Sometimes when we haven’t been taught healthy methods for coping with pain, we use drugs or alcohol to self-soothe. As Liz, who I interviewed for the Sober Stories series, said, “There’s a practice of self-compassion of thinking: at that time in my life, that was the tool I’d learned for self-survival. I wasn’t taught healthier tools before that, so it was how I was taking care of myself and what I needed to survive.”
When your body is in a stress response or you’re in deep emotional pain, it’s understandable to want to try to get rid of those feelings. It can be really tough to sit with trauma, pain, or difficult feelings, or to cope with co-occurring mental health disorders.
However, treatment for any mental health disorder is much more effective if you aren’t still self-medicating with drugs or alcohol. Using substances addictively often exacerbates symptoms of depression or anxiety, increasing the urge to drink or use.
If you’re having a strong, rough feeling like anger or sadness, it can be really hard to sit in it; drinking or using can feel like the fastest and safest way to avoid pain. But allowing yourself to feel your emotions will always be healthier in the long run.
Thankfully, there are ways to self-soothe through strong emotions that don’t involve numbing out. Mindfulness—such as noticing the things you see, hear, or smell or focusing on your breath—can help you through a moment of acute stress. Journaling can help you process difficult feelings and notice patterns. Getting it out on the page can sometimes feel cathartic.
Acknowledging your emotions in therapy—and also with close people in your life—is really useful. Being able to talk about them helps you move through them, think about patterns in your life, and brainstorm ways to move forward.
If you are struggling with a substance use or mental health disorder, there is help and hope. TruHealing Centers offers high-quality treatment for addiction and mental health disorders in facilities across the country. Our staff—many of whom are in recovery themselves—will help you find healthy ways to cope with painful emotions, so that you can stay sober through whatever life brings. Call an admissions specialist at 410-593-0005.