As a drinker or user, drugs and alcohol can often feel like your best friend. They’re the ones who are around when you’re at your worst, or at your best, and they never judge.
The problem lies in the fact that they can become your only friend, and isolate you from the outside world.
Research into associations between social isolation and substance use disorders point towards further mental health problems leading to a lower quality of life.... and the cycle goes on and on.
Escape to isolate.
Alcohol and drugs can be used as tools for escapism, and leaving reality behind can feel empowering as all the worries of the world ebb away.
Depression, anxiety, stress and other problems become an afterthought.
The catch is... that substances are not a cure for stress relief, they deliver a short term deceptive solution that masks the struggles and benefits of daily life, creating a world of fantasy and isolation.
Addiction and isolation become a self-perpetuating cycle, making healthy social connections develop into an increasingly difficult task and you can end up feeling unwanted, uninteresting and that you do not belong with those leading a ‘normal’ life.
More and more people in your life fall to the wayside and alcohol or drugs take the pedestal as the one thing you can depend on as you unconsciously isolate yourself more and more.
Breaking the cycle and positivity
Drugs and alcohol provide an instant hit, or fix and you begin to expect everything else to be fixed just as instantaneously.
Making connections, rebuilding relationships and nurturing friendships all take time, and time isn’t something you’re used to. It’s easy to chalk it up to a failure, and return to old habits and behaviours.
Maybe you’ll try again in a few months but for the same result.
What you should really be asking yourself is what is it you are trying to escape from, and how you can learn from any slips or lapses.
"We learn from our mistakes", and in recovery this statement has never being truer as we slowly start to learn and modify irrational behaviours that have been layered into our very beings over time.
Isolation in recovery
A life of sobriety doesn’t automatically reconnect lost relationships.
If anything, it throws you into a deeper level of isolation for a time - you’ve just lost your masks.
There too, may be many people who you associate with your addiction, and part of the puzzle is to cut any negative influences out.
You may want to then reconnect with former acquaintances, family members and friends.
With alcohol and drugs off the schedule, time frees up to break the mould and try new activities and build new social connections and overcome social isolation.
Social isolation can often be the start of addiction, and it can be the affect of an addiction. Breaking the cycle requires determination, learning, timing..... and time.
Sometimes just talking to the right person can kick start a life changing chain of events.
Could you benefit from private counselling?
Sometimes just talking to the right person can kick start a life changing chain of events.
Start Recovery is a private counselling service that I deliver in North Leeds, Yorkshire, UK.
I have a full range of both alcohol counselling services and drug counselling services available.
So if you think that you would benefit from treatment, get in touch and we'll see what I can do to help you.