If you’ve heard someone say they’re “feening,” they’re likely talking about cravings or intense urges that feel bigger than a simple want. In recovery spaces and everyday conversation, feening (often spelled feenin, feining, or written as the standard fiending) is slang for that powerful pull toward a substance or behavior.
If you’re the person feeling it, the word makes sense: your body and brain are yelling now. If you love someone who’s struggling, hearing “I’m feening” can be scary and confusing, especially if you don’t know what to do or how to help.
What Does “Feening” Mean?
In standard English, the word is fiending, derived from the word “fiend,” meaning someone with an overpowering desire. In conversation and online, you may see feening, feenin, or feining used interchangeably.
All of these point to the same idea: strong, urgent craving. In addiction, that craving isn’t just psychological; it often carries physical sensations, such as a tight chest, restless legs, racing thoughts, and a single-minded focus on getting relief.
Knowing the slang helps you understand what someone’s really saying: I’m having a craving that feels hard to control.
Why People “Feen” for Substances
Cravings are the brain’s learned response to cues it associates with reward. Over time, substances (alcohol, opioids, stimulants, benzodiazepines, etc.) hijack the dopamine reward system, teaching the brain that using is a fast path to relief or pleasure. Three forces tend to drive “feening”:
- Cues and Triggers: These can include places, people, smells, payday, stress after work, and even certain songs. The brain predicts a reward and fires up the urge.
- Withdrawal and Rebound: When the substance leaves your system, the body can feel off-balance, causing anxiety, low mood, or poor sleep, which pushes you to use to “feel normal.”
- Emotions and Stress: Grief, boredom, shame, anger, or even celebrations can spark a craving because the brain learned that using blunts intensity.
Cravings are time-limited. Most fade within 20–30 minutes, even when they feel endless. That window is your opportunity.
Recognizing Cravings in Real Time
Cravings don’t usually announce themselves with a warning sign. They creep in through thoughts, body sensations, or sudden changes in mood. For someone in recovery, noticing these cues early is often the difference between riding out an urge and acting on it.
You might feel restless, unable to focus, or find yourself making excuses in your head: “Just once won’t hurt” or “I’ve been good, I deserve it.”
Physically, cravings can show up as tightness in your chest, jitters in your legs, or racing thoughts that won’t let go.
Loved ones may notice their partner, sibling, or friend becoming edgy, pacing, or withdrawing suddenly. Addressing these craving signals with something as simple as “You seem agitated. Do you want to talk or take a walk?” can help defuse shame, open up the conversation or provide a needed distraction.
Practical Ways to Manage “Feening” and Cravings
You don’t have to white-knuckle cravings. The goal isn’t to be stronger than your brain; it’s to work with it.
Surf the Urge
“Urge surfing” treats a craving like a wave.
- Notice where you feel the urge (Is it in your throat? Chest? Hands?)
- Breathe deep into that spot
- Picture the urge as a wave, and watch it rise, peak, and fall as you breathe
- Set a 10–20 minute timer to simply visualize the waves without fighting them or giving in
Change Your State Quickly
Cravings hate movement and fresh air. Stand up. Step outside. Splash cold water on your face. Walk around the block. Text a sober friend or your sponsor. Shifting your physiology interrupts the thought loop.
Delay and Decide
Tell yourself you’ll wait 15–20 minutes before acting. Most cravings peak and fade within that window. Use that time for a task, such as showering, folding laundry, cooking, stretching, or calling a friend.
Get Honest About the First Domino
Relapse rarely starts with the substance; it starts with the first choice that puts you near it, driving by a bar, hanging with the wrong friends, or opening old DMs. Identify your dominos and avoid them when you can.
Use Skills You Learned in Therapy
Skills from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) can help shift the thoughts driving cravings. Trauma-informed approaches like Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) can also help by addressing underlying memories that trigger urges.
Medication can help, too. For some substances, medication-assisted treatment (MAT) reduces cravings and lowers relapse and overdose risk. There’s no moral scorecard in recovery, so use the tools that work.
Building a Life That Makes Cravings Quieter
Recovery gets easier when life feels structured and meaningful with healthy routines that support recovery. That doesn’t mean filling every second of the day, but having anchors, such as wake-up times, meals, exercise, meetings, and wind-down routines, gives the brain stability.
Adding variety helps, too. New hobbies, volunteering, or creative outlets keep the mind engaged and provide healthier sources of reward. Over time, these activities start to replace the old associations with using.
When Cravings Feel Too Strong
Sometimes cravings don’t fade easily, especially in early recovery or during high-stress periods. If urges are frequent, intense, or tied to relapse, it’s a sign that more support is needed.
This could mean beginning residential treatment, stepping back into an outpatient program, or adding therapy sessions.
Get Support Beyond Sobriety at Riverside Recovery
At Riverside Recovery, we know cravings are one of the hardest parts of addiction. That’s why our programs go deeper than just abstinence. We provide:
- Medical detox when needed for a safe start
- Individual and group therapy to address thought patterns and behaviors linked to cravings
- Trauma-informed care to process experiences that fuel urges
- Family therapy so loved ones can learn how to support without enabling
- Outpatient and alumni programs to help maintain momentum in everyday life
Cravings are part of recovery, but they don’t have to control it. With the right tools and support, you can move from feeling powerless in the moment to finding strength on the other side.
Contact Riverside Recovery today to learn more about our programs and how we can help you or your loved one find lasting freedom.
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