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I know its anunhealthy habitand I venture to avoid it.
Jordan Moss
But its an easy pattern to fall into and a common issue for folks who struggle with theirmental health.
Below, Dr. Lembke and Dr. ## First, its crucial to remember theres more than one way to self-medicate.
But there are a whole host of mental and emotional triggers that might lead to this habit.
People are trying to self-medicate psychosis.
People are trying to self-medicate mania.
But its not just psychiatric disorders.
Theyre self-medicating boredom, theyre self-medicating loneliness, theyre self-medicating social phobiasall kinds of things.
Folks will attempt to self-medicate their way through basically anything that can cause [them] distress, Dr. Anecdotally, she says, we are seeing that more and more.
In short, self-medicating doesnt only look like ripping shots because you feel stressed or bummed.
Its important to keep an eye out for all the different forms it might take.
What are the warning signs that you might be self-medicating?
Or Im anxious: Im going to smoke because Im overwhelmed.
Maybe youre spending less time withor even actively avoidingyour friends and family.
Maybe youre ditching some of your hobbies: say, canceling your regular tennis match with a buddy.
Using, in that moment, seemed to alleviate your depression or anxiety.
But how did you feel the next day?
Was your mood even worse?
Self-medicating can feel like its workingbut thats only an illusion of efficacy, Dr. Lembke says.
At some point, its going to backfire.
It turns on them and makes them anxious, makes them unable to sleep, makes them paranoid.
And by then, theyre hooked.
Self-medicating can develop into a full-on substance use disorder, Dr.
Brewer says, which can put you in a tough spot.
It could be causing problems socially.
It could be causing problems interpersonally with family.
It could be causing problems with work, Dr. On top of that, these can feed on each other.
People are surprisingly good at hiding these behaviors.
At four weeks, my hypothesis is youll feel substantially better than you do right now, she says.
Then, get whatever substance youve been using out of your home.
(If you cant easily access it, itll be easier to kick.)
Part of my job becomes convincing them that it is worth doing.
Here are four weeks out of your 25-year life.
And the possibility is that you could feel a lot better.
Do you want to at least give it a try?
Of course,cutting backis better than not changing your habits at all.
You have to quit, full stop.
Another possible route, Dr.
Brewer says, is to take amindfulness-based approach.
Lets say somebodys anxious: Theres the trigger, Dr.
They drink some alcohol or go on social media or whatever: Thats the behavior.
And then the result, or the reward to their brain, is that they avoid that unpleasant thing.
In fact, its probably making life harder for you.
The second part is really just a simple question: What am I getting from this?
Thats when people start to become disenchanted with the behavior.
Thats the beginning of the change process.
It helps them start to step out of the old habit.
And then it opens the space to find a new habit.
Once you start working on one thing, Dr.
Brewer says, it actually can be helpful for addressing the others.
