Maybe your friends notice first. It could be your family. A therapist is sure to notice. When a substance abuser pulls away, people tend to get worried. Why? Because detatching usually signals a relapse.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse notes: “Treatment of chronic diseases involves changing deeply imbedded behaviors, and relapse does not mean treatment has failed. For a person recovering from addiction, lapsing back to drug use indicates that treatment needs to be reinstated or adjusted or that another treatment should be tried.” Most addicts experience it at some time, but why do so many of them end up pulling away when connecting could be the difference between a small set-back and a large-scale relapse?
There are a lot of possible reason but two main ones are universal: shame and guilt. When an addict backslides, it triggers extreme shame and guilt and those feelings of worthlessness can make people feel unworthy or deserving of treatment.
If you are in psychedelics recovery and need to revisit treatment or you are tired of feeling guilt and shame and want to begin your first treatment, you should speak with the experts at Psychedelics.com. They can be reached at 800-895-1695.
Shame and Guilt
This pair of negative emotions is often lumped together into one big feelings, but it is better to think of them separately. That way, you can deal with each according to the way it works.
An archived manual from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) clarifies that difference. “Shame refers to negative beliefs about oneself; for example, one is a weak, worthless, or deficient person. Guilt refers to the belief that one has engaged in wrongful behavior, such as stealing to obtain money for drugs.”
Shame is the way you feel about yourself and guilt is the way that you feel about your actions. Both are dangerous, but shame tends to be the more difficult to overcome, as well as the most damaging.
All people feel shame and guilt, but addicts feel them more often. You might be wondering why that is. What makes addicts prone to feeling so negatively about themselves? The answer lies in people’s mistaken beliefs about addiction.
NIDA observes: “Many people do not understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. It is often mistakenly assumed that drug abusers lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop using drugs simply by choosing to change their behavior. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting takes more than good intentions or a strong will.”
Because people believe these untruths, our society is guided by them. We hear them on television, read them on the news, and are told them by our parents and leader. Overtime, these ideas feel like facts, and if they are facts, then your addiction is your fault. You should have been stronger. You should have tried harder. These ideas lead to shame—but they shouldn’t because addiction is a chronic brain disease and you aren’t weak for falling victim to it.
Guilt shows up for other reasons, including:
- Engaging in immoral/illegal behaviors—like theft, prostitution, and burglary—in order to acquire drugs or money for drugs
- Emotionally hurting family and/or friends
- Physically hurting family and/or friends
- Financially hurting family and/or friends
- Mentally hurting family and/or friends
- Losing job, home, and/or family
Sadly, these feelings are the start of a relapse shame spiral. Once you start to feel shame and guilt creep into your life, you will want to run. You will want to escape. And what’s the easiest escape? Psychedelics. What better way to get happy and blot out your feelings? After a period of time, you will be using psychedelics to avoid confronting negative feelings about using psychedelics. It’s a dangerous cycle.
If you are tired of being ruled by negative emotions and you would like help dealing with these feelings and with your abuse of psychedelics, call Psychedelics.com at 800-895-1695. You can break the cycle.