoughts or what the authors term the Depressor Storyline. They describe a self-perpetuating cycle often created between a Depressor Storyline and the Fixer Storyline, which involves the Depressor generating negative thoughts that snowball into a Storyline, while the Fixer incessantly devises stories on how to rectify self, others, or circumstances. The objective is to find means to deactivate the hyperactive I-System Requirements, which is crucial to freeing individuals from restrictive and repetitive patterns to attain a state of Natural Functioning.