Addictions are an epidemic, a problem that millions of people around the world suffer from and that impacts both their physical and mental health and that of their family and loved ones.
Whether it is to a substance such as alcohol or cocaine or to food, sex or other addictive behaviors, addictions do not arise spontaneously or purely on a whim, but rather from having experienced highly traumatic personal events or, at the very least, emotionally. disturbing.
The emotional causes of addictions can be very varied and below we are going to explore them, also seeing how they make it difficult for patients to free themselves when they are not properly resolved.
People don’t become addicted overnight. Addictions usually originate as a consequence of a highly tense, emotionally disturbing life with traumatic episodes in their personal history. Whether it is tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, marijuana or even behaviors such as sex, eating or compulsive shopping, the truth is that addiction does not arise spontaneously and casually in mentally healthy people, with high self-esteem and security.
Addiction, both to substances and behavioral ones, represents a high emotional cost for both patients and their families These problems develop in environments where there were previous emotional alterations, where feelings such as guilt, worthlessness, anxiety, shame and sadness have predisposed the person to fall into the clutches of addictions. Whatever type of addiction it is, it creates emotional complications for everyone who falls into it, in addition to affecting the social environment of the addicted patient.
Naturally, the greatest emotional impact of substance use or addiction to certain behaviors is experienced by the addict themselves. However, spouses, children, parents, grandparents, siblings, extended family, and close friends can also fall victim to the serious impact of their loved one’s addiction. Your emotional reactions to the situation can be very varied, but stress, pain and discouragement are omnipresent emotions
Emotional risk factors
Often, people who use drugs or engage in problematic addictive behavior do so as their way of escaping the unpleasant emotions they are experiencing or trying to forget psychological tension or a traumatic memory In fact, people who are addicted as adults are often individuals whose childhoods were marked by traumatic events. Adulthood is also not immune to being the scene of traumatic events, which make the person feel emotionally flooded by stress, sadness, anxiety, guilt and psychological tension in general.
Some of the most common emotional risk factors for addiction are:
All of these events can cause the person to develop deep psychological problems, motivated by emotions such as guilt or shame when thinking that part of the misfortunes that have happened to them are their responsibility. Certainly, there are individuals who blame themselves for having been sexually abused in their childhood, being victims of domestic violence or the death of a family member, asking themselves again and again what they could have done to deserve it or how they could have avoided it.
Addiction, especially to substances, develops easily among people who They use them to stabilize their emotional state, either to calm their pain and silence their traumatic memories or to feel something, since trauma can cause deep sadness and anxiety or apathy and disconnection from the world. Regardless of why they take drugs or engage in addictive behaviors, this strategy is not going to work for them in the long term, if at all it has ever worked for them.
Focusing on drugs, the human body ends up generating tolerance towards them. As the consumer’s body becomes accustomed to the substance, more and more of the drug will have to be taken to achieve the desired effects, whether calming or activating. This is the main risk for developing an addiction because the greater the tolerance, the greater the amount to be taken and, consequently, the greater the risk of physical dependence.
Drug consumption causes a paradoxical situation. First, they are taken to stop feeling bad, but as the person embarks on an addiction that is increasingly difficult to get out of, they become emotionally worse. What initially served to suppress or forget painful memories and emotions is the same thing that now causes such emotions because not being able to get rid of a drug causes discomfort, feelings of anxiety and the feeling of being useless.
So, In certain cases the emotional causes of addictions become their much more serious consequences In turn, they increase the risk that the patient will resort to another addiction to get rid of the unpleasant emotions of the first, which begins a dangerous vicious dynamic of more and more addictive behaviors, whether with substances or behavioral ones. When addiction sets in, the person experiences dramatic mood swings, low self-esteem, and low self-confidence.
About half of those who have a substance use disorder have other mental problems. Among the most common mental disorders we have mood disorders, such as depression, as well as anxiety, bipolar disorder and behavioral problems.
Emotional consequences of addictions
As we said, addictions have an important origin in emotional problems, but they also cause them. That is, the same emotions that lead a person to consume end up appearing when they become addicted, but in a much worse way. Emotional stability is seriously damaged after falling into an addiction, whether to a substance or a behavior.
Some of the reactions caused by substance abuse include the following.
1. Guilt
Leaving aside the denial that many experience, these patients are aware of the consequences of their behavior for their immediate environment, which makes them feel very guilty. The guilt of feeling that they are not able to stop their problematic behavior can overcome them and cause them a lot of pain Unfortunately, guilt and shame destroy a person’s self-esteem, and the lack of this makes it more difficult for addicts to find the courage to break the addiction.
2. Fear
People with drug addictions fear the stigma of exposure and possible loss of relationships and employment Furthermore, they live in fear that if more people than those who know about their addiction find out about it, they will completely lose their dignity and be exposed to social criticism.
Related article: “What is fear? Characteristics of this emotion”
3. Helplessness and helplessness
Many addicted people try to free themselves from the addiction, but have a hard time getting sober without help from anyone. After trying for some time, They begin to feel helpless, at the mercy of their addiction, which they feel is a total loss of freedom and control of their life This makes the situation even worse, losing self-esteem and not believing they are capable of getting out of the hole.
4. Depression
Addictions are an obstacle to achieving vital goals, in addition to distancing those who suffer from them from their personal obligations if they do nothing or seek help to change their situation. All this contributes to the generation of feelings of deep sadness, which leads the patient to depression
You may be interested: “Major depression: symptoms, causes and treatment”
5. Anger
Addicted people are angry at the world, at others, and especially at themselves. They feel that the world has turned its back on them and leaves them no hope to move forward they may see others as people who have either made them fall into addiction or do not support them and, above all, they see themselves as people without willpower or capable of freeing themselves from the tyranny of addiction.
6. Resignation
At a certain point, many addicted people simply give up and convince themselves that there is nothing they can do to free themselves from the addiction. Experts consider that this point is especially dangerous in the course of addiction, since It means that the person believes they have reached rock bottom, that there is no hope for him or her, that he or she has no future at all. You need urgent help, or else something very serious could happen.
The effect of drug addiction on family and friends
Family and friends witness their loved one descending into a spiral of drugs and other addictions This process leads to making them feel the same emotions as the addict himself: anger, helplessness, depression, fear, guilt… Addiction affects the entire family, generating a hostile and unsafe environment for all of them, something that if not properly resolved It makes the addiction even worse, making it increasingly difficult to break free.
Uncertainty about what may happen in the future is another emotion that loved ones of addicted people experience. Substance addiction is a potentially fatal condition, something that the addict’s loved ones know well, fearing that one day they will receive a call or knock on the door to inform them that they have had an accident, an overdose or that they have ended up with his life. Living with an addicted person produces constant insecurity, accompanied by anxiety
The treatment
Willpower can be helpful in getting rid of addiction, but Really, professional help is the most effective for this type of problem Treatment serves to manage the emotions that triggered the addiction in the first instance, while also managing those that are a product of the addiction itself and that increase the risk of it getting worse.
If it is considered appropriate, especially with alcoholic people and addicts to strong drugs such as cocaine, enter a rehabilitation center. In these places there are other patients, all working together to achieve the same goals, which is sobriety and freedom from the chains of addiction. In these centers, the messages are positive and hopeful, where patients are motivated to imagine a promising future, free of dangerous and harmful drugs.
During therapy, patients also learn how to recognize triggers that motivate them to use drugs, to avoid them or learn to live with them, fighting against their desire to consume or “craving” and avoiding destroying their sobriety. They will also develop strategies to resist their inner voice that tells them that “nothing happens just a little.”
It is essential that the family be involved throughout the therapy, since the family environment is also the origin of the emotional causes of addictions, while also receiving its consequences. Family members should be allowed to talk about their emotions and the impact the addiction has had on their lives. The idea in family therapy is not to blame or cause shame to the addicted person, since these emotions are never productive. What should be done is to facilitate good communication, mutual respect and generate more constructive family dynamics.
