Addiction can affect people of all ages and backgrounds. It can also cause serious consequences for your health, personal relationships and career.
People with addictions struggle to stop using drugs or engaging in harmful addictive behaviors even though they know it’s causing harm to themselves and others. They may even lie about their drug or activity use to others.
Escape Reality
For many people, the main reason they engage in a certain addictive behavior is a desire to escape from their current reality. This may be due to the fact that their everyday life is difficult and stressful. It is widely recognized that individuals with a desire to escape from daily routines and stressful situations have a higher risk of developing addictions.
The escapist perspective of addiction diverts attention from the pleasure-seeking positive reinforcement aspect of addictive behaviors and focuses on the anxieties that modern individuals experience. This perspective also explains why some individuals find themselves unable to stop engaging in the addictive behavior even when it is no longer giving them the pleasure they once experienced.
Escapism is an important part of the process of addiction, and it can also be present in other compulsive behaviors. For example, some people become addicted to television, video games, sex, gambling, porn, shopping, and other activities that can easily become compulsions. While these behaviors may not have the same immediate negative consequences as drugs, they can still lead to an inability to control their behavior and cause serious harm in the long run.
Unfortunately, some of these escapist behaviors are not always easily identifiable by those around them. For example, some people who have an addiction to sex are often able to hide their behavior from their family and friends. This is because they are not seeing any substantial harm, or are denying that their addiction is causing them serious problems. This is why it is important to take an honest inventory of your own escapist habits and to evaluate whether they are causing you any significant negative consequences.
Ultimately, it is possible to overcome a desire to escape reality by changing the way you view your life. Instead of viewing it as a futile, boring, or burdensome existence, you can learn to appreciate the beauty of your life and the challenges that come with it. It is also possible to break free from addictions that allow you to escape by replacing them with healthy coping mechanisms that are more effective than escapist behaviors. Creative endeavors such as painting, sculpting, or gardening can be very helpful in calming the overactive part of the brain that people with addictions struggle with. Meditation alone, or in groups is a powerful tool that can be employed to connect with one’s spiritual self and higher power.
Seek Pleasure
The Liberal and Lay models of addiction assume that the person freely chooses to take addictive substances and engage in hedonistic behavior, despite the harms they cause. These views have come under increasing criticism from those who have analyzed choice and decision theory to find out how we can break the impasse between medical or brain disease models that remove or diminish, perhaps unacceptably, the agency of those who are addicted and Moral or Lay models that condemn them.
Many researchers argue that the evidence for a hedonistic model of addiction is weak and that addictions have compulsive elements that divorce them from any person-level expectation of pleasure. This argument has the potential to provide an explanation that is compatible with both medical and moral models.
Addiction researchers have found that the pleasure a person gets from drug use tends to fade over time as they build up a tolerance to it. They may need to use more and more of the drug to get the same pleasure that they initially got from it. In the meantime, they are often paying costs that other people would not have to pay, such as damage to relationships, loss of money or employment and health problems.
Fill a Spiritual Void
When addiction is at its most severe, it takes over a person’s life. It robs them of time with loved ones and can damage their professional career. It can also cause health problems and financial ruin. However, there are even less obvious costs of addiction that can have a profound impact on a person’s mental and spiritual health.
Many people who struggle with addiction start using drugs or alcohol because they feel empty inside, as well as trying to cope with emotional pain. They believe that substances can ‘fix’ pain and emptiness that is caused by a broken relationship, a death in the family, or other difficult situation. They might also be trying to fill a hole that comes from years of emotional trauma or bullying.
Drugs and alcohol may temporarily make the feeling of emptiness go away, but it isn’t a long-term solution. The feeling will come back sooner or later and can be even worse than it was before they started using drugs and alcohol. The only way to deal with the emptiness and find true happiness is through spirituality. Having a spiritual foundation can come through religion, however religion is not the only way it can be experienced. All of the twelve step groups, such as AA (Alcoholics Anonymous), NA (Narcotics Anonymous), etc. all have their foundation in spiritual principles, and have been found to be the most successful programs worldwide to treating addictions.
Addiction recovery involves a change in mindset and values that is based on principles such as unconditional love, gratitude, kindness, forgiveness and service to others. While these may seem lik lofty goals they can be very successful in the fight against substance abuse. People who are able to connect with a higher power and practice these principles can feel more fulfilled in their lives, which helps them maintain sobriety and overcome their addictions.
There are many different ways to overcome an addiction, but it’s important to know that recovery can take time and isn’t easy. Seeking help and support from a therapist or attending self-help support groups can help decrease the sense of shame and isolation that can lead to relapse.
Here are some questions for you to consider to continue your healing journey:
- How does the concept of escapism in addiction shed light on the psychological motivations that lead individuals to engage in addictive behaviors as a means of escaping from the stress and challenges of their everyday life, and how can a deeper understanding of these underlying factors aid in developing more effective therapeutic approaches for addiction recovery?
- In the context of addiction, how does the hedonistic model, which posits that individuals freely choose to engage in addictive behaviors for pleasure despite the harms, contrast with recent research suggesting that addictions have compulsive elements that go beyond mere hedonism.
- How can reconciling these perspectives help bridge the gap between medical and moral models of addiction, ultimately guiding the development of comprehensive and compassionate treatment strategies?
- When examining the profound impact of addiction on mental and spiritual health, how can recognizing the role of substance use as an attempt to fill a spiritual void or emotional emptiness inform the development of integrative recovery approaches?
- Write about how incorporating spirituality and principles, like divine love and service to others, can ultimately promote a sense of fulfillment and help individuals in maintaining sobriety over the long term.