Substance abuse often leads us to find solace in isolation. Social isolation is detrimental to those who suffer from addiction because it strips them of positive influences and hinders their ability to recover.
Confirming a False Narrative
People who suffer from addiction end up alienating themselves from friends and family. Eventually, they’re left with nothing and no one except their drug fixation and those who enable their substance use. After, we surround ourselves with surface-level relationships that offer us nothing emotionally. The people in our lives exist for the sole purpose of excusing our behavior. Unfortunately, there’s clandestine toxicity within confirmation bias. As a result, we confine ourselves in solitary and interpret all future information as confirmation that we should remain in isolation.
When family members reach out in an attempt to intervene on behalf of our health, you’re sick, you need help. We either deny the existence of a problem or brush the pleas off by saying you don’t understand.
The people who support our substance abuse, our dealers, our using buddies, act as advocates for toxic behaviors. They make our excuses for us, they’re just haters, it’s not a big deal, they’re overreacting.
We exist to rationalize our behaviors, side effects, and lack of companionship. I’m a unique individual, people don’t get me, it’s just to de-stress, if they could walk a mile in my shoes they’d use too. We block out the voice of reason, replacing it with a sense of complacency in social isolation.
Individualism Mutates Into Inadequacy
Unfortunately, by the time most drug users realize their drug abuse has reached dangerous levels, their inner voice has morphed. The belief that I’m not like other people transforms into no one can help me or even I don’t deserve help.
Once we no longer consider ourselves worthy of help, we impede our ability to be saved. Similarly, if we think that no one can help us recover, we reject the aid of others. Those suffering from addiction are under the misconception that seeking support is futile. These mental blocks are an inadvertent act of self-sabotage that promotes our isolation.
A lack of self-worth acts as a breeding ground for misery. Our addiction convinces us that recovery is an impossibility. As a result, we detach ourselves from reality further, diving deeper into our addiction in the fruitless pursuit of emotional relief. After all, why fight inevitably?
The immersion into drug abuse becomes all-consuming. We use it because we are broken, and we are broken because we use. Social isolation is a rabbit hole that recedes into darkness and danger. Spiraling down the path of emotional turmoil leads us to abandon all responsibilities for our life and abandon ourselves.
Consequently, addiction becomes our singular purpose. We leave our homes to pick up and return home to get high— apply, rinse, repeat.
Reviving Relationships After Isolation
Without a doubt, the last thing a self-secluded substance abuser wants to do is rejoin society. However, the decadence of social isolation is the sweet poison that kills you. In order to take back your life and recover from your addiction, reimmersion into your community is an indispensable step toward sustainable sobriety.
Unquestionably, reconnecting with family and friends will enable your ability to recover. Unlike your using buddies, your loved ones will support your decision to get clean and assist in finding you the help you need. Along with a healthy support system, it is beneficial to enlist the care of medical specialists by participating in a detox and treatment program. While the concept of rehab may appear daunting and impractical, the benefits of receiving professional guidance during the beginning stages of recovery are unparalleled.
Remember, whether you have a full-time job that requires your attention, a family to care for, or your financial situation is limited, there are programs that meet your criteria.
