From the outside, someone struggling with alcoholism can be bubbly and exuberant. They may seem to bring a ton of energy to the party, but their inner reality is far from that. Many of those who deal with alcohol abuse feel miserable and lonely, even if they’re in relationships. Not only can loneliness increase the risk of addiction, but it can also trigger or exacerbate addiction. If you are stuck in this vicious cycle of alcohol and loneliness, you can break free from it through professional help in an addiction recovery center in South Florida.
What Is the Connection Between Alcohol and Loneliness?
Loneliness is an awful state of being that can make one feel rejected, unloved, or invalidated. To cope with these difficult emotions, one may turn to alcohol to numb the pain. While drinking alcohol may give you temporary relief, it prevents you from dealing with the issues directly, giving you a false sense of security. In the absence of alcohol, all the emotions that you avoided or were unable to deal with come back more intensely.
Ironically, those who develop unhealthy drinking patterns may isolate themselves from friends and family to hide their drinking, which only aggravates their loneliness. Living in a state of fear, guilt, and denial can also lead one to cover up their fear with anger and abusive behaviors that may damage relationships with family members and friends, leaving them isolated.
How Alcohol and Loneliness Impacts Mental Health
Alcohol abuse and loneliness affect every facet of a person’s life. It can take a toll on your emotional state of being, your mental health, and even your physical health. Loneliness is a risk factor for depression, anxiety, increased stress levels and decreased memory. To cope with the challenging episodes of anxiety, depression, and grief, one can easily cope through unhealthy methods like turning to alcohol for comfort. When a person is experiencing both mental health problems and alcohol abuse, it is referred to as dual diagnosis.
How Can I Fight Alcohol and Loneliness?
If you are struggling with alcoholism, you may have hurt those that you love the most. You may have disconnected from good friends and damaged your relationship with your family. While in your recovery, it is time to rebuild the burnt bridges by apologizing and taking action to make amends. In case the situation is not salvageable, make peace with that and accept that despite your efforts to rebuild the relationship, some things may be beyond your control.
To break the barrier of loneliness, it is also important to try connecting with others. Further, and more importantly, building comfort in being alone and choosing who to be with goes a long way.
For those who struggle with a dual diagnosis, the symptoms of alcohol abuse and mental disorders such as depression feed off each other. If untreated, the co-occurring mental illness and alcoholism can get worse, taking a toll on both the individual and their loved ones.
To achieve long-term recovery, isolated treatment programs such as depression treatment may not be enough as it will only address one issue, leaving the other. However, by undergoing a dual diagnosis treatment program, you will undergo depression treatment as well as addiction treatment concurrently.
Overcome Alcohol Abuse and Loneliness at Atlantic Recovery Center
If you are struggling with alcohol and loneliness, it does not mean the end for you. At Atlantic Recovery Center, we can give you the treatment, care, and support you need to achieve a more fulfilling life. Some of our services include:
- Residential treatment program
- Partial hospitalization program
- Intensive outpatient program
- Extended residential program
- Transitional living program
Now more than ever, people around the world are privately struggling with loneliness, addiction, and feelings of isolation. Our world of technology has somehow managed to separate us rather than bring us together. Underneath the shiny veneer of social media lies a pattern of detachment and remoteness that separates us from one another like never before. We interact without making connections, and connections are the foundation of lasting happiness.
The younger generations are suffering just as much, if not more, than the older generations. According to some experts, younger generations are even more prone to feeling lonely. However, no matter how old you are, you may still be battling feelings of loneliness and isolation.
Since we’re in the age of technology, where everyone is connected with the help of a cellphone and a wi-fi connection, feeling lonely may seem impossible. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. If your feelings of loneliness have led to addiction and depression disorder, there is help available. Get the care you need by calling the Atlantic Recovery Center at 1-866-824-5193. We’ll help you overcome both of these conditions and give you a new lease on life as you move into the future with confidence.
WHAT CAUSES LONELINESS?
Loneliness is a feeling of being disconnected from those around you. This is why it’s possible to have feelings of loneliness even if you are at a party, at work, or in any kind of crowded room. If you don’t feel like you have things in common with anyone nearby, you might feel like you’re alone, even though other people are all around you.
In today’s world, we spend hours being alone. We interact with screens instead of faces. And even if those screens have faces, such as Facetime, it’s still not the same as the very human pleasure of being face to face.
HOW LONELINESS FEEDS ADDICTION
Those who experience feelings of loneliness frequently turn to substance abuse to alleviate the suffering or to mute the pain. This is especially true when it feels like there is no relief from the loneliness or when it is ongoing to the point of being chronic. Everyone is capable of feeling lonely for a few hours or for a day. But when day after day stretches out into a vast field of loneliness, people seek relief.
This period is when they may turn to things like alcohol or drugs. The substance offers the person a way to cope with feelings that are just too horrible to bear. The person may feel rejected by society, or unloved by friends and family, or feel confused about why they don’t “fit in.” Then they turn to drink or drugs as a way to self-medicate and to turn off those terrible feelings of loneliness.
THE DANGERS OF DRINKING AND DRUGS
Alcohol and drugs are addictive substances. When a person starts using and abusing alcohol and/or drugs, the brain actually starts to become reliant on that substance. Receptors in the body are activated. It’s even been said that for a person with an alcohol addiction, getting that first drink in the day triggers the same response as a heroin addict getting high. So whether a lonely person becomes addicted to alcohol or drugs, the resultant level of addiction is eerily similar.
Loneliness is something that we all experience at least once during our lives. But those who suffer day in and day out with loneliness are at increased risk of developing poor habits that can lead to addiction. If you or a loved one suffers from addiction due to loneliness, seek help. Call 1-866-824-5193 to contact the Atlantic Recovery Center Today.
We’ll help you find hope and healing that will set you on the path to recovery. Contact Atlantic Recovery Center today at 1-866-824-5193 to learn more about our treatment for alcohol abuse and loneliness.