Are Soft Addictions Stealing Your Life with Guest Dr. Judith WrightAre Soft Addictions Stealing Your Life with Guest Dr. Judith Wright
The Recovered Life Show
Host Damon Frank talks with Dr. Judith Wright about soft addictions such as scrolling, shopping and overeating, and how they can quietly numb emotions and limit recovery. They discuss deeper yearnings, identity, and practical ways to replace counterfeit comfort with choices that feel more alive and fulfilling.
22:11•3 Sept 2026
Are Soft Addictions Quietly Stealing Your Recovery?
Episode Overview
- Soft addictions are everyday habits like scrolling, shopping or overeating that quietly numb feelings and drain time, money and energy.
- Even positive activities, such as work, exercise or praying, can become problematic when they’re used to avoid feelings or relationships.
- Under every soft addiction lies a deeper yearning or ‘spiritual hunger’, and identifying that need is key to lasting change.
- Dr. Wright’s ‘math of more’ focuses less on willpower and more on adding genuinely nourishing activities so soft addictions lose their pull.
- Shifting from an identity of being ‘broken’ to seeing oneself as a worthy, growing human being helps loosen the grip of both hard and soft addictions.
“It has this felt sense similar to hard addictions, but you don’t die from soft addictions… but you don’t really live either.”
What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery? This conversation between host Damon Frank and guest Dr. Judith Wright zooms in on a sneaky one: soft addictions. Instead of focusing on alcohol or drugs, the discussion zooms in on everyday habits like scrolling, shopping, overeating, overworking, and binge-watching. Dr. Wright describes soft addictions as “seemingly harmless habits” that quietly steal time, energy and connection, leaving people “muting our consciousness” and “sleepwalking through life” rather than fully living it.
You’ll hear how high-performing, long-sober people can still feel empty, even when everything on the outside looks great. Damon shares from his 33-year recovery journey, talking about achievement, escapism and that painful moment when he realised, “even the achievement will not save you.” Dr. Wright responds by reframing these patterns as attempts to find “counterfeit comfort” instead of facing uncomfortable feelings in the here and now. Dr.
Wright breaks down her concept of deeper yearnings – those “spiritual hungers” underneath the habits – and her “math of more”: adding activities that genuinely nourish you so soft addictions naturally lose their appeal. She explains how her own struggles with food, TV and emotional numbness led to the decision, “I’m going to feel my life,” and how that choice reshaped her relationship with comfort and fulfilment. The episode also tackles identity in recovery.
Damon challenges the idea of being “broken” forever, while Dr. Wright talks about mistaken core beliefs and shifting from “I’m broken” to “I am a gift,” with all the messy humanity that includes. If you’ve ever said, “At least I’m not drinking,” while doom-scrolling or binging shows, this conversation might have you asking: what are your soft addictions really costing you, and what could you add to your life instead that makes you feel truly alive?
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