A habit you hate is usually a solution to something: stress, boredom, loneliness, a feeling you don't want. Before you fight it, ask: "What is this solving for me right now?" Then give that need a better answer (a walk, a call, sleep, a talk). Take away the solution without fixing the problem, and the old one comes back.
S Evidence: strong. Large trials or many studies, pointing the same way.
E Evidence: built from practice. What works for coaches and practitioners. Labelled that way.
Sources
Across 229 studies and 130,705 people, drinking to cope with bad feelings was one of the two strongest predictors of drinking problems (Bresin & Mekawi 2021, meta-analysis, 🟢; mostly cross-sectional) · "it's not the problem, it's the solution": Peter Crone (🟠) · see 342.
Not medical, legal or financial advice.