Stress often leads and addict to his "drug". When we feel stress, it's important to immediately pinpoint the cause. Once we've pinpointed it, we can than ask ourselves: "Is acting-out going to 'solve' this?" - "Can it take away the 'cause' of my stress?". The answer to this question usually is: "Not only will it not solve this issue, but I'll only be more stressed". When we train ourselves to think like this, it usually isn't hard to direct our stress away from us acting-out. This is one way we can choose to "respond" to stress.
It's also important to be able to identify if our stress is coming from that which we can or cannot control.
Imagine a wealthy businessman, whom we'll call Bill, in the clutches of an alcohol addiction. You see, he's the guy who medicates himself into a state of comfort every time the bills arrived in the mail. It's not that he doesn't have the funds to pay. Just that the feeling of debt, even just momentarily, digs deep within him. Every time the bills arrive, he goes digging through his cabinet in search for a bottle of comfort.
Bill doesn't need to rely on self medication. Even though he may be experiencing real anxiety, it comes from something well within his control. Instead of seeking comfort, let him pay the bills with no delay. All the "comfort" does is bring him trouble; trouble that he did not need. When there's a solution, you don't need a comfort. The solution is the comfort!
If we can't control the cause of the stress, we can actually take comfort in the very fact that it's not in our control. Sometimes we "think" we have control, but on this forum, we all "know" we don't! "Who has control?" we ask. "Only Hashem!". So we let go and let G-d. This itself, brings on a feeling of liberation!
As the Yiddish saying goes, "A Mentch tracht un G-t lacht - A Man plans and G-d laughs". Go ahead and laugh with him!
All worldly comforts are cheap, temporary and meaningless, when contrasted with the comfort and ease that a person can get from giving himself - his life, up to Hashem. No matter what the situation, Hashem is always there for you - and He's got a plan with your best interest in mind. Trust Him. Trust that everything He does is for the best - and you'll be worry free.
When we realize that the situation is out of our control, it is easier for us to come to the awareness of Hashem, who has our best interest in mind, and does only for our good. When a situation is in our control, we tend to magnify our effect on it - and we forget that He only gave us a "part" in it. (In reality, we never really have control over anything!) But in a situation where it's clear we have no control, we're given an easy opportunity to surrender ourselves to Hashem. This is our acceptance. We accept that there is nothing we can do, but only to rely on Hashem.
No level of comfort is good enough to replace "acceptance". We can continue upping the dosage level of our "drug of choice", but at the end of the day, if we haven't got some basic level of acceptance, all of this comfort will be in vain.
Now, if our "comfort" is detached from our "acceptance" (and it is!), it can numb our awareness, interfere, and block us from this "acceptance". In actuality, our comfort works against us. Instead of attaining a "true comfort", we're left with something meaningless, temporary, and full of hot air; something that will numb our minds to reality. We can't attain this "true comfort" as long as we are still fixed on the comfort we find in lust.