Did you know that writer and actor Stephen Fry struggled with sugar addiction most of his childhood? He describes this in detail in his autobiography Fry Records. It led to lying, stealing, and repeated expulsions from various schools.

Stephen Fry? But it is a national treasure.

And that’s the whole point. He’s more than a good example of someone who – despite having a very addictive personality – manages to find success and help others (he’s used his bipolar disorder to raise awareness about mental illness). He is a role model for all who have a dependency, and shows us the importance of confronting the low self-esteem and self-destructive tendencies that come with addiction.

Part of dismantling the control sugar has over your life involves accepting responsibility for the behavior caused by this addictive substance. Accept responsibility for your self-loathing. Blaming a door is, after all, an inanimate white pellet that keeps you from taking control.

Have you heard this saying before With great power comes great responsibilityy? Usually this is only applied to the political arena. This gets repeated so often it has become a cliche. However, something interesting happens when you reverse the logic of this statement:

With great responsibility comes great power

Taking responsibility for the damage you have done to yourself through your addiction is already very difficult. The upside is that it gives you the power to transform your life – an energized life that’s incredibly liberating.

Confronting the person you’ve become will likely unleash deeply uncomfortable feelings as the denial you’ve been living in fades away. You might interpret this as self-loathing – but the strange irony is that he can actually allow you to start liking yourself – as much as you would Fry if you met him.

This is the Stephen Fry paradox: coming out of denial can feel like immersing yourself in self-loathing, when in fact you open the door to acceptance and admiration for yourself.

If you read Fry Records, at first, it’s shocking to hear the author talk about his self-loathing, so likable. After a while, we absorb this new information into our view of him, admiring him even more for his honesty and awareness.

The reason it is so difficult for addicts to broaden their understanding of themselves is that they are not yet out of denial, and that I blame—my addiction—I can’t help myself.

Giving up the crutch of denial is not easy. Many people are aware that they live in denial, but fear that taking responsibility for their addiction is very difficult. However, the most important and useful question is this:

Was your life with sugar addiction easy?

constant cravings Behavior that you know is below your standards. Not being able to focus on a conversation at parties, because you can’t stop thinking about the food there. The occasional theft of other people’s food.

There is a way out. It is open to all sugar addicts, not just National Treasures.