Emotions play an essential part in the decision of many people to use drugs or alcohol. Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all intimately linked. One affects the other, and so forth. When someone feels anxious, angry, sad, or lonely, they may think specific thoughts or act destructively, like drinking or using drugs.
Emotions are internal indicators of how you are doing. Simply put, you feel good when something enjoyable occurs and awful when something upsetting appears. Your feelings are like an instant news service, keeping you up to speed on everything happening in your life. The first feeling you get in response to a situation is "primary emotions." These intense emotions come on rapidly and can't be reasoned with. For instance, you could immediately feel shocked if you won a contest. When someone close to you passes away, it's natural to experience grief. Anger may be an instant reaction to an offense.
Emotions that follow from your primary emotions are called secondary emotions. Substance abuse is often a coping mechanism for an underlying feeling. Suppose you're feeling angry towards someone. While anger is your dominant feeling, feelings of regret for losing your temper are also possible. Your emotional reaction may be to get high to alleviate your guilt and temporarily improve your feelings.
The way you feel affects the way you think and act. Similarly, your mental and physical actions might impact how you feel. Let's say, for example, that Paul loses a treasured watch. He may immediately feel sad because of it. This may trigger a thought to himself, "I am very careless.” Or, to put it bluntly, he might say, "I am a moron." This realization further deepens his sadness, and now he's depressed, which drives him to start drinking excessively. Then, later, when all the alcohol is gone, or he feels sick, he feels guilty for getting drunk. This story illustrates the two-way nature of the relationship between your emotions, your actions, and your thinking.
Engaging in self-destructive activities, such as drug abuse or self-critical thinking, may create a vicious cycle for your emotions. Healthy actions and constructive ways of thinking may help you break the cycle. If Paul had been feeling down after losing his watch, he might have told himself something like, "Mistakes happen; nobody's perfect." He might not have been so downcast if he'd been able to forgive his error and go on with his day. He could have contacted a trusted friend or gone for a walk. He could have done something productive with his energy and solidified his positive mood by doing other things instead of drinking.
There are many alternatives to acting on harmful impulses whenever you feel emotional. It's possible for someone in recovery or someone seeking to embark on the road to recovery to make choices that will help rather than hinder their progress toward sobriety and emotional regulation throughout holidays or any time of the year. That's why it's crucial to be in tune with your feelings. Many don’t wholly control their early reactions since they occur quickly after the triggering event. But how we react to negative emotions is entirely up to us.
For more tips on emotion regulation and behavior change, contact a top dual diagnosis treatment center like Wish Recovery and learn of treatment options for alcohol and substance use disorders.
