This is one of the ways that addiction gets talked about – that if you just resist once, then it will start to get easier to resist as time goes by. From what I understand though – from Radiolab and Nurse Jackie and the WTF podcast and others talking about addiction in pop culture – it doesn’t work this way at all. If you refrain from something you’re addicted to – it might not get easier for a long long time.
Not that Gertrude is addicted to sex with Claudius (or is she?) …but whether this is advice for addiction or refraining from sex…it’s not really useful. Better to go with one day at a time. Skip it tonight. Then skip it tomorrow. Even if it doesn’t get easier.
The Hamlet Project 