Negative Emotions Can Compromise Your Sobriety
A growing body of evidence supports what many therapists know from experience: patients with a fighting spirit have a better chance of recovery than those who surrender to their addiction. There is solid evidence on how negative emotions and mental attitude can affect a patient’s physical condition and well-being. Many people use drugs and booze as a way to relax and cope. Others are simply lured by the escape that drugs seem to offer.
Maybe you’re a stress pot or you’ve got negative emotions linked to a job you hate, a relationship that isn’t working, you’re shy, or you’ve got overwhelming financial problems. You may have turned to alcohol and drugs as a lifeline. Feeling pressured to be cool all the time, you may have started drinking and taking drugs to feel happier, more relaxed, more outgoing, and more daring.
We’re All Looking for a Solution
We all need a solution for feelings of inferiority, loneliness, and anxiety. The first time you use a drug to ease these feelings; wonderful feelings of pleasure are experienced. With continued use, the pleasure becomes weaker, and you will need ever-larger doses of drugs to experience that original flood of euphoria. Withdrawal from alcohol and drugs can be excruciating and even life-threatening.
You Stop Thinking Properly
Drug addiction is a complex disorder with each drug-producing different physical effects. Repeated use can actually change the way your brain functions and you won’t be able to think clearly. Unsafe sex, drunk driving, injury, and death can result because all good judgment leaves. You may face a whole set of problems at school, at home or at work, embarrassing yourself and alienating yourself from your friends, colleagues, and family.
Negative emotions during times like this often cause one to take more alcohol and drugs. It is important to know that help is available with any addiction and you may need professional help and treatment. Overcoming an addiction is better achieved with support from your family, and the medical teams who will help you with your addiction are trained to help and support you and your family and not judge and condemn. The more serious your drug use, the longer and more intense the treatment will be. A good treatment program will address your drug abuse by looking at your environment and lifestyle to get an idea of what caused your addiction in the first place.
People Who can Help You Cope
Depending on the seriousness of your addiction, you may require residential treatment, which requires living at the treatment facility for about 3 months or longer. An Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) doesn’t require the patient to live on-site, but the patient will attend programs that last a few hours each day at the treatment center. There is also counseling offered for your family as they have been dealing with mixed emotions of disbelief, confusion, love, loathing, and even hatred because of the havoc you may have brought into their lives.
Yes, negative emotions can compromise your sobriety, but deciding to get help is the first positive move towards changing your life and learning coping skills. It’s never too late to learn from your mistakes. You aren’t alone and resources are available to you, offering support and guidance.
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