The Problem that Frustrates Most Wellness Program Managers
Why is it so difficult for your employees to change certain unhealthy habits, even though their lives may literally depend on it? For instance, why does an unhealthy eater with high blood pressure or diabetes tell their health coach they are desperate to lose weight… but can’t stop snacking on candy and junk food? And why does a non-exerciser commit to a daily workout program after a heart attack… only to abandon it after just a few short weeks? Why does this happen—even with the best wellness programming in place?
In this article I will share important information and strategies our cognitive experts and health coaches have learned in more than three decades of research and practical experience helping employees break hard-to-change habits. My goal is to reveal what, for many HR or wellness administrators, is the missing piece in the behavior change puzzle … and to give you a proven strategy for helping employees break free of even the most stubborn unhealthy habits. Let’s dive in …
How a Behavior Becomes a Habit
As most people know, a habit is formed by consistently repeating a particular behavior until the brain learns to do it automatically. From a biological standpoint, the brain carries out behaviors by processing information and transmitting signals through specific neural circuits. And the more a particular behavior is repeated, the more the neural circuits are strengthened—until the behavior is embedded deeply enough to happen automatically when triggered.
However, what many people may not realize is that there are essentially two types of behavior that can become a habit—and they are each processed differently by the brain. This explains why some habits are easy to change, while others are not.
The Two Types of Habit
Driving is a good example of an easy habit to change. If we move to a new house and need to take a different route to the grocery store, it may seem unfamiliar at first. But after a few trips our brain goes on “autopilot” and we take the new route without another thought.
On the other hand, some habits are much harder to change. Snacking on junk food … avoiding exercise … smoking or vaping … or drinking too much alcohol. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from all our years providing health coaching and corporate wellness programming, it’s this: For most employees who cannot shake these types of habits, it’s not for lack of trying.
So why the struggle? Why doesn’t the brain learn to eat healthier snacks, exercise, or breathe fresh smoke-free air by simply repeating the new behavior a few times—like it does when taking a new route to the store?
As I said before, it’s because the brain processes these types of habits very differently.
Underlying Brain Function
When you think about it, a behavior like driving to the store is PRACTICAL in nature—your goal is to accomplish a task. However, the driving force behind hard-to-break habits is very different: the behavior involves gaining pleasure (like snacking on junk food) or comfort (like avoiding exercise). In other words, the root of hard-to-break habits is EMOTIONAL. And here’s where the problem lies.
Without getting into too much detail, your emotions are stored in an area of your brain known as the limbic system. This part of the brain operates subconsciously and cannot determine whether a particular behavior is healthy or makes sense—all it cares about is whether the behavior gives you pleasure or makes you feel more comfortable. The limbic system is also very powerful—when stimulated beyond a certain level, it simply overwhelms the area of your brain known as the prefrontal cortex that does your logical thinking.
Why Emotional Habits Are Harder to Break
When we try to quit an emotionally driven habit, we unknowingly start an argument between our brain’s limbic system and prefrontal cortex. For example, let’s say our blood pressure’s a bit high and we want to lose a few pounds, so we decide to stop snacking on junk food. Here’s what typically happens in a situation like this …
The Battle Inside Our Brain
The next time we think about junk food, two thoughts take place at the same time. On a conscious level, our prefrontal cortex says, “Nope, no junk food for me—I want to get healthier.” But on a subconscious level, deep down where we can’t control it, the limbic system says just the opposite: “Junk food … yum … give it to me now … I want pleasure!” In other words, we begin to experience an internal conflict known as cognitive dissonance. And what does that conflict cause? You guessed it—discomfort! It’s easy to see what happens next …
The more we fight our desire to snack on junk food, the more internal conflict we experience—and the more our limbic system is stimulated. It starts to put out signals in the form of cravings to trick us into getting back to its comfort zone—and the more we fight the signals, the more intense they become. “Help, I can’t stand this awful feeling of discomfort! Hurry—I need junk food to feel comfortable again!” Until—just like a hungry child screaming louder and louder—the cravings become so uncomfortable that they “force” us to give in and eat junk food to stop the torture!
More than Just an Unhealthy Habit
The more we keep repeating the emotionally charged unhealthy habit, the more we strengthen the neural circuits that store it in the limbic system. Then, when we try to give it up, the cravings are too intense and the process too uncomfortable. So, we keep putting it off … keep promising ourselves we’ll try again … and keep repeating the process. Until one day—without us even realizing it—the habit has turned into a full-blown psychological dependence. At this point, it’s virtually impossible for most people to break it using standard behavior modification techniques—no matter how much willpower they have.
So, how do you help your employees eliminate the emotionally rooted habits that cause so many problems in their lives?
How to Actually Help: Interventions That Work
It’s important to recognize that unless an emotionally rooted habit is just getting started, standard wellness programming like education, trackers, and wellness challenges likely won’t help much. Most employees with these struggles have been giving up their health and wellbeing for years, so you need to point them to solutions that are specifically designed to address psychological dependencies.
One such solution is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT has a strong efficacy rate, even with hard-to-break habits like substance use disorder (SUD). And the good news is that CBT may be covered under your organization’s health insurance plan—or by your Employee Assistance Program (EAP), if you have one. The downside is that it involves multiple one-on-one or group therapy sessions so it’s time-consuming, potentially intimidating, and may carry a negative stigma.
A Scalable Alternative: CBTraining
Another alternative is to incorporate appropriate Cognitive Behavioral Training interventions into your employee wellness program. These interventions leverage CBT principles and are usually delivered in the form of convenient, confidential self-guided online courses. They give employees the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to eliminate hard-to-change habits, empowering them to systemically rewire their brain to create genuine, lasting change and a higher quality of life.
Avidon Health: Courses That Drive Change
Many of the 40+ health and wellness courses designed by Avidon Health’s experts use a proprietary cognitive behavioral training method — a combination of CBT principles and health coaching techniques. They have a high efficacy rate as shown by the biometric and other results on this web page—we invite you to enjoy a free preview if you would like to see how they work.
