Stress is a normal part of life. However, chronic stress that deteriorates your mental health and physical well-being is not normal and should not be ignored. Unfortunately, in today’s world, constant stress can oftentimes be pushed down and ignored. While stress is to be expected, if you are struggling with constant stress and anxiety, this can leave you feeling helpless to relieve your symptoms. In this article, you’ll learn more about the relationship between stress and addiction, and why many people may turn to drugs to relieve their stress.
At East Coast Recovery Center, we are a top-rated addiction recovery center in Massachusetts that is committed to helping patients safely and effectively break free of addiction once and for all. Addiction is an isolating disease that can keep you from living a healthy, happy quality of life. We offer personalized addiction treatment so you can receive the tailored support you need to best support your road to recovery. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your recovery journey.
5 Ways Stress and Addiction Can Be Connected
Stress is an inevitable part of life; however, constant stress that harms your quality of life is not normal and should not be ignored. Research has long discussed stress as a risk factor to addiction and addiction relapse. Below are several ways that showcase the relationship between stress and addiction.Â
- Some Individuals Turn to Drugs to Relieve Stress
While not everyone who struggles with stress abuses drugs or alcohol, unfortunately, the reality is that stress is a trigger that can lead many to abuse drugs or alcohol to find stress relief. While abusing drugs may offer some temporary relief to your stress, it does not address the root source of your stress. This means you’ll still experience continued stress in your life while subsequently developing a dependency to drugs or alcohol.
- Addiction Brings About More Stress in Your Life
Likewise, addiction can bring about more stress in your life. While it may appear at first that you can abuse drugs or alcohol to relieve stress over the short-term, abusing drugs can quickly lead to drug dependency and addiction, which can bring about more stress in your life. This is because addiction doesn’t just negatively impact your physical and mental health, but it also hurts your personal and professional relationships.
- Stress Can Increase Your Risk of Making Impulsive Decisions
Stress can also raise your risk of making more impulsive decisions/ not thinking through your decisions. This is because when you are under constant stress, your mind is tired and vulnerable to making decisions. Therefore, when faced with the opportunity to abuse drugs to relieve your stress, you may be more likely to do so because you are less likely to consider the risks associated with abusing drugs or alcohol.
- Dual Diagnosis Treatment May Be Essential For Recovery
If you are struggling with a mental illness like an anxiety disorder and drug addiction, it’s crucial you seek dual diagnosis treatment to effectively overcome addiction and manage your mental illness symptoms. This is because you can receive drug addiction treatment to get sober, but if you are not also addressing the underlying condition or circumstance(s) causing you chronic stress and anxiety in your life, this can increase your risk of relapsing.
- Stress Reduction Techniques Can Help Support Long-Term Recovery
Last but not least, while it is impossible to avoid stress entirely from your life, stress reduction techniques like breathing exercises, journaling, or meditation can go a long way in minimizing stress and supporting your recovery journey. During your addiction recovery journey, it’s important to learn healthy coping strategies you can use to manage your stress levels and minimize your risk of giving in to triggers, cravings, or urges to abuse drugs or alcohol.
Help Is Available
Now you know more about the relationship between stress and addiction. Although stress is a normal part of life, if you are turning to drugs or alcohol to relieve chronic stress in your life– this is not normal. You should never ignore chronic stress that harms your physical and/or mental health and well-being.
At East Coast Recovery Center, we are committed to helping patients overcome addiction and achieve long-term sobriety. We provide customized care to help meet your unique recovery needs. This is because we understand that no two recovery journeys are ever the same. Ready to start your recovery journey? Contact us today!
