Every person on this planet deals with negative self talk but addicts and alcoholics are extreme examples of listening to it and letting it control them.
We addicts have a fixed alcoholic mind that talks to us with great authority. It cripples us with several different forms of fear. Some if not most of it financial. Not being financially secure and always worrying about money. Money is temporary like everything else. It comes and goes. At one time you could have been making a lot of money and now you aren't. The problem is you still have to take care of yourself and possibly a family too.
Addicts area also extremely sensitive people. When someone says or does something we don't like we take it personally. The book the four agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz says don't ever take anything personally. What that person says has nothing to do with you but everything to do with them. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book)
We call this negative self talk the disease of alcoholism. It's also negative self talk about other people. It judges and find faults in others. It'll tell you that that person snubbed you when in reality maybe they didn't see you and if they did snub you so what? That's is their alcoholism working in them.
Addicts basically freak out about everything. They can't live in this world or face it unless they are on something. They just can't face the music if something bad happens. We think going bankrupt or the IRS taking all of our money is the end of the world.
That's why a real addict has to open their mind to having a spiritual experience. Addicts can't let their warped thoughts dictate their life. Maybe they can allow something in that is greater than themselves to take over the warped thinking and not just react to the warped thinking when it comes in. When a thought comes in they must ask themselves. Is that a God Thought or is that my Thought? The fact is if an addict listens to self they are screwed. Instead, they should try the hardest they can to become the person that God wants them to be.